Raymond VII, comte de Toulouse

Raymond VII, Count of Toulouse was born on July 1197 in Saint Gilles, Gard, Languedoc, France to Raymond VI, Count of Toulouse and Joan Plantagenet, Queen of Sicily. Raymond married (1.) Sancha of Aragon on March 1210/11 and had a child: Joan of Toulouse. They divorced on 1241. Raymond married (2.) Marguerite de Lusignan on 1243. They divorced on August 3, 1249. He passed away on September 27, 1249 and is buried in Fontevraud Abbey, Fontevraud l'Abbaye, Anjou, France.

Raymond VII, Count of Toulouse is my 26th great uncle.

Note: Raymond VII of Saint-Gilles (July 1197 – 27 September 1249) was Count of Toulouse, Duke of Narbonne and Marquis of Provence from 1222 until his death.

Raymond was born in Beaucaire, Gard, the son of Raymond VI of Toulouse and Joan of England. Through his mother, he was a grandson of Henry II of England and a nephew of kings Richard I and John of England

Raymond VII married firstly, in March 1211, Sancha of Aragon, the daughter of King Alfonso II of Aragon. They had one daughter, Joan, and were divorced in 1241. He was engaged to Sanchia of Provence, but she married Richard of Cornwall instead.[1] In 1243 Raymond married Margaret of Lusignan, the daughter of Hugh X of Lusignan and Isabella of Angoulême. They had no children and were divorced on 3 August 1245 after an inquisition found their marriage to be consanguineous. He then tried to get support of Blanche, Queen mother of France to marry Beatrice of Provence, who had just become Countess of Provence, but Beatrice married Blanche's son Charles instead.[2]

During the Albigensian Crusade in May 1216, he set out from Marseille and besieged Beaucaire, which he captured on 24 August. He fought to reconquer the county of Toulouse from Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester and later Simon's son Amaury VI of Montfort.

He succeeded his father in 1222. At the moment of his accession, he and the new count of Foix, Roger Bernard II the Great, besieged Carcassonne. On 14 September 1224, the Albigensian Crusaders surrendered and the war came to an end, each southern lord making peace with the church. However, in 1225, the council of Bourges excommunicated him and launched a crusade against him, the king of France, Louis VIII, called the Lion, wanting to renew the conflict in order to enforce his royal rights in Languedoc. Roger-Bernard tried to keep the peace, but the king rejected his embassy and the counts of Foix and Toulouse took up arms again. The war was largely a discontinuous series of skirmishes and, in January 1229, Raymond, defeated, was forced to sign the Treaty of Paris (also known as the "Treaty of Meaux"), by which he ceded the former viscounty of Trencavel to the king and his daughter Joan was forced to marry Alphonse, brother of the new king, Louis the Lion's successor, Louis IX.

When Raymond died, Alphonse became count of Toulouse, and after Alphonse's death the county was annexed by France. Raymond VII was buried beside his mother Joan in Fontevrault Abbey.

Sources:

• 1. [http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=gonefishi...]
• 2. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_VII,_Count_of_Toulouse]

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• http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/TOULOUSE.htm#RaymondVIIdied1249

2. RAYMOND de Toulouse (Beaucaire, Gard Jul 1197-Millau, Aveyron 27 Sep 1249, bur Fontevraud). The Annals of Burton record the birth in 1197 of “Reimundum suum primogenitum” to “Johanna comitissa de Sancto Egidio, soror Ricardi regis Angliæ”[623]. The Chronicle of Guillaume de Puylaurens records that Raymond was born in 1197 at "Beaucaire dans le diocese d´Arles"[624]. A "Chronique en Languedocien, tirée du cartulaire de Raymond le Jeune comte de Toulouse" records the birth in Jul 1197 of "R. coms de Tholosa fils de la regina Johanna"[625]. The testament of "Raymundus…dux Narbone, comes Tolosæ, marchio Provinciæ" is dated 11 Sep 1209 and names "…Raymundo filio meo…"[626]. "Raymundus...comes iuvenis Tolosæ, filius Raymundi comitis Tolosæ et reginæ Johannæ uxoris quondam eiusdem" donated property to "Raymundo de Rochafolio" by charter dated 5 Jan 1217[627]. He succeeded his father in 1222 as RAYMOND VII Comte de Toulouse. Emperor Friedrich II granted the county of Venaissin to Comte Raymond by charter dated Sep 1234[628]. The testament of "R…comes Tholose, marchio Provincie, filius quondam domine regine Johanne", dated 23 Sep 1249, chooses burial at Fontevraud, and appoints "filiam nostram Johannam uxorem…Alfonsi comitis Pictavensis" as his heir[629]. Matthew Paris records the death in 1249 of "comes Sancti Egidii sive Thosolanus Reimundus", specifying that he was "miles strenuus et circumspectus et domino Papæ amicissumus" and that he requested burial at Fontevrault at the feet of "regis Ricardi cuius consanguineus erat"[630]. The Annales Sancti Victoris Massilienses record the death in 1249 of "Raymundus comes Tolosanus"[631]. A manuscript chronicle records the death in 1249 of "D. Raymundus comes Tolesanus"[632]. A "Chronique en Languedocien, tirée du cartulaire de Raymond le Jeune comte de Toulouse" records the death "lo quart dia en la fi de Setembre en Dimenge" in 1249" of "R. coms de Tholosa fils de la Regina Joanna as Amihau"[633]. An early 13th century genealogy of the comtes de Toulouse written by Bernardus Guidonis records the death "1249 VI Kal Oct...apud Amiliacum" of "Raymundus ultimus comes Tolosanus" aged 52 and his burial "apud Fontem-Ebrauldum"[634].

