Gap

Who holds it

Name

Guillaume de Gieres

Title

Bishop of Gap

Since

1199

Confidence

medium

The list gives Frederic (1198-1199) and then Guillaume de Gieres (1199-1211). Nothing more about him was found.

What it holds

• Gap: lordship of the city (from 986), contested by the officers of the counts of Forcalquier

How it was acquired

Grant of 28 December 986 (en.wikipedia, Gap).

How things stand that morning

The bishop holds the city in name and in law; the count's officers dispute it in practice.

Wealth

The city market on the road from the Durance to Grenoble; the estates of the see.

Threats

• The Forcalquier counts' officers
• The coming change of overlord to the Dauphins

Advocates and rivals

The counts of Forcalquier (William IV) and their officers in Gap; from 1202 the Dauphin Andre, who marries William's granddaughter with Gap and Embrun as her portion.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Holder from one list; the lordship rests on the en.wikipedia summary of Gap's history.

On the map: City only. The modern commune of Gap is larger than the medieval town.

Primary sources for Forcalquier

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.

• Deeds of the Counts of Barcelona, Anonymous (monks of Santa Maria de Ripoll) (first version 1162 to 1184; continued in the later 13th century; final version 1303 to 1314). The house chronicle of the counts of Barcelona.
• The Great Book of Fiefs, Various; compiled by Ramon de Caldes for Alfonso II of Aragon (compiled 1192 to 1194). The register of the count-king's feudal rights, finished a few years before 1200 and in use at Peter II's court: some 900 charters of homage, convention, oath, sale and marriage arranged by county and lineage, covering Catalonia, Roussillon, Cerdanya, Pallars, Urgell, the Carcassonne and Beziers lands of the Trencavels, Provence and Aragon.