The genealogy of the Perillos family Part 1: origins of a family

 

Meet the family

We have used various sources for the reconstruction of the genealogy. These include: the French national archives, such as box J 1050, which contains, amongst others: « 47. 1er mai 1393. Acte de vente, par le roi Jean (Ier) d’Aragon, comte de Roussillon et Cerdagne, à Ramon, vicomte de Perillos et de Rodez, de son château et fief d’Elle (Ille). — Copie coll. par un notaire de Perpignan le 12 mai 1688. » and « 48. 25 janvier 1438. Acte par lequel François de Fenouillet, vicomte de Perillos, s’engage à payer à Francisco Dalcamora, de Barcelone, certaines sommes à lui dues par Louis, vicomte de Perillos et de Rodez, sur le fief d’Elle (Ille). — Copie coll. par le même notaire, même date (la pièce est liée à la précédente) » There is also the « official » genealogy of the family, as well as historical documents that are too numerous to identify here. We do note amongst these: L’Héraldique & Généalogie (1988 & 1989), Grand dictionnaire historique (10 volumes) by Louis Moréri (Paris, 1759), le Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana, etc.

Prehistory

Toulouse, after having been the capital of the Visigothic kingdom, remained the biggest metropolis in Southern France. The County of Toulouse was one of the principal territories which sometimes extended throughout Aquitaine, or a major part of the Languedoc and even territories on the other side of the Rhone. From the Merovingian era, a count or duke was in place in Toulouse.
Tradition states that the Perillos family descends from this county of Toulouse, from the time of Charlemagne, and that one descendent, one Ramon Beltran, was the first to become a “Perillos”, because of his “perilous” efforts on the battlefield. This origin thus takes us to Torson, who was a knight at the time of Charlemagne, ca. 770 AD. He became the count of Toulouse in 778 and was deposed in 790. His successors were Isauredo, Bertran, Guillermo, Remon de Sanguil, Guilien, Ponce, Aymerico and Ramon/Remon.
There is nothing mythical or impossible about this – the real question is whether the Perillos were indeed descendents from Torson, and how close they were to the hereditary line of the family. If they are descendent from Torson, we should note that Torson himself was a descendent of Charibert II, King of Aquataine (629-632), whose children were Childeric – Duke of Aquitaine (631-637), Boggis - Duke of Aquitaine and Gascony (637-688), Chilperic (dead in 630), Bertrand - Duke of Aquitaine and Gascony (637-?) and Dagobert. Torson himself descended from Boggis, his son Eudes I the Great, Eudes II, Hunald, Mansion, who was the former’s second child and the father of Torson, also known as Chorson and Torsion.

The family of the future counts of Toulouse rises to prominence around 840, when Pepin II names Frédelon, until then count de Rouergue. In this family, there is no lack of the name Ramon, or Raymond, to use its English and French equivalent. Frédelon himself was succeeded in 852 by his brother Raymond I. Frédelon allied himself with Charles the Bald, who confirmed his position in 845 and named his brother Ramon count of Quercy. At the death Frédelon (ca. 852), Raymond succeeded him, but was ushered from power in 863 by Bernard of Septimania; he died the following year.
After a war against the count of Auvergne, Bernard Plantevelue, the son of Raymond, Eudes, was reinstalled in Toulouse and was able to exercise his power relatively independently. His son Raymond II succeeded him, followed by his grand-son Raymond III Pons, who annexed Septimania and extended his suzerainty over the Albigensians, the Rouergue and the Quercy. Raymond III (Raymond Ponce III) (born 923 – died 969), was the father of Ramon Ponce and Guillermo Tallaferro III (William Taillefer), the latter born ca. 947. The count of Toulouse Guillaume Taillefer (†1037) married Emme, daughter of the count of Arles, Roubaud II.
From this marriage comes a claim through the family of Toulouse of a part of the heritage of Provence, a claim which leads to the agreement of 1125 by which the count of Toulouse receives, through the title of marquis de Provence, the areas in the North of the Durance and Beaucaire, whereas the count of Barcelona, Raymond Berenger I, whose wife was the heiress of a junior branch, held a county of Provence organized around the counties of Arles and Forcalquier. The agreement was ratified in 1174. The family lasted into the successive centuries, with other Raymonds in first ranks of those that wrote the history of Toulouse.

