Where There’s A Will There’s A Way 1: Raymond III of Toulouse

Posted on Categories Earlier Medieval Wills, Occasional Series

Remember when we went deep down the rabbit hole of tenth-century Toulouse? One of the documents I mentioned in that lengthy excursus was the will of Count Raymond III of Toulouse, son of Raymond Pons, from c. 961. This is one of a few wills available in our southern French evidence, and I quickly became fascinated by them, because there really aren’t any equivalents from the north. (The closest I can think of is that of Archbishop Bruno of Cologne.) So this post is to launch a new occasional series. As Sam can attest, the joint Google Doc where we draft these things is littered with translations and half-translations of West Frankish and Lotharingian wills, c. 800-1150 (Sam: yep – it’s a mess), and I’m going to be putting them out on the blog intermittently over the coming months. To start with, it’s Raymond himself, and this is a long one:

HGL V.111/xcvii

In the Lord’s name. The brief codicil which Count Raymond composed for the remedy of his soul, and for his father, and for his mother, and for all his followers.

  1. In the first place I donate to the abbey of Conques half of the allod of Orniac and of its churches and of all the peasants which are beholden to it; and the other half to the abbey of Figeac.
  2. Let Rainald hold the church of Cénac as long as he lives, and let Stephen hold that allod as long as he lives. After their deaths, let it go to the abbey of Saint-Sauveur de Figeac, and let Stephen and Rainald donate each year to the monks one repast in the middle of Lent. 
  3. Let the allod of Limanicus, which Grimald hold in fief, and Frodin has in fief from Raymond; and the church of Blanat go to Hugh son of Gerald as long as he lives. After his death, let it go to Saint-Pierre de Beaulieu; and let him donate to the monks each year one repast in the middle of Lent. 
  4. Let the allod of Pomayrols and the allod of Tourniac and the allod of Malavallis which I acquired from the monks of Aurillac and from its abbot go to that monastery of Saint-Pierre and Saint-Géraud.
  5. Let as much as is beholden to the allod of Vidaillac go to the church of Saint-Pierre de Marcilhac-sur-Célé.
  6. Let the allod of Les Alix and of Blanat go to Saint-Pierre de Beaulieu; and let Aimeric hold half of it as long as he lives, and let him donate to the monks each year one repast in the middle of Lent. 
  7. Of the allods which I acquired from my kinsman Count William, let a third part go to the [cathedral of] Notre-Dame de Rodez, another third part to [the abbey of] Saint-Amans [de Rodez] and the other third part to [the abbey of] Saint-Sernin [du Monastère]. 
  8. Let the church of Saint-Afrique and the allod of Pedreglagum which I acquired from Ramnulf go to [the cathedral of] Saint-Privat de Mende.
  9. Let the allod of la Rouquette, which I acquired from Pons, go to [the abbey of] Saint-Sauveur de Vabres; and let the allod which I acquired from Pons which Bernard of Nant holds in fief go to that abbey of Saint-Sauveur. 
  10. Let the allod of Canavolae and the allod of Cruzy and the allod of Pouzols and the allod of la Garrigue and the allod of Vinnac and the allod of Longalassa and the manses of Bonald and Serincus go to Abbot Pons [of Saint-Amans de Rodez] and after his death let them go to the abbey of Saint-Amans de Rodez. 
  11. Let Bishop Deusdedit [of Rodez] hold the allod and church of Solsac as long as he lives, and after his death let it go to Notre-Dame de Rodez.
  12.  And let the manses of Vabre go to Grimald; after his death, to Notre-Dame de Rodez.
  13. Let half of the abbey of Robiac-Rochessadoule go to [the cathedral of] Notre-Dame du Puy, and the other half be divided between the see of Uzès and the see of Viviers. 
  14. Let the allods which I have in Nîmes go to Bertha [of Italy] while she lives, and after her death let half go to [the cathedral of] Notre-Dame de Nîmes and the other half be divided between [the abbey of] Saint-Baudille [de Nîmes] and Saint-Gilles.
