William VIII (in
Occitan: Guilhem; died 1202) was
Lord of Montpellier
The following is a list of lords of Montpellier:
* William I of Montpellier 26 November 986–1019
* William II of Montpellier 1019–1025
* William III of Montpellier 1025–1058
* William IV of Montpellier 1058–1068
* William V of Montpel ...
, the son of
William VII and
Matilda of Burgundy (1135?-1173?).
William VIII married
Eudokia Komnene, grand-niece of the Byzantine emperor
Manuel I Komnenos.
They had one daughter:
*
Marie of Montpellier
Lacking a male heir William separated from Eudokia, sending her to a monastery in Ariane.
William married
Agnes of Castile and they had:
*
William IX of Montpellier[''The Book of Deeds of James I of Aragon'', ed. Damian J. Smith and Helena Buffery, (Ashgate Publishing, 2010), 19.]
*Aymard, d.1199
[William M. Reddy, ''The Making of Romantic Love'', (University of Chicago Press, 2012), 126.]
*Bergunyo
*Bernat William
*Tortoseta
The Pope ruled William's marriage to Agnes as illegitimate and Marie was given the throne.
William VIII was a patron 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 ...
s.
Arnaut de Mareuil
Arnaut de Mareuil (''fl.'' late 12th century) was a troubadour, composing lyric poetry in the Occitan language. Twenty-five, perhaps twenty-nine, of his songs, all ''cansos'', survive, six with music. According to Hermann Oelsner's contribution to ...
came to his court after fleeing from the entourage of
Azalais of Toulouse, and at least one of Arnaut's poems is addressed to him.
References
12th-century births
1202 deaths
12th-century French people
13th-century French people
Lords of Montpellier
Guilhem dynasty
French patrons of literature
Year of birth unknown
{{France-noble-stub