| Notes |
- Also called Sibilla del Vasto. Not, Wikipedia and other sources notwithstanding, the daughter of a Catalan family, sometimes identified with the name "Mataplana."
Peter Stewart [citation details below]:
A few threads over the past year or two have discussed the parentage of Sibilla, wife of Guillem VI, seigneur of Montpellier.
Adequate proof has been set out here before that she was from Italy, daughter of Bonifacio, margrave of Vasto & Agnes de Vermandois. However, several modern genealogists & historians including Henri Vidal, Claudie Duhamel-Amado, Szabolcs de Vajay and Patrick van Kerrebrouck have wrongly stated that she was daughter of a Catalan viscount, Hugo de Mataplana.
After checking Liber instrumentorum memorialium: cartulaire des Guillems de Montpellier, edited by Alexandre Germain & Camille Chabaneau (Montpellier, 1884-1886), it seems likely to me that these authorities have copied each other's mistake in some sequence, because this false relationship is virtually precluded by the available evidence.
In his testament dated 11 December 1146 (op cit p. 182, no. 95) Guillem left the guardianship of his children and lands, under the superior custody of his mother Ermesendis de Melgueil, to his cousin ("consobrinus meus") Ponce de Mataplana.
The context makes it logical to read "consobrinus" in its literal and precise sense of maternal first cousin, as Ponce was enjoined to take care of Guillem's family and property along with his mother, but even if a looser translation (such as sister's son or father's sister's son) were allowed the word would still denote a close blood relative and not one by marriage -- it cannot mean brother-in-law (usually "cognatus", although that covers a wide range of kinship too) and Sibilla could not have been a sibling to Ponce anyway.
Another error made by Henri Vidal [in 'Les mariages dans la famille des Guillems, seigneurs de Montpellier', Revue historique de droit franc?ais et e?tranger 62 (1984)] is to make Raimond-Guillem, abbot of Aniane and bishop of Lodève, a son of Guillem VI (the third of five attributed to him).
Guillem made elaborate provisions for the descent of Montpellier in the event that any one of his children should die without issue. They were all young at the time, and allowance was made for the third son, Bernard, to become a cleric if he should wish to take holy orders or to be set up honourably if he chose not to do so. He was the only one nominated for the priesthood. There were explicitly just four sons, Guillem the elder, Guillem the younger, Bernard and Gui in that order ("IIIIor filii mei, Guillelmus major, et Guillelmus minor, et Bernardus, et Guido"), as well as three daughters whose rights followed theirs. Guillem VI was already a widower and became a monk at Grandselve after making his will, so that Raimond-Guillem of Lodève cannot have belonged to his immediate family.
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Nielsen Hayden genealogy
- Bef 1146
(Age ~ 51 years)