  15. Let the allod which I acquired from Senegund, which Viscount Rainald of Béziers holds in fief, go to Bertha [of Italy] while she lives, and after her death let it go to [the abbey of] Saint-Sauveur d’Aniane. 
  16. Let the allod of Plumberiae go to Bertha [of Italy] and Raymond my son while they live, and after their deaths let it go to Notre-Dame du Puy.
  17. Let the allod which I bought from Pons at the head of Au… Raymond has in fief, go to the see of Lodève, and let Bertha [of Italy] hold it while she lives.
  18. Let Bertha hold the allod of Loupian with the church and the allod of Lugis while she lives; after her death, let half go to [the cathedral of] Saint-Pierre de Maguelone, and the other half go to the see of Agde. 
  19. Let the allod of Pallas go to Raymond and Bertha while they live; after their deaths, let a third part, not including the church, go to [the abbey of] Saint-Thibéry; another third part with half the church go to the see of Béziers, and the other third part with half the church to the see of Narbonne.
  20. Let the allod of Caux go to Raymond and Bertha while they live; after their deaths let a third part go to [the abbey of] Saint-Chinian, another third part to [the abbey of] Saint-Pierre-aux-Liens de Joncels, and the other third part to [the abbey of] Sainte-Marie de Quarante.
  21. Let half of the allod of Caux which I acquired from Raymond go to Notre-Dame-et-Saint-Pons de Thomières; and the other half to Saint-Pierre de Caunes-Minervois. 
  22. Let a third part of the allod of Perpignan which I acquired from Atto go to Sant Feliu de Girona; another third part to Sant Pere de Rodes; another third part to the see of Elne. 
  23. Of the allods which belonged to Viscount Emile of Carcassonne which were in Narbonne go to [the cathedral of] Saint-Just-et-Saint-Pasteur [de Narbonne]’ and of the others which were in Carcassonne, let a third part go to [the abbey of] Sainte-Marie de La Grasse, another third part go to Saint-Jean de Montolieu, and the other third part to [the cathedral of] Saint-Nazaire de Carcassonne.
  24. Let the allod of Caux go to Saint-Jean de Montolieu.
  25. Let the allod of Villeneuve  go to [the church of] Notre-Dame de Sorèze.
  26. Let the allod of Brocellum go to Bernard son of Roger while he lives; and after his death let it go to Saint-Pierre de Caunes-Minervois. 
  27. Let the allod of Guitalens-l’Albarède with the church and with all the peasants which are beholden to it go to [the abbey of] Saint-Benoît-et-Saint-Vincent [de Castres]. 
  28. Let the allod which I have in Cavalium go to Saint-Benoît-et-Saint-Vincent, contradicted by no-one. 
  29. Let the allod of Bricius with the church go to Bishop Frothar [of Cahors] while he lives; after his death, let it go in common to Saint-Michel de Gaillac. 
  30. Let the allod of Frausseilles go to [the abbey of] Saint-Eugène; and let Berengar hold the church while he lives; after his death let it and his allod go to Saint-Eugène de Vieux.
  31. Let the church of Saint-Marcel  go to Bishop Bernard [of Albi] as an allod; let the allod of Saint-Marcel remain with [the abbey of] Saint-Salvi [d’Albi]; and after the death of Bishop Bernard let the church go to Saint-Salvi. 
  32. Let the allod of Loveziacus go to [the cathedral of] Sainte-Cécile [d’Albi]; and let Nodbert hold the church as long as he lives; after his death let it go to Sainte-Cécile. 
  33. Let the allod of Avocium go to [the church of] Sainte-Martiane d’Albi. 
  34. Let the allod of St Victor with the church go to Saint-Vincent; and let Abbot Ermengaud [of Castres] hold that allod and church as long as he lives; after his death, let it go to Saint-Vincent. 
  35. Let the allod of Vertus go to Bernard and his wife Adelaide. If one dies, let it go to the other; after both their deaths, let a third part go to Saint-Michel de Gaillac; another part to Saint-Sauveur de Conques; let the other third part go to [the abbey of] Saint-Théodard [de Montauban]. 
