Aimery III of Narbonne

Aimery (or Aimeric) III (died February 1239), known in Spanish as Aimerico Pérez de Lara, was the Viscount of Narbonne from 1194 until his own death.

On the abdication of Viscountess Ermengard in 1192, her nephew and heir, Pedro Manrique de Lara, a nobleman from Castile, travelled to Narbonne to receive the viscounty and then bestow it on his second son, Aimery, along with the suzerainty over the Viscount of Béziers (1194).

In the charter he had drawn up to confirm the abbey's possessions he styled himself a "son of the lord count Pedro and the lady infanta Sancha, by the grace of God viscount of Narbonne."

Pressured by Odo III, Duke of Burgundy, and Hervé, Count of Nevers, the viscount of Narbonne bowed to a Papal command and assisted the crusaders with money, supplies and castles.

Pope Innocent III, organiser of the Albigensian Crusade, had granted the title Duke of Narbonne, which had been held by Aimery's uncle and namesake Aimerico Manrique until 1177, to the archbishop.

The next year (1214), Aimery was one of those who intervened with Pope Innocent and forced him to order Simon to do homage to King James I of Aragon for his lands in southern France.

[4] When Simon hesitated to obey, Aimery prepared for war, but the intervention of Cardinal Peter of Benevento, the Papal legate for Provence, prevented open hostilities.

Aimery participated in the siege and received the Papal letters defending Simon's actions and excoriating James of Aragon for supporting Raymond.

Inscription in the abbey of Huerta praising its founder, Pedro Manrique, and recording his death in 1202. Aimery visited the monastery that year to confirm his father's grants to it. The inscription may have been set up during his visit.
Modern artist's impression of the Siege of Toulouse, at which Aimery was present.