The Counts of Toulouse: ( Coms
de Toloza):
Ramon
VII de Tolosa: - Raymond of St-Gilles (July, 1197 - September 27, 1249), Count
of Toulouse (1222-1249)
Also Duke of Narbonne, Count of Quercy, Rouergue and Saint-Gilles;
Count of Agen (Aquitaine); Marquis of Provence (Holy Roman
Empire), Count of Melgueil (Papacy).
Raymond VII was the son of Raymond
VI of Toulouse and Jeanne
of England.
During the Albigensian Crusade, he left from Marseille
and in May 1216 besieged the town of Beaucaire,
eventually capturing the citadel on 24th August. He fought
to reconquer Toulouse from Simon
de Montfort and later from Simon's son Amaury.
 He
succeeded Raymond
VI in 1222. He recovered lands taken from his father
and negotiated a truce (1223) with Amoury de Montfort and
his land-hungry Crusaders from France.
For failing to suppress the supposedly heretical Cathars
and allowing liberty to Jews, he was excommunicated by the
council of Bourges in 1226 and subjected to another French
invasion. He ceded territory to France by treaty and was
forced to permit the Albigensian
Crusade to continue in the Languedoc (Treaty of Paris
in 1229, also known as the Treaty of Meaux). He was permitted
to keep much of his lands during his lifetime, but was compelled
to allow the establishment of the Inquisition
in his lands.  Allied
with his cousin Henry III of England, he rebelled unsuccessfully against
Louis
VIII of France (1242) and was forced to accept greater
French authority over Toulouse.
For Raymond's role in the Cathar Wars, click here
 .
Raymond VII died at Millau
on 27th September, 1249. He is buried in Fontevraud Abbey
Jeanne
of Toulouse, Raymond's daughter by his wife Margaret
le Brun, was his sole heir. She was obliged to marry Alphonse
of Poitiers, brother of Louis
IX of France under the Treaty of Paris so when Raymond
died, Alphonse became count of Toulouse. The couple died
childless in 1271, upon which the County of Toulouse was
annexed by the French Crown.
Click on the following link for more on the
House of Toulouse 
Click on the following link for more on Counts
of Toulouse
Click on the following link for more on the
the role of Raymond VII Count of Toulouse in the Cathar
Crusade
Click on the following link for more about the
arms of fighters in the Cathar Wars
Click on the following link for more on the
Seal of Raymond VII Count of Toulouse
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