Aimar V of Limoges

Aimar V Boso [His name is also given as Adhemar, Ademar, Adhemir, Aymar, Aymer, or Ademir.] (c. 1135, [ [http://www.gurganus.org/ourfamily/pedigree.cfm?pid=3161 Gurganus.org] ] in Limoges [ [http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=SHOW&db=updike&recno=15908 WorldConnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com] ] [ [http://awt.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=SHOW&db=buchroeder&surname=Limesi%2C+Hawise+Mrs+De&ti=5538 AWT.Ancestry.com] ] – c. 1199 [ [http://cilialacorte.com/cilia%20la%20corte-legacy/7253.htm CiliaLaCorte.com] ] ) was the Viscount of Limoges, a petty nobleman in the Loire valley in the Duchy of Aquitaine. [ [http://www.aimar.com/about.html Aimar.com] ]

Aimar was orphaned at a young age and raised by his relatives among the southern French aristocracy. He ruled from 1148 - 1199. [ [http://www.elfinspell.com/SmytheBertrandeBorn3.html ElfinSpell.com] ] [ [http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/AQUITAINE%20NOBILITY.htm FMG.ac] ]

Aimar is most famously known for being a fulcrum of insurrection against King Richard I of England, who was also the Duke of Aquitaine in right of his mother Eleanor of Aquitaine (Richard's full title being "Richard I, By the Grace of God, King of the English, Duke of the Normans and Aquitanians, Count of the Angevins"). Aimar, like many of the fractious Aquitanian nobles, participated in sporadic rebellion against ducal authority throughout his adult life, often co-operating with Duke Richard's brothers, the Count of Angouleme and the house of Lusignan, though he was generally brought to heel. [ [http://www.aimar.com/about.html Aimar.com] ]

It was while suppressing one of Aimar's revolts that King Richard was to meet his end. The Duke was besieging the Château de Chalus-Chabrol, a small and scantly garrisoned castle in Limousin, France under the control of Aimar, when he was shot by a crossbow, possibly fired by a certain Pierre Basile. Richard was hit in the shoulder and died days later on April 6, 1199. [ [http://histomatist.blogspot.com/2006/04/dead-king-watch-richard-i.html Histomatist.blogspot.com] ] [ [http://www.themiddleages.net/people/richard_lionheart.html TheMiddleAges.net] ] [ [http://www.historynet.com/magazines/military_history/3717336.html?page=4&c=y Historynet.com] ]

Aimar's disinclination to obey the Plantagenet dukes was encouraged by Bertran de Born, a baron and troubadour of the Saint Martial School. A lament for the Viscomte by another troubadour, Giraut de Bornelh, suggests that Aimar died unexpectedly. Roger of Hoveden claims that he was killed by Philip of Cognac, King Richard's bastard son, who thus succeeded in punishing Aimar's long career of contumacy and his role in Richard's death. This story is held as tradition, [ [http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/AQUITAINE%20NOBILITY.htm#AdemarVLimogesdied1199 FMG.ac] ] [ [http://nq.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/citation/9/7/273-f NQ.OxfordJournals.org] ] and though there is little hard evidence behind it, it was adapted by William Shakespeare in his history play King John, where Philip, the "Bastard of Falconbridge", kills a composite of Richard's enemies described as "Lymoges, Duke of Austria".

Aimar married Sarah de Dunstanville, daughter of Reginald de Dunstanville, 1st Earl of Cornwall, [ [http://worldroots.com/brigitte/theroff/geneva.txt WorldRoots.com] ] at Bordeaux [ [http://www.illian.org/places/FamilySheets/d0037/F96516.html#146366 Illian.org] ] in 1159. [ [http://cilialacorte.com/cilia%20la%20corte-legacy/7253.htm CiliaLaCorte.com] ] . His daughter and heiress, Marie de Limoges, married Eble V of Ventadorn, the viscount of Ventadour.

On screen, Aimar was portrayed by actor Robert McBain in the BBC TV drama series "The Devil's Crown" (1978), which dramatised the reigns of Richard I and his father and brother.

Notes