thérèse de hemptinne & els de paermentier countesses to borrow enormous sums of money from creditors in northern France and Italy and from the Flemish towns, among other moneylenders, to cover their expenses. This included the exorbitant relief (relevium) owed to the French king upon succession, the ransom for the release of a husband or son after their capture during military campaigns, and additional restitution required in exchange for military help or due to political treaties.22 Given the extreme pressure on the comital finances during the reigns of both countesses, it is not surprising that the testaments of Joan and Margaret, as well as those of Joan’s first husband Ferrand and Margaret’s son Guy, primarily deal with the settlement of outstanding debts and the allocation of financial receiving offices from which the money was to be taken.However,apart from their content,they equally allow us a glimpse of the pragmatic and material context in which they were produced. A clear pattern that emerges from the analysis of the princely wills is that they cannot be considered as stand-alone documents but, rather, must be seen as part of circumstantial dossiers comprising dozens of sealed charters that helped prepare, secure, and legally confirm the proper execution of the testamentary legacies and bequests. Consequently, the process of recording a last will can only be fully understood when also examining the typologically diverse range of charters that were drawn up during its preparation or execution. Liège. On the reign of Countess Margaret, see Duvivier 1894, passim; Wauters 1895, col. 612–629; Stuckens 2020; Vandermaesen 1982, pp. 399–440; Luykx 1938, pp. 113–143. 22 On Countess Margaret’s finances, see Luykx 1961, passim; Kittell 1991; Stuckens 2020, pp. 217–370; De Paermentier 2018, pp. 153–168. 453 Last wills: key products of aggregate files and documentary completion
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