The “mythical” line of Perillos focuses on Raymond IV, who in the “official” Perillos genealogy, became “Raymond I”. He became count in 1088, upon the death of his brother William IV and acquired Rouergue and Narbonne, as well as the rights to many towns in the lower Languedoc. We can only wonder whether amongst these villages we find Perillos. Afterwards, he participated in the first Crusade and he distinguished himself on the battlefields of Antioch, Jerusalem, though died in the siege of Tripoli in 1105. Nevertheless, his military exploits are of less interest to us than his genealogy. His first marriage was annulled ca. 1061. He also had an extra-marital son, Beltran/Bertrand. He was also married to Sancha o Ermesenda, of Aragon, which resulted in an alliance between Aragon and Toulouse.
On his part, Bertrand left for the Holy Land, where he founded the county of Tripoli in 1109 and left Toulouse to his brother Alphonse Jourdain. He became the count of Tripoli and died in 1112. It is now that we have reached the final “mythical” predecessor of the Perillos family.

The entry and disappearance into the history books

Already, in 1100, one “Raimundus Segarii de Perelons” is lord of Perillos. It is 1114 when we see a Ramon de Perillos listed as attending the inauguration of the church of Salses. He is named as a vassal of the count of Barcelona. When, in 1172, Catalonia is annexed to Aragon, the Perillos family become vassals of the kings of Aragon. At that moment in time, Opoul is known as Oped, as found in the document of Arnau Guillem de Salses to his son Oliba, in which he donates a freehold in Opoul and the castle of Salses.

The church of Espira-d-Agly

Even though there is a Lord of Perillos in 1148, we note that the ancient chapel on the plateau belongs to the priory of Espira-de-l’Agly, which was, since 1134, in the property of the bishop of Elne, who installed a congregation of Augustinian monks. We know that from this alliance in 1136, the priory and the monks prospered and received many goods in the Roussillon and Cerdagne. When we note that the churches of Perillos belonged to this priory in 1148, it is logical to conclude that both religious buildings must have belonged to the “profits” of the Augustinian monks.

The territory of Perillos, at this moment in time, is exclusive of the “plateau of Salveterra”, as it would be later in history too. But it is nevertheless intriguing that, still in 1215, the churches on both the plateau of Opoul and in Perillos itself did not belong to the lords, but to the priory of Espira-de-l’Agly.
In 1246, James I the Conqueror decided to establish a village and Opoul became a royal village, a distinction it carried until the time of the French Revolution. He thus renamed a site that until then had been called Salveterra. Opoul was born; Perillos continued to exist.

But just when we have some information about the history of the villages, the genealogy leaves the historical records and disappears into the mist. The “official genealogy” talks about a Bertrand II, who moved to Cahors, to a village that was known as “Perillarch”, on the borders of the river Dordogne. Or so they think… the “official genealogy” but speculates, to try and explain a gap that lasts for two centuries. And it is precisely this gap that forces us to treat with care any claims the Perillos family had about what passed on before 1300… let alone in 800 AD.
It is possible that the family in the 14th century invented their origins, if only because they themselves may not have had proof or ideas from where they precisely originated across the vast expanses of time. At the same time, it is equally possible that the Perillos family was indeed part of the lower nobility of the count of Toulouse. The latter is actually the most logical supposition, as it would explain why and how the family became the lords of Perillos in the first place.

At the start of the 14th century, the “official” genealogy recommences, when we note there are three brothers in this family, which the genealogy has living in Perillarch. They are:

Even though the genealogy has resurfaced, it is merely an anchor in time and nothing like an anchor of certainty. This family of Perillarch has now become “Perillos”, via “Perilleux”, “Perilous” in the sense of dangerous, according to the family’s preferred accounts. Two experts, Gaspar Escolano and Martin de Viciana, have debated this problem. One expert, Gaspar Escolano, thinks it is more certain that the name of Perillos came from the town of Perillos (66600) – our village – and not Perillarch. We can only add our endorsement to this conclusion, as it is the most logical. To pass via Perillarch, and this for two centuries, is possible, but at the moment any historical validation is lacking for this claim.

Logic also dictates that between 1100 and 1300, the “genealogical gap”, we do see the rise of the Perillos family. So who was in charge of Perillos during those two centuries, if it had not yet become the stronghold of the Perillos family “of Perillarch”? And when we note that the Perillos family, at the start of the 14th century, is found to be in Perillos, we should consider the fact that the genealogical gap may not be perhaps easily filled with proper names, but at least the setting where it all occurred should be Perillos – not Perillarch. Furthermore, the official genealogy also states that, in this timeframe, the lords of Perillarch left their home countries, to go to Spain and work in the service of the kings of Aragon. But we note that in the same timeframe, the lords of Perillos (66600) became vassals of the king of Aragon, because of the annexation of Catalonia to Aragon at the end of the 12th century. And when we simplify things, two mysteries could be resolved in one explanation.

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