Raymonde Testanière
Encyclopedia
Raymonde Testanière, known as Vuissane, was a servant in the Comté de Foix in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries. She is known to us through her testimony recorded on the Fournier Register
and examined in Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie
's Montaillou
. Vuissane was a servant in the Belot household from 1304 to 1307. She was also a mistress to Bernard Belot and had two children with him. Vuissane reported to have hoped to marry Bernard, but he was only interested in a wife from a wealthier family and eventually married Guillemette Benet. He also rejected Vuissance as she did not believe in Albigensianism.
Unlike most of the household, Vuissane was not a believer in Albigensianism. Her mother, Alazaïs Testanière, was a staunch Catholic and kept her daughter away from Catharism. The Belot's were Cathars and for a time Vuissane looked favourably upon the heresies but this ended when a leading heretic Arnaud Vital
, who was living as a boarder in the Belot household, tried to rape her.
After leaving the employ of the Belot household she married Bernard Testanière.
Fournier Register
The Fournier Register is a set of records from the inquisition into heresy run by Jacques Fournier, Bishop of Pamiers between 1318 and 1325. Fournier was later to become Pope Benedict XII.-Interrogation:...
and examined in Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie
Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie
Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie is a French historian whose work is mainly focused upon Languedoc in the ancien regime, particularly the history of the peasantry.-Early life and career:...
's Montaillou
Montaillou
Montaillou is a commune in the Ariège department in southwestern France.-History:The town is best known for being the subject of Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie's pioneering work of microhistory, Montaillou, village occitan. It analyzes the town in great detail over a thirty-year period from 1294 to 1324...
. Vuissane was a servant in the Belot household from 1304 to 1307. She was also a mistress to Bernard Belot and had two children with him. Vuissane reported to have hoped to marry Bernard, but he was only interested in a wife from a wealthier family and eventually married Guillemette Benet. He also rejected Vuissance as she did not believe in Albigensianism.
Unlike most of the household, Vuissane was not a believer in Albigensianism. Her mother, Alazaïs Testanière, was a staunch Catholic and kept her daughter away from Catharism. The Belot's were Cathars and for a time Vuissane looked favourably upon the heresies but this ended when a leading heretic Arnaud Vital
Arnaud Vital
Arnaud Vital was a cobbler in the Comté de Foix in the early fourteenth century. He is notable for appearing in Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie's Montaillou. Originally from a peasant family in Prades d'Aillon, he moved to Montaillou living as a boarder in the house of the Belot family...
, who was living as a boarder in the Belot household, tried to rape her.
After leaving the employ of the Belot household she married Bernard Testanière.