William VI of Montpellier
Encyclopedia
William VI or Guillem VI (died 1149) was the eldest son of William V
William V of Montpellier
William V was the Lord of Montpellier from an early age until his death. He was the son of Bernard William IV.Soon after his father's death, his mother, Ermengarde, quit Montpellier to marry the Lord of Anduze...

 and his wife Ermessende, daughter of Count Peter II of Melgueil. William succeeded his father in the lordship of Montpellier
Lords of Montpellier
The following is a list of lords of Montpellier:* William I of Montpellier 26 November 986–1019* William II of Montpellier 1019–1025* William III of Montpellier 1025–1058* William IV of Montpellier 1058–1068* William V of Montpellier 1090–1121...

 in 1121, while still a minor, under his mother's guardianship. He suppressed a revolt of the bourgeoisie in 1143 and participated in several military campaigns of the Reconquista
Reconquista
The Reconquista was a period of almost 800 years in the Middle Ages during which several Christian kingdoms succeeded in retaking the Muslim-controlled areas of the Iberian Peninsula broadly known as Al-Andalus...

in Spain (1134, 1146–47). He also increased the public character of the lordship in Montpellier and supported the growth of its trade.

Power sharing

At the beginning of William's reign, secular authority in Montpellier was shared between the Guillem dynasty, the hereditary viguier
Vicar
In the broadest sense, a vicar is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior . In this sense, the title is comparable to lieutenant...

s
of the town, and the Bishop of Montpellier. In 1139 William confirmed the vicarage to the heirs of the old viguier Bernard Guillem, and the surviving document shows that the viguier’s power has increased since 1103 and was probably at its height. William did secure the reaffirmation of his seigneurial
Manorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...

 rights at Castelnau
Castelnau-le-Lez
Castelnau-le-Lez is a commune in the Hérault department in southern France.-References:*...

 (1132, 1138) and Lattes
Lattes, Hérault
Lattes is a commune in the Hérault département in Languedoc-Roussillon in southern France.-References:...

 (1140). In 1139 William possessed several censives in the suburb of Villa Nova. A cens (plural censives) was a right to tax land, although earlier it had probably been a right to tax persons. By the twelfth-century it could be applied to the lands owing taxes.

In 1140 a dispute arose between William VI and the bishop over jurisdiction in Montpellieret. The bishop alleged that William was extending the walls and fortifications of the town to encompass some of the episcopal section of Montpellieret and was forcing vassal
Vassal
A vassal or feudatory is a person who has entered into a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. The obligations often included military support and mutual protection, in exchange for certain privileges, usually including the grant of land held...

s of the church of Montpellier to contribute to the local defence fund: "William had built a fortification [vallam] to wall his city in the tenancy of the bishop [and had made] the men of Montpellier, and other men of [the cathedral of] the Blessed Peter, [contribute to] the collection of the commune [communitas] of Montpellier." This may show that control of the walls and fortifications was already in the hands of the bourgeoisie, as it certainly was by 1196. It is probable that William was the first lord of Montpellier to oversee the extension of the walls to include territory judicially under the control of all three leading figures in the town.

William's feudal rights
Feudalism
Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...

 included the fealty
Fealty
An oath of fealty, from the Latin fidelitas , is a pledge of allegiance of one person to another. Typically the oath is made upon a religious object such as a Bible or saint's relic, often contained within an altar, thus binding the oath-taker before God.In medieval Europe, fealty was sworn between...

 and homage
Homage
Homage is a show or demonstration of respect or dedication to someone or something, sometimes by simple declaration but often by some more oblique reference, artistic or poetic....

 of several castellan
Castellan
A castellan was the governor or captain of a castle. The word stems from the Latin Castellanus, derived from castellum "castle". Also known as a constable.-Duties:...

ies in the region around Montpellier. He procured general oaths of loyalty from the castellans of these in 1130 and again in 1147. He purchased the castle of Pouget in 1129, and bestowed it on his brother, William of Aumelas
William of Aumelas
William of Aumelas was the second son of William V of Montpellier and of Ermessende, daughter of count Peter of Melgueil. The lordship of Aumelas was detached from the territories of Montpellier to create a property for him....

, and purchased that of Santeragues in 1147–48. Among the castles which William controlled (some more than others) were Montferrier
Montferrier-sur-Lez
Montferrier-sur-Lez is a commune in the Hérault department in Languedoc-Roussillon in southern France.-See also:*Communes of the Hérault department...

