Raimon VI of Toulouse

Raymond VI
Count of Toulouse
Seal of Raymond VI
Born	27 October 1156 Saint-Gilles, Gard
Died	1 August 1222
Spouse	Ermessende of Pelet Beatrice of Béziers Bourgogne Joan Plantagenet Eleanor of Aragon
Issue	Constance of Toulouse Raymond VII, Count of Toulouse
House	Rouergue
Father	Raymond V, Count of Toulouse
Mother	Constance of France

Raymond VI (Occitan: Ramon; October 27, 1156 – August 2, 1222) was Count of Toulouse and Marquis of Provence from 1194 to 1222. He was also (as Raymond IV) Count of Melgueil from 1173 to 1190.

Born at Saint-Gilles, Gard, he was a son of Raymond V and Constance of France. His maternal grandparents were Louis VI of France and his second wife Adélaide de Maurienne. His maternal uncles included Louis VII of France. In 1194 he succeeded his father as count of Toulouse. He immediately re-established peace with both Alfonso II of Aragon and with the Trencavel family.

He was married five times:

Raymond VI held vast territories but his control of them was problematic. Aside from theoretically owing allegiance to the King of France, Raymond held Provence as a vassal of the Emperor.Henry II of England controlled neighboring Aquitaine through his wife Eleanor, who had a claim to Toulouse through her grandmother, Philippa of Toulouse, daughter of William IV, Count of Toulouse. Alfonso II of Aragon was involved in the affairs of Languedoc, stimulating emigration from the north to colonize newly reconquered lands in Aragon.

In Toulouse, Raymond maintained the communal freedoms, extended exemptions from taxation, and extended his protection to the communal territory. A poet and a man of culture, he hated war but did not lack energy.