Count's demesne

Who he is

Name

Theobald III (Thibaut III)

Title

Count palatine of Troyes, count of Champagne and Brie

Since

1197

Born

13 May 1179, Troyes

Family

House of Blois-Champagne; see the realm record Champagne

Confidence

high

The castellanies are those of the Feoda Campanie of 1172 and of the dower charter of 1199 (Blanche's seven castellanies); a list for 1 January 1200 itself does not survive, so the drawing is a careful reconstruction.

Overlord

Philip II of France (liege homage)

What it holds

• Troyes: the palace, the fairs of Saint-Jean and Saint-Remi, the mint, the Jews, the prevote; the viscounty is held of him by the lords of Chappes
• Provins: the castle and great tower on the upper town, the May and Saint-Ayoul fairs, the main mint of the provinois deniers
• Lagny: the January fair (the abbey of Saint-Pierre owns the town; the count protects it and the fair)
• Bar-sur-Aube and La Ferte-sur-Aube: castle, Lenten fair, Aube valley vineyards
• Meaux: the count's share of the city (castle and Marche) beside the bishop; the commune of 1179 was his father's grant
• Coulommiers, Chateau-Thierry, Oulchy, Fismes: castles and prevotes of the Brie and the Marne
• Montereau and Bray-sur-Seine: castles on the Seine (Bray and Montereau are the two Blanche hands to Philip in 1201)
• Blanche's dower (assigned July 1199): Epernay, Vertus, Sezanne, Chantemerle, Pont-sur-Seine, Nogent-sur-Seine, Mery-sur-Seine
• Isle (Isle-Aumont), Villemaur, Ervy, Saint-Florentin: castellanies of the Othe and the Armance south-west of Troyes
• Vitry (Vitry-en-Perthois), Rosnay, Wassy: castellanies of the Perthois and the Der; the count is advocate of Montier-en-Der
• Sainte-Menehould: castle on its rock in the Argonne, comital by the end of the twelfth century (not pinned more closely)
• Monteclair (by Andelot) in the Bassigny: comital castle
• Chaumont in the Bassigny: not pinned. Its own lords held it until about 1190 and it was the count's by 1205 at the latest (French Wikipedia)

How it was acquired

The core (Troyes, Meaux, Provins) came to the house of Blois in the 1020s; Bar-sur-Aube and Vitry in the twelfth century; Sainte-Menehould by the end of the twelfth century. The castellany system and the register of fiefs are the work of Henry I the Liberal (1152-1181).

Allies and rivals

See Champagne. Inside the demesne the count's partners and rivals are churches: the bishop of Meaux in Meaux, the abbey of Lagny at Lagny, the chapters of Troyes and Saint-Etienne, the abbey of Montier-en-Der.

How things stand that morning

Held in peace. The dower castellanies are assigned to Blanche but administered by the count. No castle is in the king's hands yet: Bray and Montereau pass to Philip only in May 1201.

Wealth

Fair dues, tolls on the Seine and the Marne, the mints, Jewish taxes, mills, ovens, vineyards (Epernay, Ay, Bar-sur-Aube), woods (the Othe, the Der, the Brie forests), rents and the profits of justice.

Military

Castles at Troyes, Provins, Meaux, Chateau-Thierry, Montereau, Bray, Sezanne, Epernay, Vitry, Sainte-Menehould, Bar-sur-Aube, Rosnay, Wassy and Monteclair. The vassals of each castellany owe castle guard there and come to the host by castellany (Feoda Campanie, 1172).

Threats

• The dower castellanies would leave the count's hand at his death
• The king's appetite for the Seine castles (Bray, Montereau)
• Pledges and sales to pay for the crusade

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. May 1201 (later course)After Theobald's death Blanche surrenders Bray-sur-Seine and Montereau to Philip as security; the king keeps them until Theobald IV comes of age in 1222.Depends on: Theobald dying on 24 May 1201. Stopped by: Theobald living.

Places of note

• Great tower of Provins: The count's castle on the upper town.
• Castle of Chateau-Thierry: Comital castle over the Marne.
• Castle of Montereau: Comital castle at the Seine and Yonne confluence.
• Castle of Bray: Comital castle on the Seine; the Jews burned there by Philip in 1192.
• Monteclair: Comital castle over Andelot in the Bassigny.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The comital castellanies are well known from the Feoda Campanie and the dower charter; their bounds in 1200 are reconstructed, and Chaumont and Fismes are not pinned for 1 January 1200.

On the map: Castellanies are drawn from their castles and a few edge villages; bounds are approximate and vassal fiefs inside them are not cut out. Chaumont is left to its town record because its holder on 1 January 1200 is not pinned.

Primary sources for Champagne

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
• 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
• 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
• 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
• 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
• The Conquest of Constantinople, Robert de Clari, knight of Picardy (about 1205 to 1216). A rank-and-file crusader's account that begins with the preaching of the crusade and the taking of the cross in 1199 to 1200 by the counts of Flanders, Blois and Champagne and by the Picard lords, among them Peter of Amiens, Robert's own lord, then the negotiations with Venice. Read online

3 more in the sources library for France and Iberia.