Today is the publication day for Almodis: The Peaceweaver, my novel based on Almodis de La Marche, the 11th century countess of Toulouse and Barcelona. Almodis was a scandal, excommunicated, and one of the most powerful of a number of female lords in southern France and Catalonia in the early Middle Ages. She and her husband Ramon Berenguer, Count of Barcelona, founded Barcelona Cathedral and their caskets hang on the wall there.

A study of charters in this area found that 10-12% of lords and vassals, acting in their own right, were women. At this time, southern France – Occitania – differed from northern France, in that its laws and inheritance practices were based on Visigothic rather than Roman traditions. As a consequence, noblewomen had more status in this place and this time. Other examples of female lords were Ermessende of Carcassonne, who ruled Barcelona for at least 16 years; Ermengarde of Narbonne; Marie of Montpellier; and Almodis’ sister, Lucia de la Marca, regent in Pallars Sobira in the Pyrenees.

I will be launching the book and talking about Occitan female lords and female troubadours (the trobairitz) in the Occitan University festival in Laguepie 82250, France, tomorrow – 11 July 2023. 9pm in the Salle des Fetes.

Here is a female troubadour song for you (the only one that has survived with its music):

Almodis: The Peaceweaver is available in hardback, paperback and ebook.