William VIII of Montpellier
William VIII ( French spelling Guillem VIII; * to 1172, † September 1203 ) was a Lord of Montpellier. He was a son of William VII and Matilda of Burgundy, daughter of Hugh II Duke of Burgundy. Since his father died in 1173 took over William's uncle, Guy le Guerroyeur, for him the guardianship.
William was a patron of the troubadours of his time, his farm belonged to Arnaut de Mareuil, among others. In Montpellier, he taught in 1181 a free school for a medicine, which later became the University of Montpellier emerged. The scholastics Alanus from Insulis dedicated to him directed against the Cathars four-volume polemic ( De fide contra here ticos ).
Around the year 1180 is considered the Byzantine princess Eudocia Comnena, a niece of emperor Manuel I, in Montpellier on after it had been rejected by her fiancé, King Alfonso II of Aragon. Since around the same time the emperor had died, Eudocia fell into their home into oblivion. This took William for his part in order to betroth her. The marriage was unhappy, however, allegedly because felt treated by the imperial pride of his wife unjust Wilhelm. In 1187, he cast them to marry the Catalan nobles Ines ( Agnes ), but this marriage was in 1194 recognized by the pope as not legitimate. However, since his sons just came from the second wife, William asked with Pope Innocent III. to their legitimacy, which was however denied in decretal Per Venerabilem.
Progeny
From first marriage:
- Maria ( * 1182, † 1213) ∞ 1192 with Raimund Gottfried ( Barral ), Viscount of Marseilles
- ∞ 1197 with Bernard IV, Count of Comminges
- ∞ 1204 Peter II, King of Aragon
Second morganatic marriage were other things:
- William IX. († 1212 )
- Thomas of Tortosa
- Guillem Bernat I. d' Entença († 1237 )
- Raimund, a monk at the monastery Grandselve
- Guido, a monk at Cluny Abbey
- Agnes, ∞ 1204 Raymond Roger Trencavel, Viscount of Carcassonne
- Adelais, ∞ with Jofre II de Rocabertí