A letter from Marie of Montpellier (1211, October 6)

Translated letter:

In the name of the father and son and holy spirit. I, Marie, lady of Montpellier, who was daughter of G. of Montpellier and of the lady empress his wife, in my good memory and with sound mind I make this my testament,… First, I bequeath my body and my soul to God and to blessed Mary and to the monastery of Valmagne with a thousand melgoriens 1. and so that the monks for love of God may remember my soul each year. For love of God I bequeath to the monastery of Blessed Felix of Mount Cevio two-thousand melgoriens from which an office should be purchased, with which in the same monastery for all time one priest may be established who always for my soul and that of my father and my mother and all of my descendants and all the faithful…to the same monastery I leave fifty soliidos 2. for my banquet. I leave one-thousand solidos to the chapel of the castrum of Montpellier which was built in honor of the blessed Mary…. I leave to St. Mary of the Tablets of Montpellier one silver chalice of one-hundred gold coins and one silver image of three marks and one wax image of fifty pounds and another for my son of twenty pounds, and I leave to blessed Mary of Alba one wax image of thirty pounds and to St. Mary of Rocha Amador another of thirty pounds and to St. Anthony another of thirty pounds and to St. James of Campostela one silk cloth of six pounds and to St. Mary of Vallevirido one ox and to St. Roman one ox. I bequeath to my goddaughter, daughter of Raymond of Certernices five-hundred melgoriens and to my nurse Marie three-hundred solidos and to her son Michael five-hundred solidos. I bequeath to my lady-in-waiting Ricssend five-hundred solidos… I wish and command to clothe one hundred paupers with tunics, undergarments, breeches, and with shoes. To another hundred paupers I order to give a banquet on one day. To the monastery of blessed Felix of Cadins I bequeath three-hundred solidos and to the monastery of the Holy Crosses one chalice of silver of two-hundred solidos. I leave to Marcoto if he does not become a knight five-hundred solidos… to the monastery of Reschis I leave one mark of silver and to the monks of St. Genesius fifty solidos. To the hospice of the Holy Spirit twenty solidos; to all other hospices of Montpellier, to each one, ten solidos and to each church of Montpellier ten solidos and to St. Mary of Xavelte twenty solidos and to St. Mary the Beautiful twenty solidos and to the lepers of the bridge of Newcastle twenty solidos. To St. Salvatore of Ainane one wax image of thirty pounds and to Vitalis the chaplain two-hundred solidos beyond what I owe to him. To the church of blessed John of Perpignan one mark of silver. To the hospice of paupers of Perpignan fifty solidos, to blessed Mary of Aspirano fifty solidos, to blessed Mary of Podio one mark of silver. I bequeath, for my wrongs and sins to be restored and for remission of the aforesaid and payment of all my debts, all the profit, revenue and income that in ten full years will result and come out of the baths of Montpellier and from the Esmer 3. and Prata 4. of Lattes I bequeath to my daughter Matilda by right of establishment and in the name of heredity one-hundred marks of silver from those two-hundred marks of silver that her father owes to me. I leave the other one-hundred marks of silver that remain to my daughter Petrona by right of establishment and in the name of heredity and so that my daughters may be well content with these things that I bequeath to them from all my property. I establish James, my son whom I have from lord Peter, by God’s grace king of Aragon, as heir of all my honor and all my property… and if he will die without legitimate children, God forbid, all should revert to my daughter Matilda, his sister, and to her legitimate children. But if she will die without legitimate children it will revert to my daughter Petrona if she will have a husband 5. and to her legitimate children. But if she will die without legitimate heirs or will be in a religious order it will revert to R. Gaucelmo of Lunello, and if he will die without legitimate heirs it will revert to R. de Rocafolio, and if he will die without children it will revert to A. of Rocafolio his brother, and if he will die without legitimate heirs it will revert to Berengar William, and if he will die without children it will revert to Berengar of Podio Sorigerio, and if he will die without legitimate heirs it will revert to my nearest relative. This is my final will… This was enacted the second nones of October in the year of the Lord’s incarnation 1211. Sign of lady Marie who commanded that this testament be made…. Sign of Bernard abbot of the Holy Crosses. Sign of Raymond, monk, priest. Sign of Arnal, priest of Aspirano. Sign of Vitalis, priest. Sign+ of Raymond, Centiances, knight. Sign+ of Peter of Verona, knight. Sign+ of William Michael of Montpellier. Pontius of Baioles, public writer wrote these things by the command of lady Marie of Montpellier and erased and corrected on this same line and made this sign+.6.

