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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_I_of_ProvenceWilliam I , 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 elder brother
Rotbold II, sons of
Boso II of Arles and Constance of Viennois, daughter of
Charles-Constantine, both carried the title of comes or count concurrently, but it is unknown if they were joint-counts of the whole of Provence or if the region was divided. His brother never bore any other title than count so long as William lived, so the latter seems to have attained a certain supremacy.
In 980, he was installed as
Count of Arles. His sobriquet comes from his victories against the
Saracens by which he liberated Provence from their threat, which had been constant since the establishment of a base at
Fraxinet. At the
Battle of Tourtour in 973, with the assistance of the counts of the
High Alps and the
viscounts of
Marseille and
Fos, he definitively routed the
Saracens, chasing them forever from Provence. He reorganised the region east of the
Rhône, which he conquered from the Saracens and which had been given him as a gift from King
Conrad of Burgundy. Also by royal consent, he and his descendants controlled the
fisc in Provence. With
Isarn, Bishop of Grenoble, he repopulated
Dauphiné and settled an Italian count named Ugo Blavia near
Fréjus in 970 in order to bring that land back to cultivation. For all this, he figures prominently in
Ralph Glaber's chronicle with the title of dux and he appears in a charter of 992 as
pater patriae.
He donated land to
Cluny and retired to become a monk, dying at
Avignon, where he was buried in the church of Saint-Croix at
Sarrians. He was succeeded as margrave by his brother. His great principality began to diminish soon after his death as the castles of his vassals, which he had kept carefully under ducal control, soon became allods of their possessors.
Marriage and issue
He married 1st Arsenda, daughter of
Arnold of Comminges and their son was:
▪ William II of ProvenceHe married 2nd in 984,
Adelaide of Anjou, daughter of
Fulk II of Anjou and
Gerberga of Maine, and their daughter was:
▪ Constance of Arles , married
Robert II of France