Chalon

Who he is

Name

William II (Guillaume II de Chalon)

Title

Count of Chalon

Since

about 1168-1174 (not pinned)

Born

about 1145 (genealogical estimate)

Family

House of Thiers-Chalon. His daughter and heiress Beatrice married Stephen of Auxonne (of the comital house of Burgundy) about 1186; the couple were divorced between 1197 and 1200 (day not pinned); their son John of Chalon, the future 'Jean l'Antique', was born about 1190. en.wikipedia gives Beatrice's mother as a Beatrix, daughter of Frederick Barbarossa.

Confidence

medium

en.wikipedia Stephen III of Auxonne; a genealogy (genealogieonline, BergSmit) giving about 1145-1202; the county's overlordship and extent were not checked against charters

Overlord

Held within the duchy of Burgundy (the county is reckoned a fief of the duchy); the bishop of Chalon is lord of much of the city

What it holds

• comital rights in Chalon-sur-Saone, beside the bishop
• the Chalonnais between the Dheune and the Grosne
• the Charolais (Charolles, Mont-Saint-Vincent, Toulon-sur-Arroux, Perrecy) as reported for the county before 1237
• tolls on the Saone at Chalon

How it was acquired

Inherited in the house of Chalon.

Allies and rivals

Father-in-law (or former father-in-law) of Stephen of Auxonne, whose war with Otto I (from 1197) involves the Chalon claims to the county of Burgundy. Neighbour of the duke, the count of Macon and the abbeys of Tournus and Cluny.

How things stand that morning

William II holds the county; Beatrice is heiress, with her son John (about 9) after her. Whether her divorce from Stephen of Auxonne is already pronounced on 1 January 1200 is not pinned. Across the Saone lies the imperial county of Burgundy and Stephen of Auxonne's lands.

Wealth

The Saone crossing and port at Chalon, river tolls, the wines of the Cote chalonnaise, the Charolais pastures. The great Chalon fairs belong to a later age.

Military

Castles of Chalon (beside the bishop's), Charolles and Mont-Saint-Vincent; detail not pinned.

Threats

• the Auxonne war in the county of Burgundy may draw Chalon in
• a weak count beside a strong duke who covets the Saone crossing

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.

In 1200

1. 13 January 1200Otto I's murder at Besancon reopens the Burgundian succession in which Stephen of Auxonne, the count's son-in-law, has claims.Depends on: Otto's death on its date Stopped by: Otto surviving

Later, on the likely course

1. 1202 (later course)Death of William II; Chalon passes to his daughter Beatrice, and after her (1227) to John of Chalon.Depends on: natural death Stopped by: nothing in play known

Places of note

• Chalon-sur-Saone: city, port and comital seat beside the bishop
• Charolles: castle of the Charolais
• Mont-Saint-Vincent: old centre of the Charolais

Where the sources disagree

• en.wikipedia's Stephen III of Auxonne dates his divorce from Beatrice of Chalon between 1197 and 1200, so it may fall either side of 1 January 1200.

Evidence: The comital succession is known in outline; the count's overlord and the exact extent of the Charolais in 1200 were not pinned against charters here.

On the map: The bishop of Chalon's city lordship and the abbeys of Tournus, Cluny's priories (Paray) and Perrecy lie inside; the polygon takes in a strip of the left bank of the Saone (the Bresse chalonnaise) whose standing in 1200 is not pinned; the Charolais's western edge toward the Brionnais and Bourbon-Lancy is approximate.

Primary sources for Burgundy

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 Robert of Auxerre, Robert of Auxerre (Robert of Saint-Marien) (about 1190 to 1211; continued at Saint-Marien to 1227). A universal chronicle whose last twenty years are contemporary and well informed from Burgundy and the Auxerrois. 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
• The Conquest of Constantinople (Villehardouin), Geoffrey of Villehardouin (about 1207 to 1213). Opens with the preaching of Fulk of Neuilly and the tournament at Ecry (28 November 1199) where Theobald III of Champagne and Louis of Blois took the cross, then the taking of the cross by Baldwin of Flanders, Hugh of Saint-Pol, Geoffrey of Perche and others through early 1200, the assemblies at Soissons and Compiegne in 1200, and the six envoys sent to Venice in the winter of 1200 to 1201. Read online
• Documents of the French Royal Treasury of Charters, vol. 1 (755 to 1223) (755 to 1223; the archive was organised from the 1190s). The treaties and bonds the French crown kept in its own archive, printed in date order. Read online
• The Acts of Philip Augustus, with Delisle's Calendar, Various (the French royal chancery) (1179 to 1223). The king's own charters and treaties for the year: the peace of Peronne with Baldwin IX in January 1200, the treaty of Le Goulet with John on 22 May 1200, the marriage settlement for Louis and Blanche, the privilege for the scholars of Paris, grants to towns, abbeys and Norman lords, and the first acts of the king's new acquisitions in the Vexin, Evreux and Berry. Read online