Douce I, Countess of Provence
| Douce I | |
|---|---|
Countess of Provence | |
| Reign | 1112–1127 |
| Predecessor | Gerberga, Countess of Provence |
| Successor | Berenguer Ramon, Count of Provence |
| Born | c. 1090 |
| Died | 1127 (aged c. 37) |
| Spouse | Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona |
| Father | Gilbert I of Gévaudan |
| Mother | Gerberga, Countess of Provence |
Douce I (also Dulcia or Dolça, called "of Rouergue" or "of Gévaudan") (c. 1090 – 1127) was the daughter of
county of Provence through her mother. She married Ramon Berenguer at Arles
on 3 February that year.
Life
In 1113, Douce ceded her rights in
viscounty of Millau to her husband. According to a once prevailing opinion, "Provençal troubadours ... entered Catalonia at the time" and even the Catalan language was imported from Provence.[1] According to nationalist historians it was the beginning of l'engrandiment occitànic (the Occitan aggrandisement): a great scheme to unite various lands on both sides of the Pyrenees.[2]
In reality the marriage gave the
Counts of Toulouse, with whom a partition of Provence was signed in 1125, shortly before Douce's death. Her death inaugurated a period of instability in Provence. A cadet branch of the House of Barcelona was set up to rule, but a disputed succession opened up the Baussenque Wars
(1144–1162), which terminated in her heirs' victory.
Her children with Ramon Berenguer were:
- Almodis, married Ponce de Cervera
- Alfonso VII of Castile
- Ramon Berenguer (1113–1162), Count of Barcelona
- Count of Provence
- Bernard, died young
References
- ^ Henry John Chaytor (1933), A History of Aragon and Catalonia (London: Methuen), 63–64, who shows both views to be questionable.
- ^ Thomas N. Bisson (1984), "The Rise of Catalonia: Identity, Power, and Ideology in a Twelfth-Century Society," Annales: Economies, Sociétés, Civilisations, xxxix, translated in Medieval France and her Pyrenean Neighbours: Studies in Early Institutional History (London: Hambledon, 1989), 179.