Berengar from Narbonne, Viscount and Righteous Among the Nations avant la lettre

Berengar, also recorded as Raymond-Berengar, was the son of Raymond I of Narbonne. His reign as Viscount (1023-1067) was announced by his father by 1019/1020, when coins start being minted in his name. In 1023 when Raymond dies, Berengar is left in charge of the city of Narbonne, which made him one of the most powerful barons of Languedoc.

While the overlords, mostly the Counts and "Consuls" of Toulouse, would often style themselves as Dukes of Narbonne during the 11 to 13th centuries, the actual power was held in the city and the realm by the Viscounts, who ruled as autonomous lords.



AR18mm, 1.15g, silver grand denier, minted at Narbonne cca. 1020-1030.

BERINGARI; cross
NARBONA C; four annulets, dot in middle of the field.

Poey d'Avant #3749 Pl. LXXXII 8, Boudeau #736 p. 91.

The coinage of Narbonne by these independent Viscounts starts after 1000 with Raymond I. According to M. B. Fillon (apud Poey d'Avant p. 263) the minting of coins naming Berengar started in the last years of Raymond's rule, around 1020 or even earlier. His coinage is scarce today -- like all the issues of Narbonne -- so probably the type with its variations was minted in small quantities or for a rather short period.

As Lord and Viscount of Narbonne, Berengar used his power to mostly keep Narbonne as a safe haven for the Jews of Languedoc and Barcelona and defend his influence and sovereignty as a senior lord over the Archbishop Guifred of Narbonne, a former protege turned frenemy.

During this whole local turmoil, Berengar was praised by Pope Alexander II for "defending the innocent and defenseless" and for offering protection to the Jews of Languedoc. In his letters to Guifred, Berengar's challenger in Narbonne, the Pope advises the Archbishop to learn by the example of the Viscount and keep his heart open to the innocents in peril of persecution and molestation. These letters, dated as late as 1063, as the conflict between the Viscount and Archbishop was dying down, show a very interesting relationship between the Holy See and the local prelates in Languedoc and a distinct interest by the Pope in the well-being of the Occitan Jews. An interest that was shared and acted upon not by the high prelate of Narbonne but rather the secular lord, who was in an open conflict with the prelate (the skirmishes between the forces loyal to Berengar and those loyal to Guifred had made almost 1000 casualties by 1063, a rather large number for such a civil conflict).

Berengar died in 1067, but his legacy of religious tolerance lived on and became a sort of tradition in Languedoc, lasting up until the Albigensian Crusade.

 

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An enjoyable read as always. Thanks for this.

 

Thank you!