Raymonde Testanière, known as Vuissane, was a servant in the

Comté de Foix The County of Foix (, ; , ; , ) was a medieval fief in southern France, and later a province of France, whose territory corresponded roughly the eastern part of the modern ''département'' of Ariège (the western part of Ariège being Couseran ...

in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries. She is known to us through her testimony recorded on the

Fournier Register The Fournier Register is a set of records from the inquisition into heresy run by Jacques Fournier, Bishop of Pamiers between 1318 and 1325. Fournier was later to become Pope Benedict XII. Interrogation Fournier interrogated hundreds of indivi ...

and examined in

Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie Emmanuel Bernard Le Roy Ladurie (, 19 July 1929 – 22 November 2023) was a French historian whose work was mainly focused upon Languedoc in the ''Ancien Régime'', particularly the history of the peasantry. One of the leading historians of Franc ...

's ''

Montaillou Montaillou (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Ariège (department), Ariège Departments of France, department in the south of France. Its original, medieval location was abandoned and the current village is a short distance away. H ...

''. Vuissane was a servant in the Belot household from 1304 to 1307. She was also a mistress to Bernard Belot and had two children with him. Vuissane reported to have hoped to marry Bernard, but he was only interested in a wife from a wealthier family and eventually married Guillemette Benet. He also rejected Vuissane as she did not believe in Albigensianism. Unlike most of the household, Vuissane was not a believer in Albigensianism. Her mother, Alazaïs Testanière, was a staunch Catholic and kept her daughter away from Catharism. The Belots were Cathars and for a time Vuissane looked favourably upon the heresies but this ended when a leading heretic

Arnaud Vital Arnaud Vital was a shoemaking, cobbler in the Comté de Foix in the early fourteenth century. He is notable for appearing in Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie's ''Montaillou (book), Montaillou''. Originally from a peasant family in Prades d'Aillon, he move ...

, who was living as a boarder in the Belot household, tried to rape her. After leaving the employ of the Belot household she married Bernard Testanière.

References

*Le Roy Ladurie, Emmanuel. ''Montaillou: The Promised Land of Error.'' translated by

Barbara Bray Barbara Bray (née Jacobs; 24 November 1924 – 25 February 2010) was an English translator and critic. Early life Bray was born in Maida Vale, London; her father had Belgian and Jewish origins. An identical twin (her sister Olive Classe was al ...

. New York: G. Braziller, c1978. {{DEFAULTSORT:Testaniere, Raymonde 14th-century French people People from Montaillou Maids French domestic workers