Laugier of Nice, known as the Roux (–1032), is also known as Laugier of Orange-Mévouillon or Laugier of Vence. He was co-lord of

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one millionGréolières,

Cagnes Cagnes-sur-Mer (, literally ''Cagnes on Sea''; ) is a French Riviera town near Nice that is in the Alpes-Maritimes department, in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in southeastern France. Geography Cagnes-sur-Mer is a town in southeaste ...

and

Vence Vence (; ) is a commune set in the hills of the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France, north of Nice and Antibes on the Mediterranean coast. Ecclesiastical history The first known Bishop ...

. He held these titles in part through his wife Odile of Provence and his father-in-law,

William I of Provence William I ( 950 – after 29 August 993), called the Liberator, was Count of Provence from 968 to his abdication. In 975 or 979, he took the title of ''marchio'' or margrave. He is often considered the founder of the county of Provence. He and his ...

. Laugier seems to be related to the Mévouillon-Orange lineage. Some historians give him the title of viscount. He was a member of the first house of the counts of Orange-Nice. From 1023 Laugier was a monk of the order of Cluny.

Family

Laugier was a member of the first house of the counts of Orange-Nice, as were his brothers Féraud de Nice, Pierre de Mirabel, both bishops and Pons III de Mevouillon, ancestor of the Mevouillon family. Their father was Pons II de Mevouillon, precarist of the church of

Arles Arles ( , , ; ; Classical ) is a coastal city and Communes of France, commune in the South of France, a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture in the Bouches-du-Rhône Departments of France, department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Reg ...

Nyons Nyons (; ) is a subprefecture of the Drôme department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Southeastern France. In 2021, the commune had a population of 6,771. Nyons is a sub-prefecture of the department. Its olives have PDO status.

. He was confirmed as owner of the villa Jocondis (

Mornas Mornas (; ) is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. Name The settlement is attested as ''Morenatus'' in 822, ''Murenatis'' in 837 and ''Mornatz'' ca. 1178. History In the 12t ...

), which had been granted ''in precarium'' to his parents by Archbishop Manassès of Arles in 954. We can therefore assume he was an adult at that time, and he lived at least until 983. The Archbishop

Ithier of Arles Ithier (or Itier, Iterius; died 981) was Archbishop of Arles from before March 963 until 981. Biography Ithier may have been from the Lyonnais, because this name is extremely rare in Provence but common in Lyonnais. He would then be a follower ...

gave him the villa Niomes and property in Busayrol, located in the county of Vaison. In 981, this ''precarium'' was confirmed to him by Annon, successor of Ithier, as well as by his two sons Pons III and Laugier of Nice. The Pons who donated to

Cluny Abbey Cluny Abbey (; , formerly also ''Cluni'' or ''Clugny''; ) is a former Benedictine monastery in Cluny, Saône-et-Loire, France. It was dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul. The abbey was constructed in the Romanesque architectural style, with t ...

in 956–957 may have been Pons II de Mevouillon. Pons II and his wife Richilde, a native of Uzège, received the abbey of Sainte Marie de Goudargues from the archbishop of Arles. Pons II de Mevouillon had eight sons who made a donation to Cluny Abbey in 1023. The charter of Cluny, no. 2779, of 22 May 1023, given in council in Saint-Privat in the territory of Sarrians, gives the first names of the eight brothers whose domains extended over the dioceses of Gap, Die, Vaison, Orange and Saint-Paul Trois Châteaux. By this act, two of the brothers, Féraud and Pons, having determined to become monks in Cluny, give Cluny Abey half of the ''castrum'' of Auton, the other half of which had been previously offered to Cluny Abbey by their father. This gift was made on the advice and with the consent of their brothers, to whom they abandoned the remainder of their inheritance. These six brothers were Féraud of Nice, Bishop of Gap, Pierre of Mirabel, Bishop of Vaison, Arnoul, Gérard, Raoul and Rambaud.

After the Reconquest of Nice

The

Reconquista The ''Reconquista'' (Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese for ) or the fall of al-Andalus was a series of military and cultural campaigns that European Christian Reconquista#Northern Christian realms, kingdoms waged ag ...

of Spain has a French equivalent, which is less well known. At the end of the year 972, an expedition commanded by counts William I of Provence and Rotboald I of Provence, helped by Ardouin, Count of Turin, expelled the Saracens from

Fraxinetum Fraxinetum or Fraxinet ( or , from Latin ''fraxinus'': " ash tree", ''fraxinetum'': "ash forest") was the site of a Muslim stronghold at the centre of a frontier state in Provence between about 887 and 972. It is identified with modern La Garde- ...