, Pignan
Pignan
Pignan is a commune in the Hérault department in Languedoc-Roussillon in southern France.-References:* Based on the French Wikipedia....

, Coronsec, Frontignan
Frontignan
Frontignan la Peyrade is a commune in the Hérault department in southern France.Frontignan is renowned for its AOC wine, the Muscat de Frontignan, a sweet wine made solely from the Muscat grape variety.-Sights:...

, Valmale and Saint-Pons-de-Mauchiens
Saint-Pons-de-Mauchiens
Saint-Pons-de-Mauchiens is a commune in the Hérault department in Languedoc-Roussillon in southern France. Active expat community of mixed origins -from Canada - Uk - Hong Kong plus many others integrated into the 650 person village. Active Bar -Bistro and - and plenty of entertainment from the...

.

Town administration

William inherited the services of two scribes who had worked for his father since at least 1103. One named William, who described himself as a "scribe of Lord William of Montpellier" (scriba domini Guillelmi Montispessulani), operated as late as 1139. Another, Girbertus, officially became scribe in 1113 and continued to serve down to 1125. William VI also hired his own scribe, Petrus Angelus, between the years 1128 and 1136. Early in William's reign documents start to sharply distinguish knights and other noblemen from burgesses in the witness lists, either by surnames or by title of occupation. In 1139 William instituted an administrative change: he began using a notary
Notary
A notary is a lawyer or person with legal training who is licensed by the state to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents...

 (notarius) named Durantus instead of a mere scribe (scriba). He served for the remainder of William's reign.

In 1146, William, in preparation for his journey into Spain, handed the government of the town over to his mother, stipulating that should she die it would pass to three burgesses, Olricus Adalguerius, Guillelmus Letericus and Atbrandus, to govern "with the counsel of the other witnesses of this testament." These three burgesses reappear as witnesses to William's last will, indicating their closeness to the ruling clan. In 1149 William purchased the jus naufragii
Jus naufragii
The jus naufragii , sometimes lex naufragii , was a medieval custom which allowed the inhabitants or lord of a territory to seize all that washed ashore from the wreck of a ship along its coast...

(the right to salvage shipwrecks) from the Count of Melgueil for 3,000 sous melgoriens
Solidus (coin)
The solidus was originally a gold coin issued by the Romans, and a weight measure for gold more generally, corresponding to 4.5 grams.-Roman and Byzantine coinage:...

. The sou minted at Melgueil was the standard currency of the region, and William was vigilant to insist that the counts of Melgueil not debase it, to detriment of Montpellier's commerce. In 1128, in concluding a war with his son-in-law, Count Bernard IV of Melgueil, William extorted a promise that the coinage would not be debased. William himself controlled the mint, however, and in 1130 he had to agree not issue any coinage on his own authority, but only with the approval of the count. These agreements were confirmed in 1132, 1135 and 1145–46.

Revolt of 1141–43

In 1141–42 the viguier Aimon, at the head of the bourgeoisie, led a revolt against William and expelled him from the town. Alfonso Jordan, the Count of Toulouse, "attempted to fish in troubled waters", receiving a strong rebuke from Pope Anacletus II, with whom William VI had a close relationship bordering on an outright alliance. Despite Papal support for William, the bishop refused to intervene against the viguier, but with Genoese
Republic of Genoa
The Most Serene Republic of Genoa |Ligurian]]: Repúbrica de Zêna) was an independent state from 1005 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast, as well as Corsica from 1347 to 1768, and numerous other territories throughout the Mediterranean....

 and Aragonese
Crown of Aragon
The Crown of Aragon Corona d'Aragón Corona d'Aragó Corona Aragonum controlling a large portion of the present-day eastern Spain and southeastern France, as well as some of the major islands and mainland possessions stretching across the Mediterranean as far as Greece...

 backing he succeeded in taking back the town after a lengthy siege in 1143, to which Genoa contributed four galleys. The Chronique Romane
Chronique romane
The Chronique romane or Chronicle of Montpellier is an Old Occitan and Middle French chronicle of the city of Montpellier. The Chronique was probably made for the use of town officials, who would have wanted a record of local history for help in administration and in forging civic pride...

highlights the role of Raymond Berengar IV of Barcelona and the siege-induced famine in the surrender of the town:

In the year one thousand, one hundred and forty-one, the men of Montpellier ejected lord William of Montpellier from the city, and the lord went to Lattes, and the battle endured two years. The count of Barcelona returned to him [William] the city through a siege. And at that time ten beans were woth one denarius
Denarius
In the Roman currency system, the denarius was a small silver coin first minted in 211 BC. It was the most common coin produced for circulation but was slowly debased until its replacement by the antoninianus...

