William IX of Aquitaine

William IX of Aquitaine (October 22 1071 – February 10 1126, also Guillaume or Guilhem d'Aquitaine), nicknamed the Troubador was Duke of Aquitaine and Gascony and Count of Poitiers as William VII of Poitiers between 1086 and 1126. He was also one of the leaders of the crusade of 1101 and one of the first vernacular poets and troubadours.

Military life

William invited Pope Urban II to spend Christmas 1095 at his court. The pope urged him to take the cross and leave for the Holy Land, but William was more interested in exploiting the absence of Raymond IV of Toulouse, his wife's uncle, to press a claim to Toulouse. He and Philippa did capture Toulouse in 1098, an act for which they were threatened with excommunication. Partly out of a desire to regain favor with the religious authorities and partly out of a wish to see the world, William joined the First Crusade in 1099.

Related Topics:
Pope Urban II - 1095 - Raymond IV of Toulouse - 1098 - Excommunication - First Crusade - 1099

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He arrived in the Holy land in 1101 and stayed there until the following year. His record as a general is not very impressive. William fought mostly skirmishes in Anatolia and was frequently defeated. His recklessness had his army ambushed on several occasions, with great losses to his own side. In September 1101 his entire army was destroyed by the Turks at Heraclea; William himself barely escaped with a few survivors.

Related Topics:
Holy land - 1101 - Anatolia

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Later on in his life, William joined forces with the kingdoms of Castile (an old ally) and Léon. Between 1120 and 1123, Aquitanian troops fought side by side with queen Urraca of Castile, in an effort to conquer the Moors of Cordoba and complete the Reconquista. During his sojourn in Spain, William was given a rock crystal vase by a Muslim ally that he later beqeathed to his granddaughter Eleanor. The vase probably originated in Sassanid Persia in the 7th century.

Related Topics:
Castile - Léon - 1120 - 1123 - Urraca of Castile - Moors - Cordoba - Reconquista - Rock crystal vase - Eleanor

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William IX also provided troops to Philip I of France in his war against William the Conqueror.

Related Topics:
Philip I of France - William the Conqueror

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