  36. Let the allod of la Roque-Sainte-Marguerite, which I acquired from Aimeric, go to [the church of] Saint-Léons.
  37. Let the allod of Mazières, which I acquired from Auger, go to [the abbey of] Saint-Benoît de Castres.
  38. Let the allod of Frodin with the church, and the allod of Portet-sur-Garonne  with the church, and the allod of Altidinger with the church, and the allod of Castelnau-d’Estrétefonds with the church, and the allod of Naucelle with the church, and the allod of Bonumfollum with the church go to [the abbey of] Saint-Sernin [de Toulouse]. 
  39. Let the allod of Roques and the allod of Ventenac and the allod of Rieumes, the allod of Les Bordes-sur-Arize with the church, the allod of Narveis with the chapel, the allod of Tornolis, Sanctus Simplicius, Moranorivus, Saxenis, Cabdinerium, Fredhos, these allods with their churches, go to [the cathedral of] Saint-Étienne de Toulouse and [the abbey of] Notre-Dame de la Daurade. 
  40. Let the allod of Surba go to [the abbey of] Saint-Volusien [de Foix].
  41. And let the allod of Carla-Bayle go to Roger son of Arnald; after his death, let it go to [the abbey of] Saint-Antonin de Pamiers.
  42. Let the allod of Muret and the allod of Salles-sur-Garonne go to [the abbey of] Saint-Pierre de Lézat.
  43. Let the allod of Carantvallis and the allod of Donadfrancium go to William Garcias as long as he lives; after his death, let it go to [the abbey of] Saint-Pierre de Condom and [the abbey of] Saint-Orens d’Auch.
  44. Let Bosomeus hold the allod of Saint-Martin-Belcassé [with] the church as long as he lives; after his death let it go to [the abbey of] Saint-Pierre de Moissac.
  45. Let the allod of Saint-Sauveur [de Castelsarrasin] with the church go to Saint-Pierre de Moissac; and let Jeremias the priest hold the church as long as he lives.
  46. Let the allod of Circiolis go to my nephew Hugh; after his death, let half go to Saint-Pierre de Moissac and the other half go to Arnald and his son Seguin (which they hold today); and after their death let it go to Saint-Pierre de Moissac. 
  47. Let the allod of Maimanicae, the allod of Paludis, the allod of Vallis Ardricus, the allod of Logius, the allod of Podiomedia, the allod of Lauberol; let these allods go to [the cathedral of] Saint-Étienne de Cahors, contradicted by no-one.
  48. Let Our son Hugh hold the allod of illa Guarda with the church and the allod of Losolarius while he lives; after his death, let it go to Saint-Étienne de Cahors, contradicted by no-one. 
  49. Let Aimeric hold the allod of Belpech while he lives; after his death, let it go to Saint-Étienne de Cahors.
  50. Let the allod of Sabadel and of Prandicile with the church go to Saint-Étienne, contradicted by no-one.
  51. The allod of Francou, to the one to whom he left it; after their deaths, let it go to Saint-Étienne de Cahors.
  52. Let a quarter part of the church of Saint-Cirq, and the allod which I acquired in Dieupentale go to Saint-Théodard.
  53. Let the allod of Mongius go to Saint-Théodard. Let the church go to Richer son of Isarn as an allod; after his death let it go to Saint-Théodard with another allod.
  54. Let the allod of Caucus with the church and the allod of Saint-Amans-le-Vieux with the church go to Saint-Antonin [de Pamiers].
  55. Let a third part of my other allods with I have in Agen go to Abbot Gozbert [of Moissac]; after his death, let it go to Saint-Pierre de Moissac. Let another third part be divided between Eysses and Saint-Vincent Fabricatus; let the other third part go to [the cathedral of] Saint-Caprais [d’Agen], with the exception of what Eustorgius holds; and after Eustorgius’ death let it go to Saint-Caprais. 
  56. Let the allod of Malopertusus with its vineyards, and the vineyards of Pogium Censaldum and the vineyards of Ortigeriae go to Hugh my nephew; after his death, let them go to his brother Raymond. 
  57. Let the fief which Sancho has go to that Sancho as an allod, except the vineyard of Pogiocetum Scanniosum. 
  58. Let the allod of illus Boschetus go to Sainte-Rufine.
