Folquet de Marselha, alternatively Folquet de Marseille, Foulques de Toulouse, Fulk of Toulouse (b. before 1165 - d. 25 December 1231) was a member of a Genoese merchant family settled in Marseille. In his younger days he was a merchant (according to the Monk of Montaudon) and a troubadour. As poet and singer he was apparently known to Raymond Geoffrey II of Marseille, Richard Coeur de Lion, Raymond V of Toulouse, Raimond-Roger of Foix, Alfonso II of Aragon and William VIII of Montpellier; he is said in the unreliable Biographies des Troubadours to have been the cause of the divorce between William VIII and Eudocia Comnena. His last recorded poem, promoting a Crusade in Spain, is dated to 1195. Events November 23 - Pope Alexander III enters Rome. ... December 25 is the 359th day of the year (360th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 6 days remaining. ... // Events Ardengus becomes bishop of Florence. ... A troubadour was a composer and performer of songs in particular styles during the Middle Ages in Europe. ... Richard I (September 8, 1157 – April 6, 1199) was King of England from 1189 to 1199. ... Raymond V (1134-1194) was count of Toulouse from 1148 until his death in 1194. ... Alfonso II of Aragon (Alfons I of Provence and Barcelona, 1152-1196), known as the Chaste or the Troubadour was king of Aragon and count of Barcelona from 1162 to 1196. ... This article is about the medieval crusades. ...

Before 1204 Folquet had become a member of the Cistercian Order and was abbot of Thoronet (Var, France). He was Bishop of Toulouse from 1205 until his death. In this role he worked with Saint Dominic in combating the Cathar heresy, helped to found the first Dominican houses, and, in 1229, was a founder of the medieval University of Toulouse. He died in 1231 and was buried, beside the tomb of William VII of Montpellier, at the abbey of Grandselves, near Toulouse. // Events February - Byzantine emperor Alexius IV is overthrown in a revolution, and Alexius V is proclaimed emperor. ... Cistercians (OCist) (Latin Cistercenses), otherwise Gimey or White Monks (from the colour of the habit, over which is worn a black Catholic order of monks. ... A bishop is an ordained member of the Christian clergy who, in certain Christian churches, holds a position of authority. ... The Capitole, the 18th century city hall of Toulouse and best known landmark in the city; in the foreground is the Place du Capitole, a hub of urban life at the very center of the city Toulouse (pronounced in standard French (help· info), in local Toulouse accent (help· info)) (Occitan... Events January 6 - Philip of Swabia becomes King of the Romans April 14 - Battle of Adrianople (1205) between Bulgars and Latins August 20 - Following certain news of Baldwin Is death, Henry of Flanders is crowned Emperor of the Latin Empire Births Walter IV of Brienne Wenceslaus I, King of... St. ... It has been suggested that Albigensians be merged into this article or section. ... Events March 18 - Sixth Crusade of Emperor Frederick II ends in truce with Sultan al-Kamil and coronation of Frederick as King of Jerusalem. ... The University of Toulouse is one of the oldest universities in Europe. ...

Folquet is famously quoted as saying "A verse without music is a mill without water". In later life, he is said to have vowed to take nothing but bread and water on any day on which he heard one of his own poems recited.

He had two sons. Their names are listed in Latin as Ildefonsus and Petrus in a document of 1210 from Grandselves; both became abbots.

Folquet's works

• Stanislaw Stronski, Le troubadour Folquet de Marseille. Krakow: Académie des Sciences, 1910.
• Texts of Folquet's poems (in Occitan)
• His diocesan letter of 1215 approving Dominic's brotherhood of preachers (French translation of the Latin original)

Sources

• Biographies des troubadours ed. J. Boutière, A.-H. Schutz (Paris: Nizet, 1964) pp. 470-484.
• Johannis de Garlandia De triumphis ecclesiae ed. Thomas Wright. London: Nichols, 1856.
• Guillaume de Puylaurens, Chronique 1145-1275 ed. and tr. Jean Duvernoy. Paris: CNRS, 1976.

References

• Short biography of Folquet de Marselh from the Here of a Sunday Morning radio show on WBAI 99.1 FM, New York
• Patrice Cabau, 'LES ÉVÊQUES DE TOULOUSE (IIIe-XIVe SIÈCLES) ET LES LIEUX DE LEUR SÉPULTURE' in Mémoires de la Société Archéologique du Midi de la France vol. 59 (1999). Online text
• Folquet de Marseilles from Encyclopædia Britannica