William IX is best known as the first troubadour – a vernacular lyric poet from the Occitan region – whose work survived. He is also remembered as one of the leaders of the Crusade of 1101.

He is one of my maternal 23 x great-grandfathers.

He was born in Aquitaine, France, on 22 October 1071, son of William VIII of Aquitaine and Hildegarde of Burgundy^{1 2}.

Titles

Upon his father’s death in 1086, William succeeded as³:

• The 9th Duke of Aquitaine
• The 8th Count of Poitou.

Family

In 1089 William married Ermengarde d’Anjou and divorced her a year later¹.

In 1094, William IX married Phillipa Mathilda, Duchess consort of Toulouse^{1 2 4}. Together they had six children^{1 4}:

• William of Aquitaine. He married the daughter of his father’s mistress and had Eleanor of Aquitaine, the future wife of King Henry II of England⁵.
• Agnes, who married Ramiro II, King of Aragon and Navarre.
• Four unnamed daughters.

William took Amauberge, wife of the Viscount of Châtellerault, as his mistress¹. Together they had two children, who who may have been illegitimate:

• Raymond of Poitiers
• Henri, who is only mentioned in one document referring to his brother’s marriage in Antioch.

Philippa left him after his affairs and they divorced in 1115¹.

Notable events

In 1088, Philippa’s father had left on pilgrimage leaving Toulouse in the hands of his brother, Raymond of Saint-Gilles⁴. By 1094, Philippa was due to inherit Toulouse when her father died⁴. Her uncle refused to acknowledge her claim as her father’s heir⁴. It’s possible Philippa married William to have an ally help her get Toulouse back. When Raymond left for a Crusade in 1096 his son, Bertrand, took over as Count of Toulouse⁴. William and Philippa invaded two years later and took Toulouse without fighting any battles⁴.

Eventually, William led a Crusade in 1101³ which was disastrous by all accounts⁵.

In 1112, he was wounded at the battle of Taillebourg⁵.

In 1113, Bertrand died allowing William IX to take Toulouse back. Philippa moved back to Toulouse to be able to take care of her land. When she returned to Poitiers she discovered William IX had installed his mistress in the matrimonial home.

In total, William was excommunicated twice. The first time was because he didn’t pay his church taxes in time and he demanded absolution from the bishop by threatening to kill him. The second time was because he took Amauberge, wife of the Viscount of Châtellerault, as his mistress³. To atone for this, and to have the excommunication lifted, he went on a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, possibly in 1117⁵.

In June 1120, William participated in the battle of Calatayud together with King Alfonso I of Aragon⁵.

We have one quotation of William’s which has survived the sands of time⁶

“God let me live long enough to get my hands under her cloak!”

William, IX Duke of Aquitaine

Troubadour

William’s greatest legacy was as a troubadour using the Provençal or Occitan language³. He composed songs, about erotic, courtly and serious love, but only 11 have been directly attributed to him⁵. This makes him a unique source of relationships and life in medieval times. He was described as a skilful and witty performer, outdoing professional entertainers at court⁵.

He is the earliest troubadour we have evidence for but he didn’t start the tradition; he’s just the first person we have records about⁵.

Here is one of his compositions called, “I will compose [a song], and then sleep”

There are some more songs, and music, of his which is available. The lyrics are all in Occitane and influences from early Latin are clear. For more 11th century music:

• Companho Tant Ai Agut D’avols Conres performed by Brice Duisit on RTE FM’s Vox Nostra (Episode 14 January 2024).
• Pos De Chantar M’es Pres Talens performed by Brice Duisit on RTE FM’s Vox Nostra (Episode 4 February 2024).
• Postlude Instrumental performed by Brice Duisit on RTE FM’s Vox Nostra (Episode 4 February 2024).

Death

He died in Aquitaine, France, on 10 February 1126³ or 1127 after suffering an unknown illness³. It is not known where they buried him.

References

1. Fmg.ac. (2024). AQUITAINE DUKES. [online] Available at: https://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/AQUITAINE.htm [Accessed 29 Aug. 2024][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
2. Page, R. (n.d.). Two Thousand Years One Hundred Generations Again. Lulu.com[↩][↩]
3. Fmg.ac. (2024). AQUITAINE DUKES. [online] Available at: https://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/AQUITAINE.htm [Accessed 29 Aug. 2024][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
4. Center (2024). Epistolae. [online] Epistolae. Available at: https://epistolae.ctl.columbia.edu/woman/25734.html [Accessed 29 Aug. 2024][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
5. Wolterbeek, Marc. “A NEW DATE FOR WILLIAM OF AQUITAINE’S ‘SONG OF PENANCE’ (SONG 11).” Neuphilologische Mitteilungen, vol. 107, no. 3, 2006, pp. 335–46. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/43344237. Accessed 7 Apr. 2025[↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
6. Gristwood, S. (2022). The Tudors in Love. St. Martin’s Press[↩]