Individual Details
Count Guillaume II 'le Liberateur' de Provence et Arles
(Abt 950 - 994)
Guillaume was born about 950, the son of Boso II, comte d'Avignon et Arles, and Constance de Provence. Called 'le Liberateur' (the Liberator), Guillaume was count of Provence from 968 to his abdication. In 975 or 979 he took the title of _marchio_ or margrave. He is often considered the founder of the county of Provence. He and his elder brother Roubaud II both carried the title of _comes_ or count concurrently, but it is unknown if they were joint-counts of the whole of Provence or if the region was divided. His brother never bore any other title than count so long as Guillaume lived, so Guillaume seems to have attained a certain supremacy.
Guillaume's first marriage was with Arsenda de Comminges. They had at least two children, Arsinde and Guillaume III, both of whom would have progeny. Between 984 and 986, against papal advice he married Adelaide dite Blanche d'Anjou, daughter of Foulques II 'the Good', comte d'Anjou, and Gerberge de Tours. Adelaide was a widow thrice over (her last husband had been Louis V, king of France), but none of her marriages had resulted in progeny. With Guillaume she had at least two daughters, both of whom would have progeny.
In 980, Guillaume was installed as Count of Arles. His sobriquet comes from his victories against the Saracens by which he liberated Provence from their threat, which had been constant since the establishment of a base at Fraxinet. At the Battle of Tourtour in 973, with the assistance of the counts of the High Alps and the viscounts of Marseille and Fos, he definitively routed the Saracens, chasing them forever from Provence. He reorganised the region east of the Rhône, which he conquered from the Saracens and which had been given him as a gift from King Conrad of Burgundy. Also by royal consent, he and his descendants controlled the _fisc_ (the royal demesne which paid taxes, entirely in kind, from which the royal household was meant to be supported) in Provence. With Isarn, bishop of Grenoble, he repopulated the Dauphiny and settled an Italian count named Ugo Blavia near Fréjus in 970 in order to bring that land back to cultivation. For all this, he figures prominently in Ralph Glaber's chronicle with the title of _dux_ and he appears in a charter of 992 as _pater patriae._
Guillaume donated land to Cluny and retired to become a monk, dying about 994 at Avignon, where he was buried in the church of Saint-Croix at Sarrians. He was succeeded as margrave by his brother Roubaud II. His great principality began to diminish soon after his death as the castles of his vassals, which he had kept carefully under ducal control, soon became allods of their possessors.
Source: Leo van de Pas
Guillaume's first marriage was with Arsenda de Comminges. They had at least two children, Arsinde and Guillaume III, both of whom would have progeny. Between 984 and 986, against papal advice he married Adelaide dite Blanche d'Anjou, daughter of Foulques II 'the Good', comte d'Anjou, and Gerberge de Tours. Adelaide was a widow thrice over (her last husband had been Louis V, king of France), but none of her marriages had resulted in progeny. With Guillaume she had at least two daughters, both of whom would have progeny.
In 980, Guillaume was installed as Count of Arles. His sobriquet comes from his victories against the Saracens by which he liberated Provence from their threat, which had been constant since the establishment of a base at Fraxinet. At the Battle of Tourtour in 973, with the assistance of the counts of the High Alps and the viscounts of Marseille and Fos, he definitively routed the Saracens, chasing them forever from Provence. He reorganised the region east of the Rhône, which he conquered from the Saracens and which had been given him as a gift from King Conrad of Burgundy. Also by royal consent, he and his descendants controlled the _fisc_ (the royal demesne which paid taxes, entirely in kind, from which the royal household was meant to be supported) in Provence. With Isarn, bishop of Grenoble, he repopulated the Dauphiny and settled an Italian count named Ugo Blavia near Fréjus in 970 in order to bring that land back to cultivation. For all this, he figures prominently in Ralph Glaber's chronicle with the title of _dux_ and he appears in a charter of 992 as _pater patriae._
Guillaume donated land to Cluny and retired to become a monk, dying about 994 at Avignon, where he was buried in the church of Saint-Croix at Sarrians. He was succeeded as margrave by his brother Roubaud II. His great principality began to diminish soon after his death as the castles of his vassals, which he had kept carefully under ducal control, soon became allods of their possessors.
Source: Leo van de Pas
Events
| Birth | Abt 950 | ||||
| Marriage | 984 | Adelaide Blanche d'Anjou | |||
| Death | 994 |
Families
| Spouse | Adelaide Blanche d'Anjou ( - 990) |
| Child | Constance d'Arles (986 - 1032) |
| Father | Count Boso II de Avignon et Arles ( - 965) |
| Mother | Constance de Provence ( - ) |