Ermengarde, Viscountess of Narbonne

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Ermengarde
Viscountess of Narbonne
Born1127 or 1129
Died14 October 1197
Perpignan
Spouse(s)Alfonso Jordan
Bernard IV of Anduze
FatherAimery II of Narbonne
MotherErmengarde

Ermengarde (

viscountess of Narbonne from 1134 to 1192. She was the daughter of Aimery II of Narbonne
and his first wife, also named Ermengarde.

Youth

Aimery II was killed at the

counts of Barcelona, the Trencavel viscounts of Carcassonne, and the lords of Montpellier
.

A denier minted by Alphonse at Narbonne during the minority of Ermengard (1134–43) bearing the obverse inscription DUX ANFOS and on the reverse CIVI NARBON

In 1142, Alfonso Jordan, count of Toulouse, whose wife Faydid of Uzes had either recently died or been repudiated, married the now-adolescent Ermengarde.[1] In reaction to this prospect, which overturned the balance of power in the region by adding Narbonne to the direct control of Toulouse, a coalition of Occitan lords led by Roger II of Béziers, viscount of Carcassonne, Béziers, Albi and Razès formed an alliance against Toulouse.[2] Alfonso was defeated by the coalition and taken prisoner, and was forced to make peace with Narbonne and restore Ermengarde and her new husband to the viscounty before being released.[2][clarification needed] Following the dissolution of her marriage to Alfonso, Ermengarde was married to a vassal of Roger II, Bernard IV of Anduze.[3]

Political activity

In 1177 she joined

Raymond VI of Toulouse, whose power suddenly increased when he became ruler of Melgueil as widower of Ermessende of Pelet
.

Cultural activity

Around 1190, a French cleric named

Peire d'Alvergne, Pons d'Ortafa, and Salh d'Escola, as well as the trobairitz Azalais de Porcairagues
.

In addition it is believed that she welcomed to her court

Viking prince that became a saint, and poet, who composed skaldic poetry for her.[4]

Later years

Without issue after two unhappy marriages, Ermengarde designated as heir Pedro Manrique de Lara -the second but eldest surviving son of her half-sister Ermessinde (who had died in 1177) by her husband, Count Manrique Pérez de Lara (who was killed in battle in Garcianarro on 9 July 1164). In 1192 Ermengarde abdicated the viscounty in favor of Peter and retired to Perpignan, where she died five years later.

Notes

  1. ^ a b Cheyette 2001, p. 16.
  2. ^ a b Cheyette 2001, p. 20-21.
  3. ^ Cheyette 2001, p. 21.
  4. ^ Jacqueline Caille, « Une idylle entre la vicomtesse Ermengarde de Narbonne et le prince Rognvald Kali des Orcades au milieu du XIIe siècle ? », dans G. Romestan (dir.), Art et histoire dans le Midi languedocien et rhodanien Xe-XIXe siècle. Hommage à Robert Saint-Jean. Mémoires de la Société archéologique de Montpellier, 21, 1993, p. 229-233

Sources

  • Cheyette, Fredric L. (2001). Ermengard of Narbonne and the World of the Troubadours. Cornell University Press.
    ISBN 978-0-8014-3952-0
    .
  • Jacqueline Caille, Medieval Narbonne: A City at the Heart of the Troubadour World, Ashgate, Variorum Collected Studies Series, 2005.

External links
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