Barons and castellans · Lands of John and Eleanor · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Deols-Chateauroux

The barony of Deols, the old principality of Lower Berry, came to Andre de Chauvigny by Richard's gift of its heiress.

Its castles are Chateauroux (facing the great abbey of Deols across the Indre), Deols, Le Chatelet, La Chatre and Saint-Chartier; in 1199 Eleanor added the fief of Sainte-Severe, whose lord Elias did homage to Andre before her court at Le Vaudreuil. After Arthur fled from John in September 1199, Andre went over: in October 1199 he did homage to Arthur for his fiefs in Anjou and Poitou and to Philip II for his castles in Berry. On 1 January 1200 he is a Plantagenet creation in the Capetian camp.

Who he is

Name
Andre de Chauvigny (Andrew of Chauvigny)
Title
Lord of Deols and Chateauroux in right of his wife
Since
his marriage, given by Richard soon after 1189, to Denise of Deols
Born
about 1150
Family
Wife Denise of Deols (1173-1207), heiress of the princes of Deols and widow of an earl of Devon. Son William (Guillaume I de Chauvigny), born about 1188-1190, who succeeds in 1202 at about twelve. Eleanor calls Andre her 'dearest friend and relative' in 1199. A companion of Richard on crusade.
Confidence
medium

en.wikipedia (Andre de Chauvigny) for the barony, the 1196 treaty and the homages of October 1199; Eleanor's 1199 charter (Epistolae) for Sainte-Severe; fr.wikipedia (Issoudun) for the son's dates.

Overlord

Disputed: the Angevin duke and count (Richard, now John) by the old lordship over western Berry; Philip II, of whom the 1196 treaty of Gaillon made Andre a liegeman for his Berry fiefs and to whom he did homage for them in October 1199

What it holds

  • Chateauroux castle and town
  • Deols, beside the Benedictine abbey founded by his wife's ancestors
  • Le Chatelet
  • La Chatre
  • Saint-Chartier
  • Sainte-Severe (Eleanor's grant of 1199, with the homage of its lord Elias)
  • Fiefs in Anjou and Poitou (for which he did homage to Arthur)

How it was acquired

By marriage to the heiress Denise, Richard's gift soon after 1189; Sainte-Severe by Eleanor's grant in 1199.

Allies and rivals

Allies: Arthur and Philip II since October 1199; earlier Richard and Eleanor. Rivals: John's castellans in Issoudun and Gracay.

How things stand that morning

Holds the barony in person. Bound to Philip as liegeman for Berry and to Arthur for his other fiefs; the Angevin overlordship over Deols survives in law until John cedes his Berry fiefs at Le Goulet. Drawn as Angevin ground with his allegiance shown as royal.

Wealth

Tolls and markets of Chateauroux and Deols on the Indre; the rich grain and sheep country of the Champagne berrichonne to the north and the Boischaut to the south; no figures.

Military

Five or six castles across Lower Berry; he fought for Richard and will fight for Arthur at Mirebeau in 1202, where he is taken.

Threats

  • John's reprisal if the peace fails
  • Being caught between the two kings' garrisons at Issoudun and Bourges

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. 22 May 1200Le Goulet: John cedes his fiefs in Berry to Louis as Blanche's dowry, which settles Deols under Capetian overlordship.Depends on: The peace being made. Stopped by: War resuming.

Later, on the likely course

  1. 1202Fights for Arthur at Mirebeau, is captured and dies a prisoner; his son William, about twelve, succeeds.Depends on: War of 1202. Stopped by: Peace holding.

Places of note

  • Abbey of Deols: Great Benedictine abbey (Bourg-Dieu) founded by the princes of Deols

Where the sources disagree

  • The October 1199 homages come from en.wikipedia and were not checked against the charters; they sit uneasily with Eleanor's warm grant of Sainte-Severe the same year, which was probably made in summer 1199, before Arthur's flight from John.

Evidence: Eleanor's dated charter of 1199 and the barony's castles are secure; the October homages rest on a secondary summary.

On the map: The barony's castellanies are drawn roughly; its many rear-fiefs are not.

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

  1. Andre de Chauvigny (en.wikipedia)
  2. Epistolae: Eleanor grants Andre de Chauvigny the fief of Sainte-Severe, Le Vaudreuil, 1199
  3. Issoudun (fr.wikipedia)
  4. Traite du Goulet (fr.wikipedia)

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.