602 Provence
Provence The name of the region of Provence devel-
oped from the Latin provincial.That geographical area
had formed the Roman province of Cisalpina, later Nar-
bonensis, and initially had covered the whole of southern
Gaul. During the Middle Ages, it referred to a larger area
than the French region does today, including CATALONIA
in Spain and eastward to Liguria in Italy.
EARLY MIDDLE AGESIn the early Middle Ages, the BURGUNDIANS, the VISI-
GOTHS, the OSTROGOTHS, and the FRANKSall periodically
controlled this region, which included the towns of Mar-
seille, Arles, Aix, Fréjus, Riez, and Cimiez. There was
considerable continuity of settlement and habitation
between the fifth and the eighth centuries and trade con-
tinued with North Africa and the East until the late sixth
century. This began to change after 739 and the Battle of
POITIERS, when CHARLES Martel took control of this
region at the margins of the Frankish kingdom. From
855, the progressive disintegration of the Carolingian
Empire led to the creation of the Burgundian kingdom, or
the kingdom of Arles. With the weakening of that gov-
ernment, Muslim raiders even set up a century-long set-
tlement at Fraxinetum or La Garde-Freinet from 883.
ECONOMIC REVIVAL AND CULTUREThere was a revival of economic activity in the 11th cen-
tury, and ecclesiastical activity fostered by the GREGORIAN
REFORMmovement and the foundation or expansion of
monastic institutions. The second half of the 12th century
was marked by a flowering of Provençal ROMANESQUEart
and architecture and by development of the language and
poetry of the TROUBADOURS.
A divided succession led in 1125 to a partition of
Provence with the house of TOULOUSE, which acquired the
land north of the Durance; the rest settled on the counts
of BARCELONA. Provence would not have native or gen-
uinely local rulers until modern times but did preserve a
local assembly that had to be consulted on many matters.
At the beginning of the 13th century, Raymond Berenguer
V (d. 1246) established his rule and made Aix-en-
Provence the seat of his government and court. In 1246, a
representative of the northern French Crown. CHARLESI
OFANJOU, took control. Provence embarked on an era of
economic growth and prosperity, supplemented by the
settlement of the popes and their court at AVIGNONin the
early 14th century. Most of the towns grew in prosperity
and size, benefiting more than suffering from the provi-
sioning and troop movements necessary for Crusades and
other warfare, now almost constant. The MENDICANT
ORDERSentered the cities, built churches, and tried to
improve pastoral care of growing populations.
LATER MIDDLE AGESDespite the presence of the papacy in Avignon, the 14th
century was more difficult. There were sporadic famines
from the 1310s to the 1330s. The Black Death entered
Europe and Provence through the port of Marseille in- Outbreaks of this disease became endemic, and it
killed at least a third of the population. The warfare asso-
ciated with the Hundred Years’ War sent bands of merce-
naries into the region, when they destroyed property,
killed civilians, and demanded huge bribes to leave. Not
until the peace treaties of the middle of the 15th century
did a renewal of peaceful prosperity in the countryside
and a revival or urban activity occur. The region was able
to do well even under the harshly exploitative circum-
stances of the reign of King René of Anjou (1409–80).
Though famous as a patron of the arts, he chose to wage
expensive wars in northern France and in Italy to protect
and regain his property and rights on NAPLES. In 1474,
René left the region to his nephew, Charles of Maine, who
in 1481 bequeathed Provence to another of René’s
nephews, King LOUISXI of France. It then became for-
mally part of the kingdom of France.
See alsoLANGUEDOC.
Further reading:John H. Pryor, Business Contracts of
Medieval Provence: Selected Notulae from the Cartulary of
Giraud Amalric of Marseilles, 1248(Toronto: Pontifical
Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1981); Kathryn Reyerson
and John Drendel, eds., Urban and Rural Communities in
Medieval France: Provence and Languedoc, 1000–1500
(Leiden: Brill, 1998); Daniel Lord Smail, Imaginary Car-
tography: Possession and Identity in Late Medieval Mar-
seilles(Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 2000).
provisions, ecclesiastical Ecclesiastical provisions
were appointments by the pope to an ecclesiastical
BENEFICEfor which the pontiff received a fee. The new
practice of ecclesiastical provision in the 12th century
replaced elections for major benefices, self-appointment,
and presentation by a patron for minor benefices. Begin-
ning as a recommendation in ecclesiastical reform move-
ments, it had become mandatory and was the usual
practice by the 13th century. Very financially lucrative
for the Holy See, it grew ceaselessly from then until the
Great SCHISM in the late 14th century, when it was
reduced by concordats between the papacy and the
nationalistic governments of the 15th century. Such
appointments could even take the form of expectative
placements or promises for the possession of benefices
not yet even vacant. The ability to do this was given to
papal legates for the regions to which they had been
sent. It was an important part of the expansion of papal
power and papal taxation in the 14th century, all done
for the needy popes in AVIGNON.
See alsoGREGORIAN REFORM; INVESTITURECONTRO-
VERSY OR DISPUTES; PAPACY; PRAEMUNIRE; PRAGMATIC
SANCTION OFBOURGES; SIMONY.
Further reading:Guillaume Mollat, The Popes at Avi-
gnon, 1305–1378,trans. Janet Love (1949; reprint, New