Almodis of La Marche
Almodis de la Marche | |
|---|---|
Pons of Toulouse Ramon Berenguer I, Count of Barcelona | |
| Father | Bernard I, Count of Marche |
| Mother | Amélie |
Almodis de la Marche (c. 1020 – 16 October 1071) was a French noble. She was famed for her marriage career, in particularly for her third marriage to Ramon Berenguer I, Count of Barcelona, with whom she committed double bigamy in 1053, for which the Pope had them excommunicated.
Life
Almodis was the daughter of Count Bernard I of Marche and wife Amélie.
Almodis maintained contact with her former husbands and many children, and in 1066/1067 she traveled to Toulouse for her daughter's wedding. A few years before, in 1060,
Her third husband Ramon was married to her niece, Isabela Trencavel, the daughter of Rangearde de la Marche. Their son, Peter Raymundi, was Ramon's original heir. Peter Raymundi resented Almodis' influence and was concerned she was trying to replace him with her own two sons, his consanguineous nephews, both who had claims through their father, Count La Marche. He murdered her in October 1071.[7] William of Malmesbury reflected that she was, "sad, [of] unbridled lewdness".[5]
Pere-Ramon was disinherited and exiled for his crime and fled the country. When his father died in 1076, Barcelona was split between Almodis' sons, Berenguer Ramon and Ramon Berenguer. The family history of murder did not end with Pere-Ramon, as Berenguer Ramon earned his nickname "The Fratricide" when he killed his own twin brother.
Family
She married Hugh V of Lusignan[5] around 1038 and they had two sons and one daughter:
- Hugh VI of Lusignan (c. 1039–1101)[2]
- Jordan de Lusignan
- Mélisende de Lusignan (b. bef. 1055), married before 1074 to Simon I "l'Archevêque", Vidame de Parthenay
Almodis and Hugh of
- William IV of Toulouse[2]
- Raymond IV of Toulouse[2]
- Hugh,[2] Abbot of Saint-Gilles
- Almodis of Toulouse, married Count Pierre of Melgueil[2]
In 1053, she married Ramon Berenguer I, Count of Barcelona.[5] Together they produced four children:
- Berenguer Ramon II, Count of Barcelona[2]
- Ramon Berenguer II, Count of Barcelona[2]
- Agnes of Barcelona, married Count Guigues II of Albon
- Sancha of Barcelona, married Count Guillermo Ramon I of Cerdagne[2]
In literature
Almodis is the subject of Almodis the Peaceweaver by Tracey Warr.[8]
Notes
- ^ Bishko 1968, p. 40.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Aurell 1995, p. 258.
- ^ Kagay 1993, p. 38.
- ^ a b Riley-Smith 1997, p. 46.
- ^ a b c d e f Cheyette 1988, p. 839.
- ^ Aurell 1995, p. 231.
- ^ Peña 1991, p. 47.
- ^ Almodis the Peaceweaver
Sources
- Aurell, Martin (1995). Les noces du comte: mariage et pouvoir en Catalogne (785-1213). Publications de la Sorbonne.
- Bishko, Charles Julian (1968). "Fernando I and the Origins of the Leonese-Castilian Alliance with Cluny". Studies in Medieval Spanish Frontier History. Variorum.
- Cheyette, Fredric L. (1988). "The "Sale" of Carcassonne to the Counts of Barcelona (1067-1070) and the Rise of the Trencavels". Speculum. 63 (4 Oct). The University of Chicago Press: 826–864. S2CID 161546283.
- Kagay, Donald J. (1993). "Countess Almodis of Barcelona: "Illustrious and Distinguished Queen" or "Woman of Sad, Unbridled Lewdness"". In Vann, Theresa M. (ed.). Queens, Regents and Potentates. Academia Press.
- Peña (1991). The Chronicle of San Juan de la Peña: A Fourteenth-century Official History of the Crown of Aragon. Translated by Nelson, Lynn H. University of Pennsylvania Press.
- Riley-Smith, Jonathan (1997). The First Crusaders, 1095-1131. Cambridge University Press.46
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