Cognac, a castle and river port on the Charente between Angouleme and Saintes, is a ducal honour that Richard used to endow his bastard son by marriage to its heiress.
After Amelia's death the castle went back to the duke and to Robert of Thornham. Who keeps it on 1 January 1200 is not pinned: Thornham is with John in the north, and Philip of Cognac is last heard of in 1201 receiving a gift from John.
Who he is
- Name
- Not pinned: Philip of Cognac or Robert of Thornham
- Title
- Lord or keeper of the castle and honour of Cognac
- Since
- not pinned
- Born
- Philip: an adult by the late 1190s
- Family
- Philip of Cognac is Richard I's illegitimate son, married by Richard to Amelia, heiress of Cognac. Amelia died childless and Richard then kept the castle and gave it to his officer Robert of Thornham (date not pinned).
- Confidence
- low
en.wikipedia (Philip of Cognac), citing Roger of Howden; Howden also says that in 1199 Philip killed the viscount of Limoges to avenge his father, a claim no other source supports.
Overlord
Eleanor as duchess
What it holds
- Castle and town of Cognac
- Tolls and salt trade on the Charente
How it was acquired
Philip by marriage to the heiress (1190s); Thornham by Richard's grant after Amelia's death.
Allies and rivals
Neighbour of the count of Angouleme and the lords of Jarnac and Pons.
How things stand that morning
A ducal castle in Angevin hands; its keeper is not pinned.
Wealth
Salt and wine on the Charente; no figures.
Military
Castle on the Charente.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: One modern summary of Howden; the date of Amelia's death and of the grant to Thornham are not known.
On the map: Only the castle's immediate lands are drawn.
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.
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.