  59. Let the allod of Marca go to Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Géraud de Chirac.
  60. Let the allod of Léojac and the allod of Fayssac and the allod of Canguise with their churches, and the allod of Valence go to Viscount Adhemar of Toulouse, on the condition that he confirms my almsgiving, and if he has a son from a women who ought to inherit his inheritance, that allod of Léojac should go to him. After Adhemar’s death, let the allod of Fayssac go to Saint-Antonin; and after Adhemar’s death let the allod of Canguise go to Saint-Théodard. And if Adhemar does not have a son of a woman who ought to inherit his inheritance, let the allod of Léojac go to Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Géraud de Chirac.
  61. Let the allod of Brassac got to my son Raymond and my son Hugh, on the condition that he should hold the castle and Arnald and Isarn the fief which they have from that allod, if they do not make such a forfeiture as contradicts the one thing they should not have from that fief. 
  62. Let the allod of ipsum Poietum and the allod of of Génébrières go to Raymond and Amalwin his brother; and after Adhemar’s death, let the allod of Balentii go to them; and after their deaths let it go to Saint-Nauphary. 
  63. Let the castle of Saint-Etienne-de-Tulmont with the allod of Albefeuille-Lagarde and with the church, and the allod of Gasseras with the church; and the allod of Verlhac-Tescou with the church and with all the appurtenances there go to Raymond and Hugh while they live; and if they die, let them go to Saint-Théodard.
  64. Let the castle which they call Gandalou with the allod of Sancta Maria go to Raymond my son and Hugh my son; after their deaths, let them go to Saint-Pierre de Moissac.
  65. Let the castle which they call Cas go to Bertha [of Italy] with the allod of Arduin and with the church and with the allod of Antiagus and with its churches; and after her death, let it go to Raymond her son; and if Raymond dies, let it go to Bernard and his wife Adelaide; and if a male child appears to them both, let it go to him; and if they die having not had a child, let it go to Hugh; and if Hugh dies, let the allod of Antiagus go to Saint-Étienne de Cahors; and let the allod of Arduin with half of the castle go to Saint-Pierre de Moissac. 
  66. Let the allod of Aulas with the church and with all the peasants who are beholden there go to Bernard and his wife Adelaide; and after their deaths let it go to their children; and if a child does not appear to them to them, let it go to Vabres and Aniane and [the abbey of] Nant, and let them divide it equally. 
  67. Let the part which I, Raymond, have in the castle of Gourdon and in the allod of Gourdon go to Aimeric, and to Gerald his son, and to the sons of Gerald; and let the allod of Sanctus Amerandus with all its appendages similarly go to Aimeric and to Gerald his son and to the sons of Gerald; and if they die, let it be divided between Saint-Étienne de Cahors and Saint-Pierre de Marcilhac-sur-Célé and [the abbey of] Sainte-Marie de Souillac; and if Raymond dies, let Aimeric or Gerald or the sons of Gerald, whichever live, give 500 shillings to my nephew Hugh; and if Hugh dies, to Saint-Pierre de Marcilhac-sur-Célé. 
  68. Let the castle of Caganio with its allod, and with the church of Laurgus, and with the allod which I have in Camboulan and with the allod of Nantoin with the church, and with the allod of Marcilium with the church of Saint-Simplice, excepting the new church and the manse where the church is, go to Hugh and Ermengaud his brother; and let Stephen and his son hold that church of Saint-Simplice in fief while they live. After their death, let the allod of Laurgus and the allod of Nantoin be divided between Saint-Étienne de Cahors and Notre-Dame au Cimetière. 
