The dynasties that ruled Provence cluster almost entirely in the Middle Ages, with 26 dates out of 39, against only 3 in Antiquity, 6 in the early modern period and 4 in the contemporary era. This is the age of the comital houses: the fall of the western Roman empire, the Visigothic and Burgundian kingdoms, then the succession of the counts of Provence, from Raimond Bérenger III to René of Anjou and Queen Jeanne, whose marriages and inheritances kept reshaping power.
This map follows these lines of succession at Aix, Marseille, Arles and Naples, from the last western Roman emperors to the royalist upheavals of the early nineteenth century.
What the corpus attaches to this theme
Places most present : Provence, Marseille, Aix, Arles, Avignon, Italie, Naples, Toulouse
Figures most present : Reine Jeanne, René d'Anjou, Raimond Bérenger V, Robert le Bon, Raimond Bérenger III, Charles du Maine, Louis XI, Louis l'Aveugle
Antiquity
475
Orestes, master of the soldiers and former secretary to Attila, drives out Julius Nepos and makes his own son Romulus Augustulus, fourteen years old, emperor
484
Death of Euric at Arles; the Burgundians immediately cross the Durance and become masters of the whole of Provence
507
Battle of Vouillé, death of Alaric II, Visigothic king, at the hands of Clovis, converted to orthodox Christianity
Middle Ages
870
Charles the Bald installs Boson, his brother-in-law, as duke of Vienne in place of Duke Girard
875
Charles the Bald invests Boson with the duchy of Provence; Boson marries Ermengarde, daughter of Louis II of Italy
15 October 879
The assembly of Mantaille confers the royal title on Boson, who founds a kingdom bearing the name of Provence
11 January 887
Death of Boson, retired to the Diois, still king
890
Louis III elected king at Valence
902 then 905
Capture of Louis the Blind by Berengar of Friuli during the retaking of Pavia (summer 902), then return to Italy despite his oath, and blinding (905)
911 or early 912
Louis the Blind entrusts the government of the southern part of his kingdom to his cousin Hugh, with the title of duke of Provence
924
Coronation of Hugh of Arles at Pavia
5 June 928
Death of Louis the Blind at Vienne, without a direct legitimate heir
10 April 947
Death of Hugh of Arles at Arles
947
Boson of Arles invested with the county of Provence
19 October 993
Death of Conrad, king of Burgundy
998
Constance, daughter of William the Liberator, marries Robert, king of France
1032
Death of Rudolph III, the kingdom of Burgundy incorporated into the Empire
around 1042
Death of William, son of Roubaud, last count from the male line of the elder branch; his sister Emma carries the comital rights to the house of Toulouse through her marriage to William, count of Toulouse
1112
Marriage of Douce to Raimond Bérenger, count of Barcelona, transfer of the county to the counts of Barcelona
13 January 1113
Douce grants her husband all her possessions and rights, the effective accession of the house of Barcelona to the comital crown of Provence
end of July 1131
Death of Raimond Bérenger I (III in Catalonia); his counties divided between his two sons, opening the Baussenque wars
1162
Recognition of the title of count of Provence for Raimond Bérenger III
1191
Marriage of Alphonse (son of Alphonse I) to Gersende de Sabran
13 September 1213
Death of Peter II of Aragon at Muret
19 August 1245
Death of Raimond Bérenger V, passage of the county to his daughter Beatrice and founding of the first house of Anjou
31 January 1246
Marriage of Charles of Anjou and Beatrix, heiress of Provence: Provence passes to the house of Anjou
1328
Death of Charles, duke of Calabria, leaving his rights to Jeanne and Marie
1333
Marriage of Jeanne to Andrew of Hungary
1343
Death of Robert, Naples becomes a battleground of intrigues
night of 18 to 19 September 1345
Assassination of Andrew of Hungary at Aversa
4 June 1365
Coronation of Charles IV of Luxembourg as king of Arles at Saint-Trophime, guaranteeing Queen Jeanne her rights over Provence
1 June 1381
Charles of Duras receives from the pope the investiture of the kingdom of Naples, which he seizes on 16 July
27 July 1382
Death of Queen Jeanne, put to death in prison, passage of the county to Louis I of Anjou
21 October 1387
Chapters of peace confirming the pre-eminent place of Aix and the second Angevin dynasty
1434
Death of Louis III at Cosenza
1436
René sets out to conquer his kingdom of Naples
24 July 1474
Testament of René bequeathing Provence to his nephew Charles of Maine
10 July 1480
Death of René
10 December 1481
Charles III dictates his testament making Louis XI universal legatee
day after 10 December 1481
Death of Charles III, last sovereign count, passage of Provence to the king of France
Early modern period
19 December 1481
Louis XI charges Palamède Forbin with taking possession of Provence in the king's name
29 and 30 December 1481
Meeting of the Estates convened at Aix by the seneschal Pierre de la Jaille, who announces the designation of Louis XI as heir of Charles III
December 1481
Death of Charles V of Anjou (Charles III of Provence), last independent count, passage of Provence to the King of France
30 August 1483
Death of Louis XI, Charles VIII succeeds him
1533
Marriage of the future Henri II and Catherine de Médicis, celebrated at Marseille in the presence of Pope Clement VII
May 1774
Death of Louis XV, end of Maupeou's experiment in enlightened despotism
Read the period: Early modern period
Contemporary period
1814
Fall of the Empire
1 March 1815
Napoleon, having landed, bivouacs at Cannes and then at Grasse, on his way to Paris
June 1815
At the news of Waterloo, an explosion of royalism in Marseille and a second White Terror
late April 1832
The Duchess of Berry lands near Marseille