Medieval Southern French History

The inclusion of Portugal in the European cultural circles prevailing throughout the Middle Ages also becomes clear in the illuminated medieval juridical manuscripts held in Portuguese library collections. In fact, these manuscripts do in fact constitute part of a set of precious material evi-dence as to the shared cultural identity (written, legal, in-tellectual, artistic) and as well as the dialogue between Portugal and the rest of Europe. These codices also reveal the propensity of then Portugal, and already in effect since the Middle Ages, towards cultural openness that placed it right in the midst of the social and cultural dynamics pre-vailing in the Europe of this period

Scholars of the Albigensian Crusade in 13th century Occitania have tended to focus on the dissident Cathars as the only explanation for the crusade, where they have used them as weapons in their own contemporary political and religious debates since the end of the military campaigns. This dissertation problematizes this explanation and instead asks the fundamental question; why aim the crusade against Languedoc when the Holy Roman Empire had problems with Cathars at the same time? And is the Cathars the only reason for the crusade?

This thesis has thoroughly analysed the socio-political relationships between five kin groups with links to Occitania before the crusade. The study is based on the ‘elite’ prosopographical method and is supported by theories about kin, dynastic marriages, amicitiae (friendships), and coniurationes (conspiracies) as political means. These approaches are completely new to the research about the Albigensian Crusade and have opened for a new understanding of the organisation and circumstances surrounding the society that the crusade was aimed against.

Through an examination of the marriages and alliances of the Capetian, Plantagenet, Barcelona-Aragon, Toulouse, and Trencavel kin groups it is concluded that there firstly was a bipolar struggle for power between the Counts of Toulouse and the alliance led by the count-kings of Barcelona-Aragon and the Trencavel viscounts. Secondly a pattern emerges for the Capetian and Plantagenet kings, who only became interested in Toulouse through their marriages with Eleanor of Aquitaine who had an inheritance claim to the county. Thirdly a kin-relation between Pope Innocent III and the Frankish king Philip II Augustus is explored and analysed to answer, why the Pope approached Philip about the Cathars in Occitania and not the more influential leader of the Aragonese alliance in Occitania, Count-King Peter II of Barcelona-Aragon.

Graded 12 (A).

La destacada participación hispana en los acontecimientos de la Cruzada Albigense (1209-1229) refleja los importantes lazos que durante siglos vincularon la Península Ibérica y las tierras occitanas del Mediodía de Francia. Con la excepción de la Canso de la Cruzada del poeta navarro Guillermo de Tudela, la memoria hispana de la Cruzada se centró en la derrota y muerte del rey Pedro el Católico de Aragón en la batalla de Muret (1213). La posición de los autores hispanos tuvo en común la defensa de la ortodoxia del monarca por la vía del ocultamiento del problema cátaro o de la justificación por motivos feudales. En Castilla-León, la "memoria historiográfica y oficial" elaborada por el arzobispo Rodrigo de Toledo se impuso a la "visión cruzadista" de otros prelados. Su versión fue asumida en la Corona de Aragón, donde coexistió con una "memoria dinástica" exaltadora de las virtudes caballerescas del rey Pedro. Desde finales del siglo XIII, todos estos recuerdos hispánicos de la Cruzada Albigense apenas sufrirían modificaciones.

"Cette méthode d’occitan donne à voir toutes les variétés (ou dialectes) d’occitan. La première partie de l’ouvrage présente le languedocien standard – une variété qui permet de comprendre assez aisément la plupart des autres dialectes occitans puisque l’aire languedocienne occupe le centre géographique de l’espace occitan. La méthode revient ensuite sur les six principaux dialectes de l’aire occitane (auvergnat, gascon, languedocien, limousin, provençal, vivaro-alpin) parlés dans trois pays (France, Espagne, Italie) et donne également accès à l’occitan médiéval sur une série de leçons. Les acteurs locaux, très actifs dans la promotion de leur langue, ont été partie intégrante de cet ouvrage à la fois par le biais des relectures et des enregistrements.
Cet ouvrage a été publié avec le soutien de la Direction Générale de la Langue Française et des Langues de France (Ministère de la Culture) et de l’Union Latine. "

While the studies medieval material culture used mainly of the post-mortem inventories as source, the author suggests observing it through the judicial archives. This latter, with the events of the everyday life which they bring back, allow to look a material culture in movement. Then, we can understand the importance of the circulation of objects inside the village community, but also describe the modes of storage. Finally, by the diversity of the reported situations, we can sketch a sociology of the material culture and measure the concrete consequences of the differences in wealth.

Alors que les études sur la culture matérielle médiévale ont privilégié l’utilisation des inventaires après-décès comme sources, l’auteur se propose de l’observer à travers les archives judiciaires. Ces dernières, grâce aux événements du quotidien qu’elles rapportent, permettent d’envisager une culture matérielle en mouvement. On peut en effet grâce à elle comprendre l’importance de la circulation des objets à l’intérieur de la communauté villageoise, mais aussi décrire les modes de rangement. Enfin, par la diversité des situations rapportées, on peut esquisser une sociologie de la culture matérielle et mesurer les conséquences concrètes des écarts de fortune.