The title Duke of Narbonne (dux Narbonensis) was a title employed at various times by the overlords of Narbonne

Narbonne

Narbonne is a commune in southern France in the Languedoc-Roussillon region. It lies from Paris in the Aude department, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Once a prosperous port, it is now located about from the shores of the Mediterranean Sea...

, while the direct power in the city was held by the viscounts

Viscount of Narbonne

The Viscount of Narbonne was the secular ruler of Narbonne in the Middle Ages. Narbonne had been the capital of the Visigoth province of Septimania, until the eighth century, after which it became the Carolingian Viscounty of Narbonne. Narbonne was nominally subject to the Carolingian Counts of...

. The prestige of the title probable attached to the fact that Narbonne had been a capital of the ancient Roman administration of the eponymous province of Gallia Narbonensis

Gallia Narbonensis

Gallia Narbonensis was a Roman province located in what is now Languedoc and Provence, in southern France. It was also known as Gallia Transalpina , which was originally a designation for that part of Gaul lying across the Alps from Italia and it contained a western region known as Septimania...

.

On the death of his cousin Bertha of Rouergue

Bertha of Rouergue

Bertha was the Countess of Rouergue and Gévaudan from 1054 to her death. She was the daughter and heiress of Hugh of Rouergue and Fides.In or before 1051, she married Robert II of Auvergne, but had no issue by him...

 in 1065, William IV of Toulouse

William IV of Toulouse

William IV of Toulouse was Count of Toulouse, Margrave of Provence, and Duke of Narbonne from 1061 to 1094. He succeeded his father Pons of Toulouse upon his death in 1061. His mother was Almodis de la Marche, but she was kidnapped by and subsequently married to Ramon Berenguer I, Count of...

 inherited the county of Narbonne. His brother and successor, Raymond IV

Raymond IV of Toulouse

Raymond IV of Toulouse , sometimes called Raymond of St Gilles, was Count of Toulouse, Duke of Narbonne, and Margrave of Provence and one of the leaders of the First Crusade. He was a son of Pons of Toulouse and Almodis de La Marche...

, elevated the status to that of duke. Raymond's son and successor, Alfonso Jordan, also employed the title with royal approval (as Amphusus dux Narbonensis provincie) and his son, Raymond V

Raymond V of Toulouse

Raymond V was count of Toulouse from 1148 until his death in 1194.He was the son of Alphonse-Jordan. When Alphonse died in the Holy Land in 1148, the county of Toulouse passed to his son Raymond, at the time 14 years old....

 placed it first before his other titles as an implication of its importance (probably related to its Roman connection). The family was only dispossessed of the title when Raymond VI

Raymond VI of Toulouse

Raymond VI was count of Toulouse and marquis of Provence from 1194 to 1222. He was also count of Melgueil from 1173 to 1190.-Early life:...

 brought down the wrath of the French king for his supposed support of Cathar

Cathar

Catharism was a name given to a Christian religious sect with dualistic and gnostic elements that appeared in the Languedoc region of France and other parts of Europe in the 11th century and flourished in the 12th and 13th centuries...

 heresies.

In 1215, following the successes of the Albigensian Crusade

Albigensian Crusade

The Albigensian Crusade or Cathar Crusade was a 20-year military campaign initiated by the Catholic Church to eliminate Catharism in Languedoc...

, Philip II of France

Philip II of France

Philip II Augustus was the King of France from 1180 until his death. A member of the House of Capet, Philip Augustus was born at Gonesse in the Val-d'Oise, the son of Louis VII and his third wife, Adela of Champagne...

 granted Simon IV de Montfort

Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester

Simon IV de Montfort, Seigneur de Montfort-l'Amaury, 5th Earl of Leicester , also known as Simon de Montfort the elder, was a French nobleman who took part in the Fourth Crusade and was a prominent leader of the Albigensian Crusade...

, already Earl of Leicester

Earl of Leicester

The title Earl of Leicester was created in the 12th century in the Peerage of England , and is currently a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, created in 1837.-Early creations:...

, the titles of Duke of Narbonne and Count of Toulouse. Arnauld Amaury

Arnaud Amalric

Arnaud Amalric was a Cistercian church leader who took a prominent role in the Albigensian Crusade. He is remembered for allegedly giving advice to a soldier wondering how to distinguish the Catholic friendlies from the Cathar enemies to just "Kill them all...

, then Archbishop of Narbonne, also claimed the ducal dignity and entered a dispute with Simon which was not resolved before the latter's death (1218). The title thenceforth belonged to the archdiocese.

Sources

• Cheyette, Fredric L. Ermengard of Narbonne and the World of the Troubadours. Cornell University Press: Ithaca, 2001.
• Lauer, Philippe. Robert Ier et Raoul de Bourgogne, rois de France (923-936). 1910.