. The country around Nice, and the whole of eastern

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

, was now ''nullius'' land, a land of conquest. Count William carved out fiefs which he granted to his followers. The count kept the castle of Nice, of which his daughter Odile and her second husband Laugier of Nice were the ''

Castellan A castellan, or constable, was the governor of a castle in medieval Europe. Its surrounding territory was referred to as the castellany. The word stems from . A castellan was almost always male, but could occasionally be female, as when, in 1 ...

s'', as can be seen from documents from the beginning of the twelfth century. Laugier was described as rector of Nice in 981. He gave land to the cathedral of Nice in 1003. He was co-lord of

around 1005, so he is also known as Laugier of Vence, but should not be confused with Laugier Ruffi who defended Vence against the Saracens and who gave his daughter as a ransom in 973. We know that Laugier was a rich and powerful landowner from the Alps whose second marriage was to Odile of Provence, widow of Miron of Nice. He became co-lord of Nice, but not viscount, according to archival documents. From 1023 Laugier was a monk of the order of Cluny. His father-in-law had given charge of the villa of

Sarrians Sarrians (; ) is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. Population Hominin remains Several hominin bones, showing breakages due to sediment pressure, have been found nearby. See ...

to the abbey so it could build a church. From 1023 until his death, Laugier of Nice directed the work, which ended in 1037. A charter tells us that Laugier and Odile donated

Revest In law, vesting is the point in time when the rights and interests arising from legal ownership of a property are acquired by some person. Vesting creates an immediately secured right of present or future deployment. One has a vested right to an ...

to the Abbey of St Pons in 1029. Laugier and his wife Odile made donations to the monastery of Saint Véran and to the church of Notre-Dame-la-Dorée, near the

Loup River The Loup River (pronounced /lup/) is a tributary of the Platte River, approximately long, in central Nebraska in the United States. The river drains a sparsely populated rural agricultural area on the eastern edge of the Great Plains southeast ...

in the diocese of Vence in 1032.

Marriage and descendants

Odile de Provence from her second marriage with Laugier had the following children: *Rambaud of Nice, or Orange *Rostan of Gréolières, co-lord of Vence, lord of Gréolières *Pierre of Nice, bishop of Sisteron (1043-1059) *Jauccara of Nice, married to Amic de Vence-Avignon *Gerberge of Nice, married to Viscount Bérenger of Avignon The three brothers gave the cathedral of Nice the churches of Sainte-Marie d'Olivula in Villefranche, Sainte-Marie de Beaulieu and Saint-Jean, near Saint-Hospice. They also enriched the monastery of Saint-Pons in Nice and the abbey of La Dorade, as well as the church of Vence.

Descendants of Pons of Mevouillon

Pons of Mevouillon m. Blismodis , → Humbert, Bishop of Vaison until 1005 , → Garnier, Bishop of Avignon (976–991) , → Ison , → Pons II of Mevouillon (ca 920–986) m. Richilde, from Uzège , →

Féraud de Nice Féraud de Nice ( in Chorges – 1044), was Bishop of Gap, France 1000–1044. 970s births Date of birth unknown 1044 deaths Date of death unknown Bishops of Gap People from Hautes-Alpes 11th-century French Roman Catholic bishops

Bishop of Gap , → Pierre of Mirabel Bishop of Vaison , → Pons III of Mevouillon (ancestor of the Mevouillon family) ... , → Arnoul of Theys (ancestor of the Theys family) ... , → Gérard , → Rambaud , → Raoul , → Laugier of Nice (ca 950–1032) m. Odile (976–1032), daughter of William I of Provence , → Rostan of Gréolières (ancestor of the Gréolières family) ... , → Pierre, Bishop of Sisteron (1043–1059) , → Jauccara m. Amic of Vence-Avignon , → Gerberge m. Bérenger of Avignon. , → Rambaud of Nice (1006-1073) m. 1032 Accelena of Apt , → Laugier of Apt m. Amancia of Lacoste-Castellane , → Odila m. Boniface of Reillanne , → Gisla m. Rostang of Agoult , → Laugier of Agout, Bishop of Apt , → Pierre II of Nice, Bishop of Sisteron, then Bishop of Vaison , → Rostan of Fréjus m. Accelena of Marignane , → Rambaud, Lord of Gréolières (died young) m. Bélieldis of Marseille , → Amic , → Guillaume m. before 1045 Azalaïs of Reillanne, widow of Guilhem of Agoult , → Bertrand-Rambaud of Orange m. 1068 Adélaïde of Cavenez, widow of

William Bertrand of Provence William Bertrand, otherwise William V (died 28 July 1094), was the count and margrave of Provence from 1051 to his death. He succeeded his father Fulk Bertrand on his death in that year, but did not receive the margravial title at first, for it we ...

, → Léger or Laugerus, Bishop of Avignon (1124, 1126–1142) , → Jausserand Laugier, Lord of Gréolières m. 1064 Gerberge, daughter of

Fulk Bertrand of Provence Fulk Bertrand IHis name appears as Fulco or Fulcho and Bertrannus in contemporary documents. It is Foulques in modern French. His ordinal is a reference to a second Bertrand, his son, who later reigned in Provence. (died 27 April 1051) was the j ...

, → Pierre , → Rambaud II of Orange , → Thiburge of Orange m. 1126 William of Omélas, son of

William V of Montpellier William V (or Guilhem V; died 1121) was the Lord of Montpellier from 1068 until his death.Archibald R. Lewis, "The Guillems of Montpellier: A Sociological Appraisal", ''Viator'', 2 (1971), 160. He was the son of William IV. Soon after his father ...

, →

Raimbaut d'Orange Raimbaut of Orange ( Old Provençal: Raimbaut d'Aurenga; 1147 – 1173) was the lord of Orange and Aumelas and an influential troubadour in the Kingdom of Arles in the Holy Roman Empire. His properties included the towns of Frontignan ...

Notes

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Laugier of Nice 950s births 1032 deaths