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TheCounty of Forcalquier was a large medieval county in the region ofProvence in theKingdom of Arles, then part of theHoly Roman Empire. It was named after the fortress around which it grew,Forcalquier.
The earliest mention of a castle at Forcalquier dates to 1044, when it was in the possession ofFulk Bertrand, jointcount of Provence. When Fulk died in 1051 his lands were shared between his sonsWilliam Bertrand andGeoffrey II, who inherited Forcalquier. Sometime in the 1060s Forcalquier was inherited by William's daughter Adelaide, who was the first person to be styled "Countess of Forcalquier". She marriedErmengol IV of Urgell and died in 1129, at a time when Provence was sharply disputed by the many persons who had inherited some title to it. Thecounts of Toulouse claimed the titlemarchio as descendants ofEmma of Provence, while thecounts of Barcelona laid claim to Provence as descendants ofDouce I. In 1125 a formal division of Provence into a march and a county was effected, but in 1131 a new claimant, theHouse of Baux, provoked a series of wars, theBaussenque Wars, fought over the rights to the county of Provence. Meanwhile, the county north of theDurance, with Forcalquier andEmbrun, had devolved to Adelaide's son by Ermengol,William III (the enumeration of counts of Forcalquier includes earlier counts of Provence). William III and his descendants, a cadet branch of thecounts of Urgell, continued to rule Forcalquier until the end of the century, when theTreaty of Aix (1193) gave in marriage the last count's granddaughter,Garsenda of Sabran, toAlfonso, son ofAlfonso II of Aragon and heir of the county of Provence. Their marriage in July 1193, Alfonso's inheritance in 1196, andGarsenda's in 1209 united the two counties permanently.
