Guillaumne I "au Cornet" des Baux: NH genealogy

Nielsen Hayden genealogy

Abt 1150 - Bef 1218 (~ 68 years)

Generation: 1

Guillaumne I "au Cornet" des Baux was born about 1150; died before 30 Jul 1218 in Avignon, Vaucluse, France.

Notes:

Prince d'Orange.

From Wikipedia (accessed 14 Jun 2020):

William I of Baux (Occitan: Guilhe?m dei Bauc?, archaic Guillem or Guilhem dels Baus), French: Guillaume des Baux or du Baus, Latin: Guillelmus de Balcio […] was the Prince of Orange from 1182 until his death. He was an important Provençal nobleman.

William was the son of Bertrand of Baux, the first Prince of Orange, a major patron of Occitan poetry, and Tibors de Sarenom, a sister of Raimbaut d'Aurenga and herself a trobairitz. In 1215, when the Emperor Frederick II sought to make his power effective in the Kingdom of Burgundy, he granted to William at Metz the whole "Kingdom of Arles and Vienne", probably referring to the viceroyalty of the kingdom. William was imprisoned in Avignon in the summer of 1216 and remained there until his death in June 1218. William's descendants continued to claim the Kingdom of Arles until 1393.

William was a man of letters and a troubadour, inheriting his love of lyric poetry from his patron-composer parents. Two coblas and a sirventes are preserved of William's writings. He was also in contact with other troubadours. The lone surviving sirventes of Gui de Cavalhon was written against William.

An anecdotal razo is preserved describing how William robbed a French merchant, who subsequently took his case to the king, Philip Augustus, but was rejected because "it had taken place too far away" (i.e. out of French jurisdiction in Provence). The merchant subsequently counterfeited the royal seal and used it to lure William to his (unnamed) city with promises of rewards. When William and his companions arrived in the city the merchant had them arrested and imprisoned until he had made amends for what he had taken. On his return to Provence, William allegedly planned to annex a piece of land ("la Osteilla" or "Estella") belonging to Ademar II of Valentinois when he was captured by Ademar's fisherman in a small boat on the Rhône. This event inspired a cobla from the troubadour Raimbaut de Vaqueiras, who was nicknamed William Engles (the Englishman, for unknown reasons).

William married Ermengarde, daughter of Raymond of Mévouillon, but divorced her on 21 March 1203. Their child, Raymond I of Baux, succeeded his father as Prince of Orange and King of Arles. William remarried to a woman named Alix. His sons by her, William II and Bertrand II, both later inherited Orange. William also had a daughter named Tibors who married Giraud III Amic, lord of Thor de Châteauneuf.

From Leo van de Pas:

Guillaume first made his name with his efforts to drive the Moors out of the Rhône valley, and he earned a place in the chansons de geste ("songs of deeds"), a group of epic poems of medieval France written from the 11th through to the 13th centuries.

Guillaume was a son of Bertrand, sire de Baux, prince d'Orange, and of Tiburge, princess of Orange. He was first married to Ermengarde de Mévouillon, whom he divorced in November 1204 because of their degree of relationship. He then married Alix Eloy. By each wife he had a son who would have progeny. By Alix he also had a daughter who would have progeny, and a son who did not.

Guillaume had been on good terms with Raymond VI, count of Toulouse and marquis of Provence. However, after the Battle of Muret on 12 September 1213, early in the Albigensian Crusade, when Simon V de Montfort defeated Raymond VI, Raymond was deprived of his county and marquisate, and Guillaume took over the marquisate, pretending to act on the order of the pope. Pope Innocent III ordered him to turn it over to his legate Cardinal Pierre de Benevento, so as not to prejudice the disposal he would make of it later. Guillaume was very disappointed when the Lateran Council in 1215 instead conferred the marquisate on the young son of Raymond VI, to whom Innocent III had taken a liking.

To end the anarchy in Provence, Emperor Friedrich II in 1215 considered creating some viceroys there who were devoted to him. One of these was Guillaume, who on 8 January 1215 was created viceroy of the kingdom of Vienne and Arles (Burgundy), with the promise that he would be crowned, which never took place. The appointment was only to an empty title with no authority or influence. However Guillaume's descendants continued to claim the kingdom of Arles until 1393.

Later in the Albigensian Crusade, Guillaume took the side of the Crusaders, no doubt because he thought it more favourable to his interests, and in Provence he took over the leadership of the Catholic lords. This action brought him to grief. In the summer of 1216 he fell into the hands of the Cathars who imprisoned him at Avignon. Two years later he was said to have been skinned alive before 30 July 1218. His sons Raymond I and Guillaume II from his two marriages succeeded him as co-princes of Orange.