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Birth:          ABT 1180 of Forcalquiers, Basses-Alpes, France
Death:          ABT 1242 

Notes
heiress and regent (1213-17) of Provence and Forcalquier
died as nun
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garsenda,_Countess_of_Forcalquier
Garsenda (French: Garsende de Sabran; c. 1180 – c. 1242) was the Countess of 
Provence as the wife of Alfonso II from 1193 and the Countess of Forcalquier in her 
own right from 1209. She brought Forcalquier to the House of Barcelona and united it 
to Provence. She was also a patron of Occitan literature, especially the troubadours, 
and herself wrote some lyric poetry and is counted among the trobairitz as Garsenda 
de Proensa or Proença. She was, in the words of her most recent editors, "one of the 
most powerful women in Occitan history".[1]
Early life and marriage[edit]

Garsenda was the daughter of Rainou (or Rénier), lord of Caylar and Ansouis of the 
Sabran family, and Garsenda, daughter of William IV of Forcalquier. She was named 
after her mother, who was the heiress of William IV, but predeceased him. Garsenda 
therefore inherited Forcalquier from her grandfather. She was only thirteen years of 
age when, in 1193, her grandfather William IV and Alfonso II signed the Treaty of Aix 
whereby Garsenda would inherit William's county and would marry Alfonso, who was in 
line to become Count of Provence. The marriage took place at Aix-en-Provence in July 
1193. They had at least two children, Raymond Berengar IV and Garsenda, who 
married Guillermo II de Montcada, and bore him two children, including Gaston VII, 
Viscount of Béarn.[2][3][4]

Regency and patronage[edit]

In 1209 both William IV and Alfonso died and Garsenda became the natural guardian 
of their son and heir, Raymond Berengar IV. Initially her brother-in-law, Peter II of 
Aragon, assigned the regency of Provence to his brother Sancho, but when Peter died 
in 1213 Sancho became regent of Aragon and passed Provence and Forcalquier to his 
son Nuño Sánchez. Dissension broke out between the Catalans and the partisans of 
the countess, who accused Nuño of attempting to supplant his nephew in the county. 
The Provençal aristocracy originally took advantage of the situation for their own 
ambitious ends, but eventually they lined up behind Garsenda and removed Nuño, who 
returned to Catalonia. The regency was passed to Garsenda and a regency council 
was established consisting of the native nobles.

It was probably during her tenure as regent (1209/1213–1217/1220) that Garsenda 
became the focus of a literary circle of poets, though the vida of Elias de Barjols 
refers to his patron as Alfonso. There is a tenso between a bona dompna (good lady), 
identified in one chansonnier as la contessa de Proessa,[7] and an anonymous 
troubadour. The two coblas of the exchange are found in two different orders in the 
two chansonniers, called F and T, that preserve them. It cannot be known therefore 
who spoke first, but the woman's half begins Vos q'em semblatz dels corals amadors. 
In the poem the countess declares her love for her interlocutor, who then responds 
courteously but carefully. Under some interpretations the troubadour is Gui de 
Cavaillon, whose vida repeats the rumour (probably unfounded) that he was the 
countess' lover. Gui, however, was at the Provençal court between 1200 and 1209, 
pushing the date of the exchange forward a bit. Elias de Barjols apparently "fell in 
love" with her as a widow and wrote songs about her "for the rest of his life", until he 
entered a monastery. Raimon Vidal also praised her renowned patronage of 
troubadours.

Retirement and later life[edit]

In 1220 Guillaume II de Sabran, a nephew of William IV, who claimed Forcalquier and 
had been in revolt in the region of Sisteron, was neutralised in part through the 
mediation of the Archbishop of Aix, Bermond le Cornu. By 1217 or 1220 Garsenda had 
finally ceded Forcalquier to her son and handed the reins of government over.

Garsenda retired to the monastery of La Celle around 1225. In 1242, she went to visit 
her newly born great-granddaughter, Beatrice of England, and her parents in 
Bordeaux. As the father, Henry III of England, was engaged in a war in France at the 
time, she brought 60 knights to his service.[8] Garsend may have been alive as late as 
1257, when a certain woman of that name made a donation to a church of St-Jean on 
the condition that three priests be kept to pray for her soul and that of her husband.

Poetry[edit]

Vos que.m semblatz dels corals amadors,ja non volgra que fossetz tan doptanz;e platz 
me molt quar vos destreing m'amors,qu'atressi sui eu per vos malananz.Ez avetz dan 
en vostre vulpillatgequar no.us ausatz de preiar enardir,e faitz a vos ez a mi gran 
dampnatge;que ges dompna no ausa descobrirtot so qu'il vol per paor de faillir. You're 
so well-suited as a lover,I wish you wouldn't be so hesitant;but I'm glad my love makes 
you the penitent,otherwise I'd be the one to suffer.Still, in the long run it's you who 
stands to loseif you're not brave enough to state your case,and you'll do both of us 
great harm if you refuse.For a lady doesn't dare uncoverher true will, lest those around 
her think her base.[9] 

Parents
DE SABRAN DU CAILAR Raimond (Reinier) (Rainou) (ABT 1155 - 1224)
____ Garsenda (Gersende) (ABT 1156 - )

Siblings
DE SABRAN Garsenda (ABT 1180 - ABT 1242)

Marriage To OF ARAGON Alfonso II (1174 - Feb 1209)
    m. 1193 

Notes

Parents
____ Alfonso II "The Chaste" (Mar 1157 - 25 Apr 1196)
____ Sancha (Sanchia) (21 Sep 1154 - 9 Nov 1208)

Children by OF ARAGON Alfonso II 1174 - Feb 1209
BERENGER Raimund V (IV) (ABT 1195 - 19 Aug 1245)

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