Since 1007, when Henry II made the bishop count of the whole Cambrésis, the bishop of Cambrai has been the lord of an imperial county on the French border: his city of Cambrai, the castle-town of Le Cateau, and comital rights over the countryside, defended by a castellan.
The citizens of Cambrai have a long tradition of communal revolt, and Flanders and Hainaut press on every side. The see is in the hands of Innocent III's old teacher, who is about to move on to Sens.
Who holds it
- Name
- Peter of Corbeil
- Title
- Bishop of Cambrai and count of the Cambrésis
- Since
- 1199
- Confidence
- high
A Paris master whose pupil Lothar dei Conti, now Innocent III, kept him in high esteem. Named bishop of Cambrai in 1199 after a run of short or unconsecrated bishops (John of Antoing 1192-1196, Nicholas of Le Roeulx 1197, Hugh, elected but not consecrated, 1197-1198). He stays only briefly: the list of bishops has him promoted archbishop of Sens in December 1200 (the French article on him says no later than early 1200).
He dies in 1221 or 1222.
What it holds
- Cambrai: the bishop's city, with his cathedral and palace, and the citizens' contested commune
- The county of the Cambrésis, granted by Henry II in 1007: comital justice, peace and military command over the countryside, exercised through the bishop's castellan
- Le Cateau: the bishop's fortified town, which stayed in his hands through every war
How it was acquired
Henry II granted the county in 1007 after his campaign against Count Baldwin IV of Flanders; the bishops have kept a castellan ever since, though the castellans often turned against them (in the 1070s Castellan Simon allied with Flanders).
How things stand that morning
Peter of Corbeil holds the city and county. He is a curial man, the pope's teacher, in an imperial see of a French church province, and his eyes are on Sens.
Wealth
Cloth and linen of Cambrai (the fine cloth later called cambric), the Scheldt trade, the grain of the Cambrésis.
Threats
- The commune of Cambrai
- Flanders and Hainaut
- A vacancy when Peter goes to Sens
Advocates and rivals
The castellans of Cambrai, the count of Flanders and Hainaut (Baldwin), the king of France across the border, and the citizens of Cambrai with their commune.
What the year holds
What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.
- December 1200 (the French article allows early 1200)Peter of Corbeil is promoted archbishop of Sens; John of Béthune becomes bishop of Cambrai (1200-1219).Depends on: Election at Sens and papal approval. Stopped by: Philip Augustus blocking the Sens election under the interdict, or the pope keeping Peter at Cambrai.
Places of note
- Le Cateau: The bishop's fortified town
Where the sources disagree
- The campaign notes keep Peter of Corbeil at Cambrai on 1 January with Sens vacant, which matches the French list of bishops of Cambrai (promoted to Sens in December 1200). The French article on Peter himself says he was archbishop of Sens 'at the earliest in 1199, at the latest at the start of 1200', so the date of his move is not pinned. Sources: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_des_%C3%A9v%C3%AAques_et_archev%C3%AAques_de_Cambrai and https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_de_Corbeil
Evidence: The 1007 grant and the castellany are well attested. The county is drawn as the modern arrondissement of Cambrai, which is close to the medieval Cambrésis; much of its land was held by lay vassals under the bishop's comital authority.
On the map: The modern arrondissement of Cambrai stands for the medieval Cambrésis; the edges are approximate.
Primary sources for Empire
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- Annals of Marbach (compiled to 1238, the section on 1198 to 1210 written in the early 13th century). Alsatian annals on the Staufen side of the Upper Rhine. Read online
- Annals of Reiner of Saint James, Liège, Reiner of Liège (1197 to 1230, kept year by year). Contemporary annals kept inside Liège. Read online
- Chronicle of Burchard of Ursberg, Burchard of Ursberg (about 1229 to 1230, reworked by Conrad of Lichtenau). Written a generation later by a fierce partisan of the Staufen and a critic of Innocent III. Read online
- Chronicle of Otto of St Blasien, Otto of St Blasien (about 1209 to 1210). A Swabian continuation of Otto of Freising written from the Staufen side. Read online
- Chronicle of Reinhardsbrunn; Chronicle of St Peter's, Erfurt (Erfurt chronicle in the 13th century; Reinhardsbrunn compilation about 1340 to 1349 from older annals). The two Thuringian chronicles. Read online
- Chronicle of the Slavs, by Arnold of Lübeck, Arnold of Lübeck (about 1209 to 1210). Arnold continues Helmold and writes from Lübeck, close to Danish, Welf and Baltic affairs. Read online
- Royal Chronicle of Cologne (in stages from about 1175 to about 1250; the section on 1198 to 1220 written soon after the events). The fullest German narrative of the throne war from the Welf and Cologne side. Read online
- Chronicle of Hainaut, Gislebert of Mons (about 1195 to 1196). Ends in 1195, so it has no 1200 entries, but it is the indispensable background for Flanders and Hainaut: the career of Count Baldwin V of Hainaut (VIII of Flanders), his union of the two counties, the settlement with Philip over Artois, the rights, castles, fiefs and vassals of Hainaut listed by a man who ran its chancery, and the youth of Baldwin IX, who held both counties in 1200. Read online
8 more in the sources library for The Rhineland, the Low Countries and the Swiss Lands.
Sources and studies
- Cambrésis (fr.wikipedia)
- Pierre de Corbeil (fr.wikipedia)
- Liste des évêques et archevêques de Cambrai (fr.wikipedia)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.