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____ Geoffry I
Birth: ABT 1010 of Provence
Death: 1063
Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_I_of_Provence
Geoffrey I or Josfred[1] (died February between 1061 and 1063) was the joint Count of
Provence with his elder brothers William IV and Fulk from 1018 to his death. He was
the third son of William II of Provence and Gerberga of Mâcon and a scion of the
younger line of the family. It is possible that he did not carry the title "count" until
after the death of his eldest brother William around 1032.
He became Count of Arles in 1032 and he and Fulk made a donation to the Abbey of
Cluny on 26 May 1037. During his brother's life, he was secondary to him. With the
death of his brother, he became sole count with the title marchyo sive comes
Provincie. The title of marchio (margrave) implied that he was the head of the dynasty.
He was a great builder of the church in his region, devastated in the previous century
by Saracen raids. He restored the abbey of Sparro, which they had destroyed, and
gave it to the archiepiscopal see of Aix. Following the example of most of his
ancestors, he was a patron of Saint Victor in Marseille. In 1045, he consented to a
donation of one of his vicecomital vassals to the monastery and in March 1048 to the
transferral of property from Raimbaud, Archbishop of Arles, to the church. On 1 July
1055 and again in 1057, with his wife Stephanie and his son Bertrand, he himself
donated property to St Victor. His patronage far exceeded his predecessors however.
He relinquished his rights over any lands the viscount of Marseilles, Fulk, wished to
donate to the monastery in 1044, while in 1032 he had consented to turn over lands to
the church as allods. In 1038, he gave over comital rights which had been possessed
of his house since the reign of his great-grandfather William the Liberator to his
vassals, losing control over many castles and fortresses. The royal fisc, which had
been under control of the counts of Provence since the time of William, was mostly
parcelled out as allods to the vassals during Geoffrey's tenure and the weakening of
the county of Provence as a united polity can be dated from his reign. Even when
Rudolf III of Burgundy, his lord, sold any remaining rights over some royal villae,
Geoffrey gave these away as allodial holdings.
Geoffrey was succeeded by his son Bertrand. One daughter became the first wife of
Raymond IV of Toulouse, another, Stephanie, married William II of Besalú and the
third was Gerberga, married Gilbert I of Gévaudan.
Parents
DE PROVENCE William (Guillaume) II (ABT 981 - AFT 30 May 1018)
OF MACON Gerberge (ABT 985 - ABT 1022)
Siblings
BERTRAND Fulk (or William (Guillaume)) (ABT 1003 - 27 Apr 1051)
____ Geoffry I (ABT 1010 - 1063)
Marriage To OF PROVENCE Stephanie (Douce) (ABT 1025 - AFT Sep 1095)
m.
Notes
Children by OF PROVENCE Stephanie (Douce) ABT 1025 - AFT Sep 1095
____ Bertrand II (ABT 1050 - 1093)
DE PROVENCE Stefanie (ABT 1051 - )
____ Gerberga (ABT 1057 - 1115)
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