Bourbon

Who he is

Name

Mathilde (Mahaut) we of Bourbon and Guy II of Dampierre

Title

Lady of Bourbon, with her husband as lord of Bourbon; Guy also lord of Montlucon by royal grant

Since

Mathilde heiress from 1171 and lady from 1173; Guy by marriage in 1196; Montlucon granted to Guy by Philip Augustus in 1199

Born

Mathilde before 1165; Guy about 1155

Family

Mathilde is the daughter of Archambaud the Young (died 1169) and Alice of Burgundy (Odo III's aunt); her first marriage to Gaucher IV of Salins (about 1178) was dissolved for kinship in 1195. Guy II of Dampierre is constable of Champagne and lord of Dampierre, Saint-Dizier and Saint-Just. Children of the second marriage: Archambaud VIII (born 1197), Guillaume (1198) and daughters; a daughter by Gaucher, Margaret of Salins.

Confidence

high

fr.wikipedia Mathilde Ire de Bourbon and Guy II de Dampierre

Overlord

Philip II, king of France (Montlucon held as an augmentation of fief from the king; liege homage for it in 1202)

What it holds

• Bourbon-l'Archambault castle and lordship
• Moulins on the Allier
• the advocacy of Souvigny priory (Cluny), the dynasty's burial church
• Montlucon (royal grant, 1199)
• Herisson, Chantelle and the castles of the Bourbonnais (holders by castle not pinned)
• Guy's own Champagne lands (Dampierre, Saint-Dizier, Saint-Just: covered by the Champagne researcher)

How it was acquired

Inheritance (Mathilde); marriage (Guy, 1196); royal grant (Montlucon, 1199).

Allies and rivals

Guy is the king's man in the centre. Rivals: the count of Auvergne to the south; Mathilde's former husband Gaucher of Salins.

How things stand that morning

Mathilde and Guy hold the Bourbonnais; Guy holds Montlucon by the king's grant of 1199. To the west lies royal Berry and, beyond Montlucon, the Angevin march of Berry and the county of La Marche (Hugh IX of Lusignan, under Aquitaine); to the south the count of Auvergne; to the north the Nivernais.

Wealth

Allier river traffic at Moulins, the wealth of Souvigny priory, forest (Troncais), salt and wine trade through Moulins.

Military

Castles of Bourbon-l'Archambault, Montlucon, Herisson; Guy's household knights from Champagne.

Threats

• the count of Auvergne's enmity once the crown moves against him

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.

1. 1202 (later course)Guy does liege homage to the king for Montlucon.Depends on: the king's continued favour Stopped by: a breach with the king

Places of note

• Castle of Bourbon-l'Archambault: seat
• Souvigny priory: Cluniac priory, burial church of the sires
• Montlucon castle: granted to Guy by the king in 1199

Where the sources disagree

• fr.wikipedia's Mathilde Ire de Bourbon calls the end of her first marriage a divorce in 1195; others call it an annulment for kinship.
• The children's birth years in fr.wikipedia (Philippa 1196, Archambaud 1197, Marie 1197, Guillaume 1198) crowd too closely to all be right.

Evidence: Marriage and Montlucon grant dated in fr.wikipedia; the list of Bourbon castles in hand in 1200 follows the later sirerie.

On the map: The Bourbonnais of 1200 is smaller than the later duchy; its southern edge toward Gannat and the Limagne is approximate, and Saint-Pourcain (priory of Tournus) is a Church lordship.

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.