Astarac

Who he is

Name

Centule I

Title

Count of Astarac

Since

Not pinned: one list makes him count from 1174-1175, another has the co-countesses Marquesa and Beatrix from 1183 and Centule after them

Born

Not pinned

Family

Of the old comital house of Astarac; his line ends in Centule II (died 1249). His later marriage to Petronilla of Comminges, daughter of Bernard IV and Marie of Montpellier, belongs to the next decades.

Confidence

low

English Wikipedia ('Centule we of Astarac', single-source; 'County of Astarac'): count until 1233, joined the barons' alliance against Richard in 1183 and was at Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212. The 1183 co-countesses in the county list make his start uncertain.

Overlord

The duke of Aquitaine.

What it holds

• The upper valleys of the Gers, the Baise and the Arrats round Berdoues, Simorre, Seissan and Masseube
• Advocacy of the abbeys of Berdoues and Simorre (with the Church map)

How it was acquired

Inherited (dynasty from the 10th century).

Allies and rivals

The counts of Pardiac, a cadet branch; the count of Armagnac to the north; Comminges to the east; Bigorre to the south-west.

How things stand that morning

Held of the duke; no war known.

Wealth

Wheat, cattle and wool; Cistercian granges.

Military

Small hill castles; Gascon knights and routiers.

Threats

• An uncertain succession record

Places of note

• Berdoues abbey: Cistercian abbey and burial place of the counts.
• Simorre: Benedictine abbey town.

Where the sources disagree

• Lists disagree on who ruled Astarac between 1183 and the 1190s (co-countesses Marquesa and Beatrix, or Centule I from 1174-1175).

Evidence: Modern lists only; no dated charter of 1199-1200 found.

On the map: Traced from the later county; the edges against Pardiac, Magnoac and the Saves are approximate.

Primary sources for Angevin lands

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 Alberic of Trois-Fontaines, Alberic of Trois-Fontaines (about 1227 to 1241, at the Cistercian abbey of Trois-Fontaines in Champagne). The widest net of any Latin chronicle for 1200, compiled from dozens of sources, many now lost. 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
• Chronicles of the Churches of Anjou (Saint-Aubin, Saint-Serge, Saint-Florent and others), Various (monks of Angers and the Loire) (11th to 13th centuries; the Saint-Aubin annals run to the 1220s). The Angevin houses' own annals of the succession crisis in their city: Arthur received at Angers in 1199 with Constance and the Breton and Angevin barons, John's counter-moves, the defection of William des Roches and the Angevin lords to John, and the peace of 1200 that left Arthur John's vassal. 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
• Chronicle of Roger of Howden, Roger of Howden (about 1192 to 1201). The fullest single narrative for the year. Read online
• Chronicle; Deeds of the Kings, Gervase of Canterbury (Chronica about 1188 to 1199; Gesta Regum about 1199 to 1210). The Chronica stops in 1199, so for 1200 the witness is the briefer Gesta Regum, which notes John's peace with Philip, the coronation of Isabella at Westminster on 8 October 1200, and matters touching Canterbury: the archbishop Hubert Walter as chancellor, the cathedral priory's quarrel with him, and the Lambeth college dispute lately settled by the pope. Read online
• English Chronicle of Ralph of Coggeshall, Ralph of Coggeshall (about 1200 to 1224, in stages). Short but independent entries for 1200 from a Cistercian house in Essex: John's levy on the Cistercians and the carucage, the peace with Philip, the king's new marriage and the queen's coronation, and the death of Hugh of Lincoln. Read online

14 more in the sources library for France and Iberia.