. (En lan de M et C et XLI, giteron los homes de Montpellier en Guillem de Montpellier de la vila, et anet sen a Latas, e duret la batalla II ans: el coms de Barsalona rendet li la villa per assetge: et adones valian X favas 1 d.)

Immediately William set about to destroy the power of the viguier. He razed their castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...

 within the town walls and revoked their judicial privileges and their separate court. With Aragonese assistance he initiated new construction on his family's castle in the north of the town. This phase of improvement was not ended until 1152. These moves, and probable the conciliation of the disaffected bourgeoisie, were successful in removing the hereditary viguiers, the Aimons, from a place of influence.

In the aftermath, the process by which the lords of Montpellier "took on a public character, become something more than mere feudal lords," was accelerated. A letter to his Genoese allies dated 1143 begins "William of Montpellier and his burgesses". The coinciding interests of the merchant class and their feudal lords, whose revenues increasingly depended on taxes on commerce, sped up the process by which the lords became representative of the town.

Reconquista

In 1134 William VI was with King Alfonso VII of León and Castile when he besieged and took Zaragoza
Zaragoza
Zaragoza , also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain...

. There he paid homage
Homage
Homage is a show or demonstration of respect or dedication to someone or something, sometimes by simple declaration but often by some more oblique reference, artistic or poetic....

 to and became a vassal
Vassal
A vassal or feudatory is a person who has entered into a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. The obligations often included military support and mutual protection, in exchange for certain privileges, usually including the grant of land held...

 of Alfonso. The submission of García Ramírez, the king of Navarre
Kingdom of Navarre
The Kingdom of Navarre , originally the Kingdom of Pamplona, was a European kingdom which occupied lands on either side of the Pyrenees alongside the Atlantic Ocean....

, as well as "many other nobles from Gascony and France had become his vassals" was the justification for Alfonso's coronation as Emperor of Spain in 1135. Among the vassals from Languedoc
Languedoc
Languedoc is a former province of France, now continued in the modern-day régions of Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrénées in the south of France, and whose capital city was Toulouse, now in Midi-Pyrénées. It had an area of approximately 42,700 km² .-Geographical Extent:The traditional...

 only William of Montpellier is singled out by name in the Chronica Adefonsi imperatoris, the contemporary account of Alfonso's reign:

All of the nobles from Gascony and from the area up to the Rhone River, including William of Montpellier, came to Alfonso in a spirit of mutual accord. They received silver, gold, horses and many different precious gifts from him. They all became his vassals, and they were obedient to him in all things. . . He presented them with arms and other items. Hence the boundaries of the kingdom of Alfonso, ruler of León, extended from the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, near where the city of our holy patron Santiago is located, all the way to the Rhone River.


In 1146 Alfonso sent Arnaldo, the bishop of Astorga, as his envoy to the courts of Barcelona and Montpellier, requesting them to come in August 1147 for the siege of Almería "for the redemption of their souls". According to the Chronica, "they received his invitation with joy [and] promised to be present along side of the Genoese
Republic of Genoa
The Most Serene Republic of Genoa |Ligurian]]: Repúbrica de Zêna) was an independent state from 1005 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast, as well as Corsica from 1347 to 1768, and numerous other territories throughout the Mediterranean....

 [who were providing the fleet]." After participating in the capture of Almería, William also took part in another joint military venture: the reconquest of Tortosa
Tortosa
-External links:* *** * * *...

. William and the count of Barcelona were among the soldiers awaiting the arrival of the Genoese fleet at the mouth of the Ebro
Ebro
The Ebro or Ebre is one of the most important rivers in the Iberian Peninsula. It is the biggest river by discharge volume in Spain.The Ebro flows through the following cities:*Reinosa in Cantabria.*Miranda de Ebro in Castile and León....

 on 12 July 1148. According to the Genoese account, the Ystoria captionis Almarie et Turtuose of Cafarus, the lords of Barcelona and Montpellier camped atop "Mount Magnara", one of two hills overlooking Tortosa, while the other foreign troops, mostly English, French and Flemish knights who had participated in the siege of Lisbon
Siege of Lisbon
The Siege of Lisbon, from July 1 to October 25, 1147, was the military action that brought the city of Lisbon under definitive Portuguese control and expelled its Moorish overlords. The Siege of Lisbon was one of the few Christian victories of the Second Crusade—it was "the only success of the...

 the year before, camped on the hill called "Romelinus". After the conquest of Tortosa, one of William's younger sons was made co-lord of the city.

