The County of Rodez was a

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form ...

of the County of Toulouse formed out of part of the old County of Rouergue in what is today

Aveyron Aveyron (; oc, Avairon; ) is a department in the region of Occitania, Southern France. It was named after the river Aveyron. Its inhabitants are known as ''Aveyronnais'' (masculine) or ''Aveyronnaises'' (feminine) in French. The inhabitants ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. Its capital was Rodez. At its height, it was a centre of

troubadour A troubadour (, ; oc, trobador ) was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word ''troubadour'' is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a ''trobairi ...

culture. On the death of Hugh of Rouergue in 1053,

Bertha Bertha is a female Germanic name, from Old High German ''berhta'' meaning "bright one". It was usually a short form of Anglo Saxon names ''Beorhtgifu'' meaning "bright gift" or ''Beorhtwynn'' meaning "bright joy". The name occurs as a theonym, s ...

, his heiress, disputed the Rouergue with

William IV of Toulouse William IV of Toulouse ( 1040 – 1094) was Count of Toulouse, Margrave of Provence, and Duke of Narbonne from 1061 to 1094. He was the son of Pons of Toulouse and Almodis de la Marche. He was married to Emma of Mortain, daughter of Robert, ...

and

Raymond of Saint-Gilles Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse ( 1041 – 28 February 1105), sometimes called Raymond of Saint-Gilles or Raymond I of Tripoli, was a powerful noble in southern France and one of the leaders of the First Crusade (1096–1099). He was the Count of ...

, distant relations. A decade of war ensued, but Bertha died in 1065 and William and Raymond took to fighting each other for the Rouergue. Since William was already count of Toulouse an agreement was reached whereby Raymond was recognised in the Rouerge. When Raymond succeeded William in 1094, Rouergue became an

appanage An appanage, or apanage (; french: apanage ), is the grant of an estate, title, office or other thing of value to a younger child of a sovereign, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture. It was common in much o ...

for the younger sons of the counts of Toulouse. When Raymond left on the

First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic r ...

at the end of October 1096, however, he left Richard III of Millau, a younger son of Viscount Berengar of Millau and Rodez, in charge of the citadel of Rodez and several castles. Taking advantage of the war between Raymond's successor,

Alfonso Jordan Alfonso Jordan, also spelled Alfons Jordan or Alphonse Jourdain (1103–1148), was the Count of Tripoli (1105–09), Count of Rouergue (1109–48) and Count of Toulouse, Margrave of Provence and Duke of Narbonne (1112–48). Life Alfonso was ...

, and

William IX of Aquitaine William IX ( oc, Guilhèm de Peitieus; ''Guilhem de Poitou'' french: Guillaume de Poitiers) (22 October 1071 – 10 February 1126), called the Troubadour, was the Duke of Aquitaine and Gascony and Count of Poitou (as William VII) between 1086 an ...

, Richard made himself count in 1112. Rodez remained with the house of Millau until 1304, when it passed to Bernard VI of Armagnac, husband of Cecilia, heiress of the last Millau count, Henry II.

Viscounts of Millau and Rodez

*Richard I (died 1013/1025) *Richard II (died 1050) *Berengar (from 1051) * Richard III (until 1112)

Counts of the house of Millau

* Richard III (1112–1135) * Hugh I (1135–1159) * Hugh II (1159–1208) * Hugh III (1195–1196) *

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

(1196–1208) *

Henry I Henry I may refer to: 876–1366 * Henry I the Fowler, King of Germany (876–936) * Henry I, Duke of Bavaria (died 955) * Henry I of Austria, Margrave of Austria (died 1018) * Henry I of France (1008–1060) * Henry I the Long, Margrave of the ...

(1208–1221) * Hugh IV (1221–1274) * Henry II (1274–1304) *

Cecilia Cecilia is a personal name originating in the name of Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of music. The name has been popularly used in Europe (particularly the United Kingdom and Italy, where in 2018 it was the 43rd most popular name for girls born ...

(1304–1313) :''United to

Armagnac Armagnac (, ) is a distinctive kind of brandy produced in the Armagnac region in Gascony, southwest France. It is distilled from wine usually made from a blend of grapes including Baco 22A, Colombard, Folle blanche and Ugni blanc, traditionally ...

.'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Rodez, County Of States and territories established in 1112