  69. Let the castle of Parisot with the allod of Terssac with the church, and the church of Asinieyras, with the allod of Fréjairolles and with the allod of Villeneuve and with the church, and with the allod of Torrerius and with that of Félines-Minervois and with the church go to Hugh and Ermengaud his brother; and let Malbert hold the castle of Parisot in fief from Hugh and from Ermengaud while he lives; and after their deaths, let these allods be divided between Figeac and Marcilhac-sur-Célé and Cahors and Saint-Antonin and Albi, and let them divide them equally, excepting the castle of Parisot and the allod of Taxairolae and the church of Asinierrae and the allod of Fréjairolles. And if Ermengaud dies without a son, let them go to these saints; and if he has a son of a woman, let them go to him; and after the death of this son of Ermengaud, let them go to these saints. 
  70. Let the castle of Aubin and the allod of Signols with the church and the allod of Brandonnet and the other Brandonnenel with its churches and the allod of Parizot with the church go to my sons which I, Raymond, have from Oduin’s daughter; and let the allod of Compolibat with the church, and the manse of Cransac, go to my daughter, whom I have from Oduin’s daughter; and if she does not have a legitimate male child, let them go to her brothers; and after their deaths, let it go to Notre-Dame de Rodez; and if she has a son of a spouse, let it go to him, and after the death of that son let it go to Notre-Dame de Rodez; and if my sons from Oduin’s daughter die without sons, let the allod of Brandonnet with the church of Notre-Dame go to [the abbey of] Sainte-Foy de Conques; and let the other Brandonnedel to Saint-Sernin; and let the allod of Parizot and the other allod of Signols and the allod of l’Albaret go to Saint-Amans, and let the abbot of Saint-Amans give in exchange to Saint-Sauveur de Vabres the worth of that allod of Signols so that he can get something closer to Vabres; and if they have a son of a woman, let it go to him; and after the death of this son let them go to these saints. 
  71. Let the allod of Lherm go to Ingelbert, and after his death let it go to Saint-Pierre de Moissac, and let Ingelbert give each year to the monks of Moissac one repast in the middle of Lent. 
  72. Let the allod of Elvas go to Jaldebert with the church, and with all the peasants who are beholden there, on the condition that if he has a son of a woman, let it go to him; and if he does not have a son of a woman, let it go to his brother Grimald; and after their deaths, let it go in common to Saint-Pierre de Marcilhac-sur-Célé. 
  73. Let the allod of Léojac which they call Sancta Affra go to Stephen; after his death, let it go to one of his sons, whichever he wishes to donate it to; and after their deaths, let it go to Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Géraud d’Aurillac. 
  74. Let the allod of Loubejac, excepting the church, go to Genesius; and illa Rocha be divided between Aimeric and Genesius; and let Genesius hold it in fidelity to Aimeric; and if Genesius has a son of a woman, let it go to him; and if he does not have a son, let it go to Gerald his brother; and after their deaths, let it go to Saint-Julien de Brioude. And let the church of Loubejac go to Walbert; after his death, let it go to Saint-Étienne de Cahors. 
  75. Let the allod of Livernon go to Raymond son of Humbert; after his death, let it go to the new church at Marcilium.
  76. Let the allod of Ginals go to Bernard son of Humbert, on the condition that Bernard and Raymond and their mother confirm my alms; and after Bernard’s death, let the allod of Ginals go to Saint-Amans de Rodez. 
  77. Let the castle of…, the castle of Servières, the castle of Saint-Laurent, the new castle at Peyrens, the castle of Graulhet, the castle of Mala-Morte on the banks of the Agout, the castle of Montdragon, the castle of Ventajou, the castle of Monestiés, go to Raymond my son; and if Raymond dies intestate, let it go to Our kinsmen. 
  78. Let the allod of Loupiac go to Bishop Deusdedit; after his death, let it go to Notre-Dame de Rodez.
  79. Let the arrangement which I had in the allod of Sanis, which Ermengaud made with me, go to Saint-Michel de Gaillac. 