Original letter:

In nomine Patris et fllii et spiritus sancti. Ego Maria, domina. Montis pessulani, qui fui filia G. de Montis pessulano et domine Imperatricis uxoris eius in mea bona memoria et in meo pleno sensu facio hoc meum testamentnm,... In primis relinqno corpus meum et animam meam Deo et Beate Marie et monasterio de Valle magna cum mille solidis melgarienses et ut monachi amore Dei annuatim habeant memoriam anime mee. Lego amore Dei monasterio Beati Felicis de Monte Cevio II mille solidos melg. ex quibus ematur honor cum quo in eodem monasterio omni tempore instituatur I. sacerdotem qui semper pro anima mea et patris mei et matris mee tocius que progenie mee et omnium fidelium... eidem monasterio relinquo L solidos pro meo conuiuio. Dimitto capelle castri de Monte pessulano qui ad honorem Beate Marie est constructa mille solidos... Relinqno Sancte Marie de Tabulis de Monte pessulano I. calicem argenti de C. solidis et I. magestatem argenti de III. marchis et I. magestatem de Cera de L. libris et aliam pro filio meo de XX libras de cera que dimitto Beate Marie de Albe I. magestatem de cera de XXX libras et Sancta Marie de rocha amador aliam de XXX libras et Sancto Antonio aliam de XXX libras, et Sancto Jacobo de Compustela I. pannum de ceda de VI. libras et Sancte Marie de Valle Virido I. bouem et Saneto Romano 1. bouem. Lego filiole mee Raimundi de Certernices filie D. solidos melgorienses et nutrice mee Marie CCC. solidos et filio eius Michaeli D. solidos. Lego donzelle mee Ricssendi D. solidos... volo ac iubeo induere C. pauperes de tunicis de interulis de femoralibus et de sabbatis. Aliis C. pauperibus iubeo dare comuiuium una die. Monasterio beati Felicis de Cadins lego CCC. solidos et Monasterio de Sanctis Crucibus I. calicem argenti de CC. solidos. Relinqno Marquoto si miles factns non fuerit D. solidos... Monasterio de Reschis dimitto I. marcham argenti et monachibns Sancti Genesii L. solidos. Hospitali Sancti Spiritus XX solidos; omnibus aliis hospitalibus Montis pessulani unicuiquc X solidos et unicuique ecclesiarum Montis pessulani X. solidos et Sancte Marie de Xauelte XX solidos et Sancte Marie labela XX solidos et leprosis Pontis de Castro nouo XX solidos. Et Sancto Saluatori de Ainana I. maiestatem de cera de XXX. libras et Vitali cappellano CC. solidos ultra illud quod ei debeo. Ecclesie beati Johannis de Pirpiniano I. marcham argenti. Hospitali pauperum de Perpiniano L. so lidos, Beate Marie de Aspirano L. solidos, Beate Marie de Podio I. marcham argenti. Relinquo pro meis iniuriis et delictis restituendis et pro soluenda tota predicta mea manumission e et omnia debita mea omnes fructus et redditus ac prouentus que in X. annis completis prouenient et exibunt de balneis Montis pessulani et de Esmer et de Prata de Latas... Lego filie mee Matilde iure institucionis et nomine hereditatis C. marchas argenti ex illis CC. marchis argenti quas pater eius michi debet. Alias uero C. marchas argenti quas remanent dimitto filie mee Petrone iure institucionis et nomine hereditatis et ut ipse filie mee cum his que eis lego sint bene contente, de omnibus bonis meis. Jacobum filium meum quem habeo a domino Petro Dei gratia Rege Aragonis instituo heredem totius mei honoris et omnium bonorum... et si ex illo decesserit absque legitimis infantibus quod absit, reuertatur totum Matilde filie mee sorori sue et infantibus suis legitimis. Si uero de ipsa decesserit absque legitimis infantibus reuertatur filiee mee Peirone si maritum habuerit et infantibus suis legitimis. Si autem ex ea decesserit absque legitimis aut in ordine fuerit reuertatur R. Gaucelmo de Lunello et si ex ipso decesserit absque legitimis reuertatur R. de Roca folio et si ex ipsis decesserit absque liberis reuertatur A. de Roca folio fratris eius, et si ex ipso decesserit absque legitimis reuertatur Berengario Guillelmo et si ex eo decesserit absque liberis reuertatur Berengario de Podio Sorigerio et si ex ipso decesserit absque legitimis, reuertatur propinquiori ex genere meo. Hec est mea extrema uoluntas... Actum est hoc II. nonas octobris anno Incarnacionis domini MCC°XI°.—Signum domine Marie qui hoc testamentum fieri iussi...=Signum Bernardi abbatis de Sanc+tis Orucibus. — Sigum Raimundi sacerdote monachi.—Signum Arnalli presbiteri de Aspirano. =V. signum Vitalis sacerdos. Sig+num Raimundi de Centiances militis. Sig+num Petri de veruna militis. Sig+num Guillelmi michael de montepesulano. Poncius de Baioles scriptor publicus hec scripsit mandato domine Marie montispessulani et rasit et emendauit in hac eadem linea et hoc sig+num fecit.

