Editing Alfonso Jordan (section)

==Life==
Alfonso was the son of [[Raymond IV of Toulouse]] by his third wife, [[Elvira of Castile, Countess of Toulouse|Elvira of Castile]].{{sfn|Graham-Leigh|2005|loc=table 5}} He was born in the castle of Mont Pèlerin in [[Tripoli, Lebanon|Tripoli]] while his father was on the [[First Crusade]]. He was given the name "Jourdain" after being baptised in the [[Jordan River]].{{sfn|Barton|Fletcher|2000|p=164}}
Alfonso's father died when he was two years old and he remained under the guardianship of his cousin, [[Guillaume Jourdain|William Jordan]], [[Count of Cerdagne]], until he was five. He was then taken to Europe, where his half-brother [[Bertrand of Toulouse|Bertrand]] had given him the county of Rouergue. Upon Bertrand's death in 1112, Alfonso succeeded to the county of Toulouse and marquisate of Provence.

In 1114, Duke [[William IX of Aquitaine]], who claimed Toulouse by right of his wife [[Philippa of Toulouse|Philippa]], daughter of Count [[William IV of Toulouse|William IV]], invaded the county and conquered it. Alfonso recovered a part in 1119, but he was not in full control until 1123. When at last successful, he was [[excommunicated]] by [[Pope Callixtus II]] for having damaged the abbey of Saint-Gilles and assaulting the monks.{{sfn|Selwood|1999|p=32}}

[[File:Carte provence 1125.png|thumb|upright|left|Division of Provence obtained by Alfonso Jordan in 1125. He ruled the marquisate.]]

Alfonso next had to fight for his rights in Provence against Count [[Raymond Berengar III of Barcelona]]. Not until September 1125 did their war end in "peace and concord" (''pax et concordia'').{{sfn|Kosto|2001|p=256-258}} At this stage, Alfonso was master of the regions lying between the [[Pyrenees]] and the [[Alps]], the [[Auvergne (province)|Auvergne]] and the sea. His ascendancy was, according to one commentator, an unmixed good to the country, for during a period of fourteen years art and industry flourished.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} 

In March 1126, Alfonso was at the court of King [[Alfonso VII of León]] when he acceded to the throne. According to the ''[[Chronica Adefonsi imperatoris]]'', Alfonso and [[Suero Vermúdez]] took the city of [[León, León|León]] from opposition magnates and handed it over to Alfonso VII.{{sfn|Barton|1997|pp=126–28|ps=. According to the ''Chronica'', "count Alfonso of Toulouse ... was in all things obedient to him [Alfonso VII]" (''comes Adefonsus Tolosanus ... in omnibus essent obedientes ei'').}} Among those who may have accompanied Alfonso on one of his many extended stays in Spain was the troubadour [[Marcabru]].{{sfn|Barton|1997|p=147}}{{sfn|Boissonade|1922}}

[[File:Denier Narbonne Alphonse Jourdain.jpg|thumb|A ''[[French denier|denier]]'' minted at Narbonne during the minority of Ermengard (1134–43) bearing the obverse inscription DUX ANFOS and on the reverse CIVI NARBON]]

By 1132, Alfonso was embroiled in a succession war over the county of Melgueil against Count [[Berengar Raymond of Provence]].{{sfn|Graham-Leigh|2005|p=94}} This brief conflict was resolved with Alfonso's defeat and Berengar marrying [[Beatrice of Melgueil|Beatrice]], heiress of Melgueil.{{sfn|Graham-Leigh|2005|p=94}}

Alfonso seized the [[viscounty of Narbonne]] in 1134, and ruled it during the minority of Viscountess [[Ermengarde of Narbonne|Ermengarde]], only restoring it to her in 1143. 
In 1141 King [[Louis VII of France]] pressed the claim of his wife, [[Eleanor of Aquitaine]], granddaughter of Philippa, even besieging Toulouse, but without result.{{sfn|Kelly|1978|p=15}} 
That same year Alfonso Jordan was again in Spain, making a [[Way of Saint James|pilgrimage to Saint James of Compostela]], when he proposed a peace between the king of León and [[García Ramírez of Navarre]], which became the basis for subsequent negotiations.{{sfn|Barton|1997|pp=140, 211}}

In 1144, Alfonso again incurred the displeasure of the church by siding with the citizens of [[Montpellier]] against [[Lord of Montpellier|their lord]]. 
In 1145, [[Bernard of Clairvaux]] addressed a letter to him full of concern about a heretic named Henry in the diocese of Toulouse. Bernard even went there to preach against the heresy, an early expression of [[Catharism]].{{sfn|Wakefield|Evans|1991|p=122}} A second time he was excommunicated; but in 1146 he took the cross (i.e., vowed to go on crusade) at a meeting in [[Vézelay]] called by Louis VII. In August 1147, he embarked for the near east on the [[Second Crusade]].{{sfn|Tyerman|2007|p=156}}
He lingered on the way in Italy and probably in [[Constantinople]], where he may have met Emperor [[Manuel I Comnenus|Manuel I]].

Alfonso finally arrived at [[Acre, Palestine|Acre]] in 1148. He died at [[Caesarea Maritima|Caesarea]],{{sfn|Richard|1999|p=165}} which was followed by accusations of poisoning, levelled against either Eleanor of Aquitaine or [[Melisende of Jerusalem]],{{sfn|Richard|1999|p=165}} who may have wanted to eliminate him as a rival to her brother-in-law Count [[Raymond II of Tripoli]]. 

Alfonso and Faydiva d'Uzès had: 

# [[Raymond V of Toulouse|Raymond]], who succeeded him{{sfn|Graham-Leigh|2005|loc=table 5}} 
# [[Alfonso II of Toulouse|Alfonso II]] 
#
# [[Faidiva of Toulouse|Faydiva]] (died 1154), married to Count [[Humbert III of Savoy]]{{sfn|Graham-Leigh|2005|loc=table 5}} 
# Agnes (died 1187) {{sfn|Graham-Leigh|2005|loc=table 5}}
# Laurentia, who married Count [[Bernard III of Comminges]]{{sfn|Graham-Leigh|2005|loc=table 5}}

He also had an illegitimate son, [[Bertrand of Toulouse (son of Alfonso Jordan)|Bertrand]].{{sfn|Lewis|2017|p=152}}