The County of Rodez was a

fief A fief (; ) 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 feudal alle ...

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

Aveyron Aveyron (; ) is a Departments of France, department in the Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Southern France. It was named after the river Aveyron (river), Aveyron. Its inhabitants are known as ''Aveyro ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Its capital was

Rodez Rodez (, , ; , ) is a small city and commune in the South of France, about 150 km northeast of Toulouse. It is the prefecture of the department of Aveyron, region of Occitania (formerly Midi-Pyrénées). Rodez is the seat of the communau ...

. At its height, it was a centre of

troubadour A troubadour (, ; ) 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 equivalent is usually called a ''trobairitz''. The tr ...

culture. On the death of Hugh of Rouergue in 1053, Bertha, his heiress, disputed the Rouergue with William IV of Toulouse and Raymond of Saint-Gilles, 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 (; ), is the grant of an estate, title, office or other thing of value to a younger child of a monarch, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture (where only the eldest inherits). It was ...

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 Middle Ages. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Muslim conquest ...

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 t ...

, and

William IX of Aquitaine William IX ( or , ; 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 and his death. He was also one of the leaders of the Crusade of 1101. Thoug ...

, 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 Henry II may refer to: Kings * Saint Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor (972–1024), crowned King of Germany in 1002, of Italy in 1004 and Emperor in 1014 *Henry II of England (1133–89), reigned from 1154 *Henry II of Jerusalem and Cyprus (1271–1 ...

Viscounts of Millau and Rodez

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

Richard III Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty and its cadet branch the House of York. His defeat and death at the Battle of Boswor ...

(until 1112)

Counts of the house of Millau

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

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

(1196–1208) * Henry I (1208–1221) * Hugh IV (1221–1274) *

(1274–1304) *

Cecilia Cecilia is a personal name originating in the name of Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of music. History 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 g ...

(1304–1313) :''United to

Armagnac Armagnac (, ) is a distinctive kind of brandy produced in the Armagnac (region), 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 ...

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