She was the daughter of William VIII, Lord of Montpellier, by his wife Eudokia Komnene,[1] a niece of Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos.

Marie married Viscount Raymond Geoffrey II of Marseille, also named Barral, in 1192 or shortly before, but was widowed at the end of that year.

Her second marriage, in December 1197, was to Count Bernard IV of Comminges, and at the insistence of her father, Marie renounced her rights over Montpellier in favor of her eldest half-brother William (IX), son of Agnes.

The marriage was, however, notoriously polygamous (Bernard IV had two other living wives) and was finally annulled (some say on Marie's insistence, some say on that of King Peter II of Aragon) in 1201.

Peter II immediately attempted to divorce her, hoping both to marry Maria of Montferrat, Queen of Jerusalem, and to claim Montpellier for himself.