 The support the count of Toulouse gave to the rebels of 1141–43 was part of the larger rivalry between Toulouse and Aragon (Barcelona) for power in Occitania, a conflict in which the lords of Montpellier gradually built up an alliance with the Aragonese, even though their overlords, the counts of Melgueil, with whom they were related, were Toulousain partisans.William VI and Sibylla had five sons and all except Bernard William, who died before 1172, played a prominent roled in Occitan politics.The eldest, William VII, succeeded his father; Raymond William became a monk and later a bishop; another William, who became co-lord of Tortosa after its conquest, married Ermessende of Castries, joined the Templars in 1157, vowed to go on crusade to the Holy Land for a year, and there died; and Gui Guerrejat later served regent for his nephews, the sons of William VII.