A letter from Marie of Montpellier (1205)

Translated letter:

To all and each who read or hear these words, let it be manifest that I, Marie, by the grace of God queen of Aragon, countess of Barcelona, and lady of Montpellier, required strongly by the lord king, my husband, to approve the contracts, covenants, and oaths made by him on the future nuptials to be contracted between R[aimond] -- son of R[aimond] of Toulouse, duke of Narbonne and marquis of Provence, and queen Joan/Jeanne -- and Sancha -- my daughter and the daughter of Peter, king of Aragon, my husband -- and on the establishment of her future inheritance or dowry. Seeing the said agreements and finding that they are to my great loss, I did not wish to approve or confirm them. On account of which I have been humiliated by many evil threats and crucified/tortured by that lord king, my aforesaid husband, because of which threats I have up to now not wished to agree, rather I have said I would never agree to them. Finally, lord Peter the king, my husband, seeing that I would in no way agree to the aforesaid, said that unless I agreed, he would thenceforth not give any counsel to the city of Montpellier or to any of its dependencies, or anything in that city or its dependencies, rather he would abandon them all in perpetuity, because he did not wish to have a land, a seignory, a wife, or anything else on which he could not exercize his will. And then, I asked aloud again and again: "Why do you want to cheat me?" Angered, he said he wished me to approve said agreements because he had promised firmly that he would make me agree to the contracts and unless I agreed it would cause him great harm. And after these words, the said lord king retired, angry with me, and I remained filled with anguish, abandoned by all friends and counselors. Not knowing what I should do, I ordered P[eter] of Porta to come to me with all the worthy men of Montpellier who were then at Collioure. Armand Avellerius, B. Raimbaut, P. Guilabert, and R. Petit came to me with P[eter] of Porta. And I had with me Cecilia, our lady-in-waiting, and William of Porta, secretary. To them we[I] declared all the aforesaid. Hearing and seeing the violence which the king did to me, they said they did not have any advice since I and all my possessions were in the power of the king, and therefore he could do as he wished, but they knew well that I was coerced to the agreement and they did not believe it to be to my advantage. Therefore, because I could not otherwise free myself, since I feared that the lord king, given the aforesaid threats, would abandon me and all my possessions, in the presence of Clemence, of Peter of Porta, of Peter Cevenerius, of P. Almo, of Bernardin Amelius, of Bernard of Colle, of Cecilia, of Inego d'Ademar, and of William of Porta, I said: "I give this coerced approval." I approved the above and moreover I swore that I was coerced by great force.

Original letter:

UNIVERSIS & singulis hec legentibus vel audientibus sit manifestum quod ego M., Dei gratia regina Aragonie, comitissa Barchinonensis & domina Montispessulani, firmiter a domino rege marito meo requisita, ut laudarem pactiones & conventiones & juramenta facta ab ipso futurorum sponsalium contrahendorum inter R., filium R., comitis Tholosani, ducis Narbone & marchionis Provincie & regine Johanne, & Santiam, filiam meam & prenominati domini P., regis Aragonie, mariti mei, & hereditatis future sive dotis constitute, videns & considerans supradictas conventiones ad magnum detrimentum mei esse, illas laudare nec confirmare nolui concedere. Quare ab ipso domino rege, marito meo predicto, multis iniquis minis deducta & cruciata fui, quibus minis adhuc laudare nolui, immo dixi me numquam illas laudare. Denique dominus P. rex, maritus meus, videns quod ullo modo predicta laudare nolebam, dixit quod, nisi illa laudabam, deinceps ville Montispessulani vel ejus pertinentiis vel alicui rei eidem ville vel pertinentiis ejusdem continenti aliquod non prestaret consilium, immo ea omnia in perpetuum derelinqueret, quia nolebat terram, honorem nec uxorem, vel alia quelibet, cujus voluntatem suam facere non valeret. Ad hec ego viva voce sepe dicens: «Cur me fraudare vultis?» Ipse iratus dixit quod volebat ut predicta laudarem, quia ut dictas conventiones mihi laudare faceret firmiter convenerat, & quod, nisi laudabam, magnum ei dampnum esse poterat; & super his ipse dictus dominus res iratus coram me recessit, & ego ab omnibus amicis & consiliariis destituta & magne angustie plena remansi. Et quid facerem nesciens, P. de Porta coram me venire precepi, cum omnibus probis hominibus Montispessulani qui tunc in Cocolibero erant. Cum quo P. de Porta Armannus Anellerius, B. Rahimbaudi, P. Guilaberti, R. Petit coram me venerunt. Et ego habebam mecum Ceciliam, puellam nostram, & Wm. de Porta scriptorem. Quibus predictis omnia predicta declaravimus. Qui audientes & videntes vim , quam dominus rex mihi faciebat, dixerunt quod consilium inde nesciebant, quia ego & omnia mea in posse domini regis eramus, & inde voluntatem suam facere poterat, sed bene cognoscebant quod laudimium cohacta agebam, & illud ad proficuum meum non credebant esse. Quare, quia aliter me liberare non poteram, quia timebam quod dominus rex pro predictis minis, ut superius dixi, me & omnia mea relinqueret, sepe in presentia Clementie, Petri de Porta, Petri Cevenerii, P. Almo, Bernardini Amelii, Bernardi de Colle, Cecilie, Einego de Ahivar, & Willelmi de Porta, dicens : “Hanc cohactam facio laudationem,» supradicta laudavi, & insuper cum magna vi cohacta juravi.

Historical context:

Marie had agreed to Peter assuming possession of Montpellier when she thought she might be dying in childbirth, but after the child, Sancha, was born, and she survived, she did not want to relinquish her possession, particularly not to the counts of Toulouse who were enemies of her family.1 She made this public declaration that her agreement to the betrothal of her infant daughter and the inclusion of Montpellier as her dowry, was made under duress. Sancha died too young for the marriage to take effect.

Scholarly notes:

1 For more on the situation, see "Unwilling Partners: Conflict and Ambition in the Marriage of Peter II of Aragon and Marie de Montpellier" in Queenship and Political Power in Medieval and Early Modern Spain, ed. Theresa Earenfight, Ashgate, 2005, pp. 3-21. The article includes a translation.

Printed source:

Histoire Générale de Languedoc, ed. Dom CL Devic and Dom J Vaissette, Toulouse, 1879, v.8, 533-34

Date:

1205