William II (Béarn)

Wilhelm II of Montcada ( Catalan: Guillem de Montcada , French: Guillaume de Moncade ; † September 12, 1229 in Mallorca ) was a vice count of Béarn from the Catalan house of Montcada . He was a son of Vice Count Wilhelm Raimund von Béarn and Guillema de Castellvell.

Wilhelm II of Béarn-Montcada depicted on a fresco for the Mallorcan crusade from the Palau Aguilar in Barcelona. His coat of arms unites those of Montcada and Béarn. Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya , Barcelona .

Wilhelm is first mentioned in Montpellier at the court of King Peter II in 1202 , apparently at this time he had come of age, and from then on he took the interests of his family at the royal court for his exiled father. With the bishop of Vic he was in a dispute over rule over the city of Vic , which culminated in his short-term excommunication by the bishop and banishment from the court in 1210. From 1212 he resumed his influential position at court, but did not take part in the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa . He did not fight in the battle of Muret either, but was part of the reinforcement force led by Count Nuno Sanchez , which the Catalan army could no longer reach in time for the start of the battle. In April 1214, Wilhelm belonged to the Catalan contingent that forced the release of the underage King James I from the hands of Simons de Montfort in Narbonne .

In the subsequent reign of Count Sancho for the underage king, Wilhelm and his father, who had returned from exile, were able to participate. Within the government council, he headed an opposition directed against the ruling count in September 1216. Since July 1219 Wilhelm has finally been attested in the position of procurator, which corresponded to that of a regent over the kingdom. In 1221 he was responsible for the marriage between the king and Eleanor of Castile . A feud that broke out in the summer of 1222 with Nuno Sanchez cost Wilhelm his position at court, as the young king was under the protection of his rival. After attacking Perpignan , he was besieged for three months by an army loyal to the king in his castle Montcada (today near Montcada i Reixac ) in September 1223 , but he was able to defend himself successfully. He then traveled to Provence to alliance with Raimund Berengar V. and Theobald IV of Champagne . In June 1224 he was able to return to Catalonia to be reconciled with James I and Nuno Sanchez.

At the same time Wilhelm's father died, from whom he inherited the Vice- County of Béarn . In 1226 he feuded the Cardona family , against which the king had to intervene again. In September 1228 he rejoined the royal entourage and took part in the overthrow of the rebellious Guerau de Cabrera . Wilhelm contributed one hundred knights to the army of King Jacob I for the crusade to conquer the Balearic Islands . In the battle of Portopí in the Serra de na Burguesa on September 12, 1229 he led the first battle line against the Moorish army and was killed in battle with his cousin Ramon II. De Montcada . He was buried in the royal monastery of Santa Maria de Santes Creus .

Since February 1223 Wilhelm II was married to Gersende, a daughter of Count Alfons II of Provence . Your children were:

Konstanze, ∞ with Diego Lópes, Lord of Soberano de Vizcaya
Gaston VII (* 1225, † April 26, 1290), Vice Count of Béarn

literature

Joaquim Miret y Sans: La casa de Montcada en el vizcondado de Béarn , In: Boletín de la Real Academia de Buenas Letras de Barcelona , Vol. 1 (1901), pp. 49-55, 130-142, 186-199, 230 -245, 280-303.
John C. Shideler: A Medieval Catalan Family: The Montcadas, 1000-1230 (1983).

annotation

^ ^A ^b The Book of Deeds of James I of Aragon. A Translation of the medieval catalan Llibre dels Fets , ed. by Damian J. Smith and Helena Buffery (2010), p. 24.
^ Histoire générale de Languedoc avec des notes et les pièces justificatives. Vol. 8, ed. by Claude Devic and Joseph Vaissète (1879), no. 172, col. 643–646.
↑ The Book of Deeds of James I of Aragon. A Translation of the medieval catalan Llibre dels Fets , ed. by Damian J. Smith and Helena Buffery (2010), pp. 37-38.
↑ His first document signed as a vice count is dated October 1224. See Miret y Sans, no. 27, p. 236.
↑ The Book of Deeds of James I of Aragon. A Translation of the medieval catalan Llibre dels Fets , ed. by Damian J. Smith and Helena Buffery (2010), pp. 88-90.
↑ Miret y Sans, No. 26, p. 236.

predecessor	Office	successor
Wilhelm Raimund	Vice Count of Béarn 1224–1229	Gaston VII.

personal data
SURNAME	Wilhelm II.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Guillaume de Montcada; Guillem de Montcada
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Vice-Count of Béarn
DATE OF BIRTH	12th Century
DATE OF DEATH	September 12, 1229
Place of death	Mallorca

[LdF_Montcada-1] A ^b The Book of Deeds of James I of Aragon. A Translation of the medieval catalan Llibre dels Fets , ed. by Damian J. Smith and Helena Buffery (2010), p. 24.

[2] Histoire générale de Languedoc avec des notes et les pièces justificatives. Vol. 8, ed. by Claude Devic and Joseph Vaissète (1879), no. 172, col. 643–646.

[3] The Book of Deeds of James I of Aragon. A Translation of the medieval catalan Llibre dels Fets , ed. by Damian J. Smith and Helena Buffery (2010), pp. 37-38.

[4] His first document signed as a vice count is dated October 1224. See Miret y Sans, no. 27, p. 236.

[5] The Book of Deeds of James I of Aragon. A Translation of the medieval catalan Llibre dels Fets , ed. by Damian J. Smith and Helena Buffery (2010), pp. 88-90.

[6] Miret y Sans, No. 26, p. 236.