A letter from Ermengard of Narbonne, viscountess of Narbonne (1164)

Translated letter:

To her most excellent lord Louis, by grace of God most vigorous king of the French, E[rmengard]. viscountess of Narbonne, his devoted and loyal woman, [the wish that he] be saved by him who gives salvation to kings. From the custom of our predecessors and equally from reason we have learned that we should turn to certain help when necessity demands. That is why, since I have much honor from you and confess myself to be especially yours, I write to you confidently as to my highest and dearest lord about my affairs. Your highness will have learned that a certain knight from our land, by name Berengar of Puisserguier, will soon arrive in your court. Who, as all those in our province know, while he should be subject to my jurisdiction, driven by excessive pride and inconstancy of spirit, tries by his lies to steal the grace of your crown from me and, to the lessening and shame of my right, to withdraw from my power through your protection.(1) Therefore I implore your majesty beseechingly that you give little faith to his deceptive suggestions but, as is fitting and just, you send him back to me under whose authority he rests, mocked in his comments and frustrated in his foolish hope, if it please you. Truly, if you doubt my words, order me and him by letter to come in the presence of your bishops whom you have there, namely of Maguelone and others. You have charged me that I have a firm peace with the count of Toulouse and that I serve him: which I have done and with your grace, two weeks after the Assumption of St. Mary, I shall follow him armed against his enemies, and now and always, unless he ends it, I shall love him firmly for love of you. May my lord fare well.

Original letter:

Excellentissimo domino suo Ludovico, Dei gratia strenuissimo Francorum Regi, E. Narbonensis vicecomitssa, ejus fidelis et devota femina, ab eo salvari qui dat salutem Regibus. Ex praedecessorum nostrorum consuetudine et ratione pariter didicimus, ut ingruente necessitate ad certa subsidia convertamur. Inde est quod, quia a vobis multum honoris habeo, et me vestram specialiter esse fateor, vobis sicut summo et carissimo domino meo de negotiis meis fiducialiter scribo. Noverit itaque celsitudo vestra, quemdam militem de terra nostra, nomine Berengarium de Podio-Soregario, curiam vestram in proximo fore aditurum. Qui, omnibus de provincia nostra scientibus, cum meae debeat jurisdictioni subesse, nimia animi levitate et superbia ductus, coronae vestrae gratiam mihi subripere, et ad juris mei diminutionern et dedecus, mendaciis suis per tuitionem vestram potestati meae molitur se subtrahere. Majestatem ergo vestram suppliciter imploro, quatinus ejus subdolis suggestionibus fidem minime adhibeatis, sed, sicut decet et justum est, commentis suis delusum, et spe inani frustratum, ad me, cujus potestatis est, si placet , remittatis. Verumtamen, si de dictis meis ambigitis, me et ipsum in praesentiam episcoporum vestrorum, quos in partibus vestris habetis, Magalonensis videlicet et aliorum, per literas vestras venire praecipiatis. Mandastis mihi, ut cum Comite Tolosano pacem firmam haberem, et ei servirem: quod et feci, et gratia vestri, x v post Assumptionem beatae Maria, armata manu contra hostes suos eum sum secutura, et nunc, et semper, nisi per eum steterit, amore vestri firmiter dilectura. Valeat dominus meus.

Historical context:

Ermengard asks the king to support her claim to jurisdiction over one of her men, Berengar de Puiserguier, who refuses to acknowledge her authority and is appealing to the king. Berengar had raised a toll on one of his roads and Ermengard had summoned him and told him to stop, with the support of king Louis, but Berengar reportedly ignored her and the king’s letters, got the support of the Count and Countess of Toulouse (Louis's sister and brother-in-law) and with their help a favorable finding from the king. In her support, pope Alexander III wrote warmly of her devotion to the papacy and the church (HGF 15.818, #135) as did cardinal Jacinth  (HGF 16.89, #273).  Political reality also weighed in, leading to a royal assertion of her authority (HGF, 16.91, #280, Epistolae 18.html).   See Cheyette, Ermengard of Narbonne, 213-18 and Dom. C. Devic and Dom. J. Vaissete, Histoire Générale de Languedoc (Toulouse: Privat, 1872) v.3.844-46.

Scholarly notes:

(1) Louis’s sister, Constance, countess of Toulouse, also wrote to her brother about this case, but supporting Berengar’s petition which she describes as a request for liberty from the countess because of injuries, HGF16, ep.278 (Epistolae  6.html). William, lord of Montpellier wrote in Ermengard’s favor that Berengar owed service to her as he had to her ancestors, ep.276, while Raymond, duke of Narbonne, said that Berengar was “your liege and our friend” and “has many enemies for our sake,” ep.277.

Printed source:

HGF16 ep.275, p.90, which dates it 1164

Date:

1164