Betrothed (Oct 1206) to Infanta doña SANCHA de Aragón, daughter of don PEDRO II King of Aragon & his wife Marie de Montpellier (1205-[1206]). "Petrus…Rex Aragoniæ et comes Barchinoniæ et dominus Montispessulani" and "Raimundo…Duci Narbonæ, Comiti Tolosæ et Marchioni Provinciæ" arranged the marriage of "filiam meam…et dominæ Mariæ uxoris…Sanciæ" and "Raimundo filio tuo et Reginæ Joannæ", by charter dated Oct 1205[635].

Betrothed (1209, contract broken) to --- de Montfort, daughter of SIMON [V] Seigneur de Montfort & his wife Alix de Montmorency. The Historia Albigensium of Pierre de Vaux-Cernay records that "comes…Tolosanus" betrothed "filius suus" to "filiam comitis Montis-fortis" but later reneged on the promise, dated to 1209 from the context[636]. It is not known whether this daughter was the same as one of the other daughters who are named in other sources.

m firstly (Jan [1211], divorced 1241) Infante doña SANCHA de Aragón, daughter of don ALFONSO II King of Aragon & his wife Infanta doña Sancha de Castilla ([1196]-shortly after 1241). The Gestis Comitum Barcinonensium names "Sanxa" as third of the three daughters of "Ildefonsi"[637]. The Crónica de San Juan de la Peña records that Pedro II King of Aragon arranged the marriage of his "tercera hermana Sancha" to "al hijo del conde de Tolosa", by whom she was mother of "una hija que fué mujer de Alfonso conde de Poitiers, hermano de Luis rey de Francia"[638]. The Chronicle of Guillaume de Puylaurens records that "Raymond-le-Jeune" married "dona Sancha sœur du roi Pierre d´Aragon", dated to 1211 from the context[639]. A "Chronique en Languedocien, tirée du cartulaire de Raymond le Jeune comte de Toulouse" records the marriage in Jan 1203 (although the year must be incorrect) of "Raymundum comes Tholosanus filius regine Constancie" and "sororem regis Aragonum"[640]. She was the sister of her husband's stepmother. "Sancia soror quondam...regis Aragoniæ, et uxor Raymundi filii domini Raymundi...ducis Narbonæ, comitis Tolosæ, marchionis Provinciæ" confirmed the privileges of Nîmes by charter dated 13 Nov 1218[641].

Betrothed (1241) to SANCHA de Provence, daughter of RAYMOND BERENGER IV Comte de Provence & his wife Beatrix de Savoie (Aix-en-Provence [1225]-Berkhamstead Castle, Buckinghamshire 5 or 9 Nov 1261, bur Hayles Abbey, Gloucestershire). A charter dated 11 Aug 1241 records the marriage contract between "R comitis Tolosæ" and "Sanciam filiam…R Berengarii Comitis Provinciæ…et…Beatrix Comitissa"[642].

m secondly (1243, non-consummated, divorced 25 Sep 1245 on grounds of consanguinity) as her first husband, MARGUERITE de Lusignan, daughter of HUGUES [XI] "le Brun" Seigneur de Lusignan, Comte de la Marche et d'Angoulême & his wife Isabelle Ctss d’Angoulême (-22 Oct 1288). A charter dated 13 Jun 1245 relates to the dissolution of the marriage between “Margaretæ filiæ…Hugonis comitis Marchiæ et Engolismæ” and “Raimundum Tholosæ comitem”[643]. A charter dated 13 Jul 1245 records the enquiry into the consanguinity between “dominus Raymundus comes Tholosanus” and “Margaritam filiam domini comitis Marchie”, and states that “domina regina Constancia avia sua et dominus Petrus de Cortiniaco, avus domine Ysabellis uxoris comitis Marchie fuerunt fratres carnales”[644]. A charter dated 25 Sep 1245 confirms the dissolution of the marriage between “comiti Tholosano” and “filiam…comitis Marchie”[645]. The obituaire de Saint-Marcial records the death "XII Kal Nov" of "Margarita Engolismensis comitissa, mater Ademari vicecomitis"[646]. She married secondly Aimery [IX] Vicomte de Thouars, and thirdly as his second wife, Geoffroy [VI] Seigneur de Châteaubriand.

  Comte Raymond VII & his first wife had one child:

• a) JEANNE de Toulouse (1220-Castle of Corneto, near Siena 25 Aug 1271, bur Notre-Dame de Gercy, Brie).