Let these abovewritten alms be made over to Lord God and the abovewritten saints for the remedy of my soul, and for all my sins, and for my father and my mother and for my brothers and for all my kinsmen and for all my followers, on the condition that no cleric, and nor any layman, nor any woman, should take, nor sell, nor steal from these abovewritten saints; nor should any arrangement through which one of these saints might lose their rights endure firm and stable for all time. Amen. 

Let my almsmen donate all my mobile goods to Lord God and to saints, and to priests, and to the poor, for my soul.

Sign of Raymond who asked this brief to be written and confirmed. Sign of Jalbert. Sign of Genesius. Sign of Bernard. Sign of William. Sign of Aimeric. Sign of Gerard.

So this is a big old document. (In fact, taking it off the draft page has done a reasonable job of cleaning things up by itself…) There’s a lot of places on it. As you have probably noticed, I can’t identify them. Even more, some of the identifications I have made have come from all over the place, and others are contradictory. If you know the identification of any of these places, or have a better identification for any of them, do let me know. Even with what we’ve got, you might be wondering what this will looks like on a map. Well, this is a double whammy of experimentation. If WordPress is playing ball, hopefully below here you will be seeing a map of Raymond’s will (the red markers are beneficiary institutions; the blue markers are the estates donated):

So you can see from the blue markers that the spread of estates is pretty big, covering pretty much the whole of Gothia. Some of them – like Perpignan and Roubiac – definitely feel vestigial, and this affects the list of beneficiaries as well in ways we’ll get back to. The main cluster is around Montauban, Albi and the Rouergue. The obvious places estates are missing are around Toulouse and Nîmes, especially the latter. This has been used (going back to the prosopography for a moment) to argue that Raymond was count of Rouergue and not Toulouse. Leaving aside the question of whether or not arguing about specific comital jurisdictions is particularly worth doing – it’s not – it makes a certain degree of sense that Raymond isn’t alienating estates right in the core of his heartland.

Weightier is the fact that most of the personal connections we can identify in this will come from that more northerly kind of area: the bishops of Cahors, Albi and Rodez and abbots from Rodez and Moissac. However, we can make two points here. The first is that the lay officeholders that Raymond is concerned with come from further south, the viscounts of Narbonne, Carcassonne and – above all – Toulouse. The particular concern with Adhemar of Toulouse confirming Raymond’s donations suggests he’s close to home. The northerners, on the other hand, seem to me to be explicable if we think of the events after Raymond III’s death. At some point in the following decade, Raymond’s son Raymond the Disinherited was kicked out of Toulouse by Raymond the Usurper of Rouergue – perhaps Raymond III was trying to shore up his support through generous gift-giving. This also seems like a relatively short list of people anyway – most cathedrals here get mentioned as institutions rather than in the form of individual bishops. This might further suggest that these three bishops specifically needed to be bought off…

Turning to the institutional beneficiaries, again the spread is pretty impressive. It is admittedly somewhat overinflated by the vestigial side of things, though: the three beneficiaries on the Spanish March, who split Perpignan between them, feel a bit like Raymond is divesting himself of an appendix. We can see in Clause 70 that Raymond is entirely au fait with getting rid of inconvenient property, and this may be what is happening here.

We can also see a couple of interesting outliers: Auch, Condom (stop sniggering at the back) and Agen on one side; and Viviers and Uzès on the other. The Gascon side is pretty explicable, insofar as Raymond III’s mother was a Gascon princess. The Provençal side, though, seems to me to be a bit underplayed, if anything: Raymond’s wife Bertha was the niece of Hugh of Arles, and had absolutely vast estates across Provence. Clearly her husband didn’t control any of these… Other interesting absences include anywhere in the sphere of influence of the Counts of Périgord, to whom Raymond was related (the Count William mentioned in the will was probably one of this family) and who had pursued Church reform quite heavily in the 940s.

However, leaving these aside this seems like a really good guide to the Toulousain sphere of influence in the tenth century: nowhere much west of Moissac, south of Lagrasse, east of Nîmes or north of Brioude and Beaulieu. We’ve noted before it was a big deal when Raymond Pons showed up at Brioude to be acclaimed as duke in 936, and this puts that case visually: Brioude is right at the bleeding edge of his territories. In fact, the spots where Toulousain influence in this will overlaps with their neighbours is pretty interesting: we’ve already commented on the political significance of Brioude and Beaulieu, and in the south the importance of Lagrasse and Lézat is also worth commenting on. (In fact, when I was looking at Raymond dux Gothorum Abbot Warin of Lézat was always hanging around juuust offscreen…)

One final thing to mention is how utilitarian this act is. It may be because we’re in the pays du droit écrit here, but this act is very deliberate about chopping up Raymond’s estates – no pious preamble or lengthy meditiation of political-religious philosophy. It’s another noticeable difference from the north, and one which makes this read to me more like, say, an estate survey than a charter.

It is worth saying that this is, to date, the biggest will I’ve seen. However, small can be beautiful – in a week or two we’ll be dealing with the will of Roger the Old of Carcassonne, and we’ll see how things changed in fifty years…