Abstract EN:

This thesis comprises the study of the familial, social, political, administrative and literary entourage of a princely family - that of the Counts of Toulouse - from the twelfth to the thirteenth century. The study is based on a corpus of documents derived from various sources (charters, literary texts, seals and coins). This work concentrates on the analysis of the role and place of the family at the heart of a political group whose social and geographic composition was particularly variable. This position allows one to construct the idea of a court and to consider its functions and characteristics. The study also focuses attention on the nature of the relationships of the princes with the many people that constituted their permanent entourage. These ties could take different forms, those involving the family, lord-vassal relationships, or of a more complex nature concerning friendship and the affections. This thesis pursues a wider problematic that attempts to broach two notions: that concerning image (an indispensable political quality for those wishing to grasp the ideology that was put into being by a dynasty who found itself menaced by other forces); and that concerning power (an unavoidable theme, since one of the primary roles of the entourage of a prince is to aid the autocrat to govern his estates with efficacy).