Historical context:

This is Marie’s second will. It is not complete, see ellipses. Marie’s husband was still trying to have their marriage annulled, and Marie does not call herself queen in this document. She does name her daughters as heirs after her son and the legacies are generally smaller, according to J.M. Lacarra, editor or the first will.

Scholarly notes:

1. Alan Stahl, Curator of Numismatics at the Firestone Library, Princeton, identified solidos melgarienses as the most common coin of Southern France, minted by the bishops of Maguelonne, a “money of account not represented by actual coins.” The Melgorien deniers were issued by the Bishops of Maguelonne, as Counts of Melgueil. They were the official coinage of Montpellier, so successful that it supplanted other independent coinages of the Bas-Languedoc. See Peter Spufford, Money and its Uses in Medieval Europe (Cambridge: 1988), 191-2.
2. Alan Stahl says the solidus is the equivalent of 12 pennies, 1000 solidi are worth 50 melgorien pounds. Mireille Castaing-Sicard gives the value of roughly 50 solidos/sous to one mark of pure silver in the late 12th and early 13th centuries. See "Monnaies feodales et circulation monetaire en Languedoc, X-XIIIe siècles" in Cahiers de L’Association Marc Bloch de Toulouse (1961)/4.31.
3. Esmer, according to J.M.Lacarra, is the right to coin money, “Les testaments de la reine Marie de Montpellier,” Annales du Midi (1978). 90.112.
4. Prata may refer to silver, as in Portuguese or Gallego-Portugues, which seems more likely than "fields" as the Latin would suggest.
5. The editor Miret y Sans notes that Petrona de Comenge had not yet married count Centulo de Astarac.
6 The + indicates a seal. The text and translation were provided by Ashleigh Imus.

Manuscript source:

ACA, perg. Pedro I, #407.

Printed source:

“Itinerario del rey Pedro I de Cataluna II en Aragon” by Joaquin Miret y San. Boletin de la Real Academia de Buenas Letras de Barcelona 7.25. March 1907 pp. 15-37.

Date:

1211, October 6