ABSTRACT
When Hugh Pellissier died near the end of the twelfth century, he probably could not have imagined the extent to which his family would suffer and be torn apart, above and beyond the grieving that normally accompanies death. After all, he had written a will spelling out his last wishes, and he had accumulated a respectable amount of property around Arles, in southeastern France, so that his widow and his children would be provided for. As was customary, he had included in his will all sorts of provisions and restriction clauses so that his wishes would be carried out. And yet, as he and his contemporaries knew, but modern historians have largely ignored, writing a will did not mean its provisions would actually be carried out. Hugh could not have known that his son and his daughter, who were the beneficiaries of his will, would also die after him, thus rendering his will useless and the process of succession unclear. As was frequently the case, when the hazards of demography or the unpredictability of life created circumstances which no one could foresee, Hugh’s remaining kin and associates fought over the scraps: two challenges or disputes occurred over his properties, one between his son-in-law and his widow, another between his son-in-law and another man. Then, in June 1210, his widow Agnes, who had perhaps had enough of death and disputing, decided to give herself to the Hospitalers at Trinquetaille near Arles, who received her as a sister. As was customary on such occasions, she gave a gift of the house she and Hugh had lived in together. But her problems were far from over, because her remaining daughter, Huguette, did not agree and, in anger, challenged her mother’s donation. 1
