Marie of Montpellier

Marie
The consummation of Marie and Peter II's marriage.
Lady of Montpellier
Tenure	15 June 1204 – 21 April 1213
Predecessor	William IX
Successor	James I
Co-ruler	Peter
Queen consort of Aragon
Tenure	15 June 1204 – 21 April 1213
Born	1182
Died	21 April 1213 (aged 30–31) Rome
Spouse	Barral of Marseille (m. 1192; d. 1192) Bernard IV of Comminges (m. 1197; div. 1201) Peter II of Aragon (m. 1204)
Issue	Matilda, Viscountess de la Barthe Petronila, Countess of Astarac Infanta Sancha James I
House	Guilhem
Father	William VIII of Montpellier
Mother	Eudokia Komnene
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Marie of Montpellier (adapted from Occitan: Maria de Montpelhièr) (1182 – 21 April 1213) was Lady of Montpellier and by her three marriages Viscountess of Marseille, Countess of Comminges and Queen of Aragon.

She was the daughter of William VIII, Lord of Montpellier, by his wife Eudokia Komnene, a niece of Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos.

Since her birth, Marie was the legitimate heiress of the Lordship of Montpellier, because a clausule of the marriage contract of her parents established that the firstborn child, boy or girl, would succeed in Montpellier on William VIII's death.

In April 1187, William VIII repudiated Eudokia Komnene and married with certain Agnes, a relative of the Kings of Aragon. She bore him eight children, six sons and two daughters. Although Eudokia entered in a convent in Aniane as a Benedictine nun, William VIII's second marriage was declared invalid and all the children born from this union declared illegitimate, so Marie remained as the undisputed heiress of Montpellier.

Marie married Viscount Raymond Geoffrey II of Marseille, also named Barral, in 1192 or shortly before, but was widowed at the end of that year. Her second marriage, in December 1197, was to Count Bernard IV of Comminges, and at the insistence of her father, Marie renounced to her rights over Montpellier in favor of her eldest half-brother William (IX), son of Agnes.

From her marriage with Bernard IV, Marie had two daughters, Mathilde (by marriage Viscountess de la Barthe) and Petronille (by marriage Countess of Astarac). The marriage was, however, notoriously polygamous (Bernard IV had two other living wives) and was finally annulled (some say on Marie's insistence, some say on that of King Peter II of Aragon) in 1201. With this annulment, Marie was once more heir to Montpellier, but her father never recognized her and openly acknowledge his son William IX as his heir.

William VIII died in 1202. Marie's half-brother William IX had taken control of the city, but she asserted her right to it. On 15 June 1204 Marie married Peter II of Aragon and thanks to a revolt against William IX, she was recognised as Lady of Montpellier.