Clermont

Who he is

Name

Louis I, count of Blois and Chartres, with his wife Catherine, heiress of Clermont

Title

Count of Clermont (in right of his wife)

Since

1191, when Catherine's father Raoul I of Clermont, constable of France, died at Acre

Born

Louis about 1172

Family

Louis is Philip Augustus's nephew (son of Theobald V and Alix of France). Catherine is the daughter of Raoul I of Clermont. Their son Theobald (VI) will sell Clermont to the king in 1218.

Confidence

high

Succession from the county's history; Louis's Blois realm is the Loire researcher's.

Overlord

Philip II directly; not part of the Blois principality

What it holds

• Clermont and its castle on the hill
• The castellany of Clermont with its villages between the Breche and the Aronde
• The Breteuil inheritance of Raoul's wife Alix [what of it Catherine holds is not pinned]

How it was acquired

By marriage to the heiress (about 1184) and her succession in 1191.

Allies and rivals

The king (uncle); the bishop-count of Beauvais; the constable Dreux of Mello at Mello nearby.

How things stand that morning

Held by Louis and Catherine; Louis a crusader since Ecry.

Wealth

Grain and forest of the Beauvaisis.

Military

Castle of Clermont.

Threats

• Louis's absence and death on crusade (he is killed at Adrianople in April 1205).

Places of note

• Castle of Clermont: Seat.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Holders firm; bounds approximate.

On the map: Only the castellany is drawn.

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.