Marie of Montpellier
Overview
Biography
(See also Genealogical Table(s): 2.1, 2.4.3, 3)Marie was by birth heiress and later Sovereign Lady of Montpellier and by her marriages Viscountess of Marseille, Countess of Comminges and Queen of Aragon. Marie was the daughter of William VIII of Montpellier (died 1202) and Eudoxie Comnene, a niece of the Byzantine emperor Manuel I Comnenus, whom her father repudiated; she retired to the monastery of Aniane and William married Inez of Castile in 1187. Marie was married three times: first at age 12 in 1194 to Barral, viscount of Marseille, with a dowry of 100 silver marks; Barral died shortly thereafter. Her second marriage, in 1197, was to Bernard de Comminges; when she married him she renounced her rights to the town of Montpellier in favor of her half-brother William IX, in exchange for a dowry of 200 marks of silver. Marie’s marriage to Bernard was annulled in 1201 because of consanguinity and polygamy (his first marriage had not been properly dissolved), and Marie married Peter, king of Aragon, on June 15, 1204. William IX succeeded his father in Montpellier in 1202, but when the city revolted against him, Peter assumed the rule of the city. From her marriage with Bernard, Marie had two daughters, Mathilde (who by marriage became Viscountess de la Barthe) and Petronille (by marriage Countess of Astarac). Marie and Peter had two children, a daughter Sancha, who died very young, and a son, James I, who inherited Aragon and Montpellier. Peter made many attempts to get out of the marriage, but Marie fought them, and ultimately in January, 1213, the pope, Innocent III, found for her.
Letters from Marie of Montpellier
A letter to Bernard of Comminges (1197 December)A letter to City of Montpellier (1204, August 15)
A letter to Marie of Montpellier (1204)
A letter to Men of Montpelliers (1204, June)
A letter to People of Montpellier (1204, March 1)
A letter to People of Montpellier (1205, June 13)
A letter to Peter of Aragon (1205, September)
A letter to Public (1197, December)
A letter to Public (1205)
A letter to Public (1209, July 28)
A letter to Public (1211, October 6)
A letter to Public (1212, March 10)
A letter to Public (1213, April 20)
A letter to Raymond, bishop of l'Ouche, and Arnald, bishop elect of Narbonne (1212, April 27)
A letter to William, bishop of Maguelone (1208, April 13)
A letter to William, bishop of Maguelone, and 12 men of Montpellier (1204)
Letters to Marie of Montpellier
A letter from Arnalt Mascaron (1201)A letter from Baron and Knights of Rieumes (1201)
A letter from Bernard of Comminges (1199)
A letter from Innocent III (1212, June 6)
A letter from Innocent III, pope (1213, January 19)
A letter from Knights of Murel (1201)
A letter from Marie to Bernard of Comminges
A letter from Men of Samatano (1201)
A letter from Peter of Aragon (1204)
A letter from Pontius Peter of Agantico (1204, August)