Mende

Who holds it

Name

Guillaume de Peyre

Title

Bishop of Mende

Since

1187

Confidence

high

Son of Astorg IV, baron of Peyre, one of the great Gévaudan houses; two earlier bishops of Mende (Aldebert I and II) were of his kin. Succeeded Aldebert III du Tournel in 1187. The citizens of Mende drove him out for his pro-royal policy, and he regained control in 1194. In 1194 he arbitrated a quarrel between the bishop of Le Puy and the people of the Velay. Later he founds the Cistercian nuns of Mercoire (1207), seizes the Aragonese castle of Grèzes and the viscounty in July 1209 under cover of the Albigensian crusade, resigns in March 1223 and dies that year.

What it holds

• Mende: sole lordship of the town since Aldebert III bought out the lay co-lords; walls and ditch built by him
• The Gévaudan: regalian rights and full justice over its inhabitants under the Golden Bull of 1161; the barons owe the bishop fealty
• Claim over the viscounty of Gévaudan (Grèzes, Marvejols), held by the king of Aragon; the bishop will seize it only in 1209

How it was acquired

Aldebert III's purchases of lay rights in Mende (from the lords of Canilhac, Cabrières and Dolan, and the count of Barcelona's holdings there) and the Golden Bull of Louis VII. French Wikipedia dates the bull 1161; English Wikipedia calls it an act of fealty or paréage of 1166, notes that the original does not survive and doubts that a golden seal was ever attached.

How things stand that morning

Held. The bishop is lord of Mende and overlord of the Gévaudan under the king; the viscounty around Grèzes is Aragonese, and the barons keep their own castles.

Wealth

Dues and justice over the people of the diocese, the market of Mende, and tolls on the roads across the Gévaudan.

Threats

• The Aragonese viscounty in the middle of his land
• Baronial independence
• Townsmen's resistance in Mende

Advocates and rivals

The king of Aragon (Peter II) as viscount of Gévaudan, with his castle of Grèzes and the town of Marvejols. The great baronies. The Tournel family, Aldebert III's kin, who kept his castle of Chapieu on Mont Mimat above Mende. The citizens of Mende, who once drove Guillaume out.

Places of note

• Cathedral of Mende: Seat of the bishop
• Castle of Grèzes: Seat of the Aragonese viscounty of Gévaudan; seized by the bishop in July 1209

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The Golden Bull and the bishop's lordship of Mende are well attested, though the bull's date and form are disputed (1161 or 1166). The power of the bishop over the barons in 1200 was more claim than command; the title 'count of Gévaudan' comes only with the paréage of 1307.

On the map: Modern Lozère stands in for the Gévaudan; the bishop's direct lordship was Mende and the episcopal lands, his regalian rights covered the rest, and the baronies were held under him. The viscounty is drawn only as its two centres.

Primary sources for Held of the king

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.

• Chronicle of Andres, William of Andres (about 1220 to 1234). The chronicle and cartulary of a small abbey between Guines and Ardres, near the border of Flanders and Boulogne. 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
• Chronicles of Saint-Martial of Limoges, Bernard Itier and other monks of Saint-Martial; Geoffrey of Vigeois for the earlier chronicle (Geoffrey's chronicle to 1184; Bernard Itier's notes about 1195 to 1225). Bernard Itier, librarian of Saint-Martial, kept dated notes through 1200 of what reached Limoges: Richard's death at Chalus in 1199, the viscounts of Limoges and the lords of the Limousin, John's passage through Aquitaine in 1200 and the affairs of Angouleme and the Lusignans, and the abbey's own elections and prices. Read online
• The Great Chronicle of Tours, Anonymous (a canon of Saint-Martin of Tours) (about 1227). The Loire valley's view of the Angevin succession. Read online
• Universal Chronicle of the Anonymous of Laon, Anonymous (an English-born canon of Laon) (about 1219). A Picard chronicle whose author had lived in England and keeps an eye on both kingdoms. Read online
• Deeds of Philip Augustus, Rigord (about 1186 to 1206, in stages). The French court's own chronicle for the year, from the monk of Saint-Denis who called himself the king's chronographer. Read online
• Deeds of Philip Augustus; The Philippide, William the Breton (Guillaume le Breton) (Gesta about 1214 to 1220; Philippide 1214 to 1224). William abridged Rigord for the years before 1207 and then continued him, so for 1200 the Gesta is a shortened Rigord with a few added touches: the Le Goulet settlement, Blanche's marriage, and the interdict. Read online
• History of the Counts of Guines, Lambert of Ardres (about 1196 to 1203, unfinished). A house history of the counts of Guines and lords of Ardres, written while Count Baldwin II and his son Arnold were alive and finishing in 1203. Read online

4 more in the sources library for France and Iberia.