Marriage and alliance with Aragon

William VI's wife was named Sibylla, of Catalan
Catalan people
The Catalans or Catalonians are the people from, or with origins in, Catalonia that form a historical nationality in Spain. The inhabitants of the adjacent portion of southern France are sometimes included in this definition...

 origin. (According to documents adduced at the annulment of the marriage of Marie of Montpellier
Marie of Montpellier
Marie of Montpellier , was by birth heiress and later Sovereign Lady of Montpellier and by her three marriages Viscountess of Marseille, Countess of Comminges and Queen of Aragon....

, her great-granddaughter, she was the daughter of Boniface del Vasto
Boniface del Vasto
Boniface del Vasto was the margrave of Western Liguria from 1084 to 1125, the son and successor of Otto. He was of the Aleramici family, which also furnished the margraves of Montferrat...

 and therefore the sister of Manfred I of Saluzzo
Manfred I of Saluzzo
Manfred I was the first marquess of Saluzzo, serving in that capacity from 1125 until his death. He was the eldest son of Boniface del Vasto, the margrave of Western Liguria, of a noble stock which had ruled the region between Savona and Ventimiglia for generations...

, but this cannot be confirmed.) The marriage was less an alliance between William and a minor aristocratic family from Catalonia than a tightening of ties with the House of Barcelona
House of Barcelona
The House of Barcelona was a medieval dynasty that ruled the County of Barcelona continuously from 878 and the Crown of Aragon from 1137 . From the male part they descend from the Bellonids, the descendants of Wifred the Hairy...

, soon to rule a complex of territories north and south of the Pyrenees. The support the count of Toulouse gave to the rebels of 1141–43 was part of the larger rivalry between Toulouse and Aragon (Barcelona) for power in Occitania
Occitania
Occitania , also sometimes lo País d'Òc, "the Oc Country"), is the region in southern Europe where Occitan was historically the main language spoken, and where it is sometimes still used, for the most part as a second language...

, a conflict in which the lords of Montpellier gradually built up an alliance with the Aragonese, even though their overlords, the counts of Melgueil, with whom they were related, were Toulousain partisans.

William VI and Sibylla had five sons and all except Bernard William, who died before 1172, played a prominent roled in Occitan politics. The eldest, William VII
William VII of Montpellier
William VII of Montpellier was the eldest son of William VI and of his wife Sibylle.Aged around 15, he inherited the lordship of Montpellier from his father in 1146 under the tutelage of his grandmother, Ermessende of Melgueil...

, succeeded his father; Raymond William became a monk and later a bishop; another William, who became co-lord of Tortosa after its conquest, married Ermessende of Castries, joined the Templars
Knights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...

 in 1157, vowed to go on crusade to the Holy Land for a year, and there died; and Gui Guerrejat
Gui Guerrejat
Gui Guerrejat was the fifth son of William VI of Montpellier. When still a boy, in 1146, he inherited the castles of Paulhan and le Pouget from his father....

 later served regent for his nephews, the sons of William VII. William VI and Sibylla also had three daughters: Guillelme (or Guillemette), who married first Bernard IV of Melgueil and later Viscount Bernard Ato V
Bernard Ato V
Bernard Ato V was the Viscount of Nîmes of the Trencavel family from 1129 to his death.In 1138, Bernard Ato swore an oath of fidelity to Alfonso Jordan, Count of Toulouse, along with his brothers Roger of Carcassonne and Raymond of Béziers...

; Alais (or Azalais), who married Eble III of Ventadorn
Eble III of Ventadorn
Eble III of Ventadorn was viscount of Ventadour . He was the son of Eble II, known as Eble le chanteur , and of Agnes de Montluçon...

; and Ermessende, who married Raymond Stephen of Servian. Guillemette's first marriage was part of an agreement (convenientia) of 1120 between her father and husband by which the former gained control of the Melgorian mint when Bernard mortgaged it to him for 7,000 sous.

External links

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