Dreux

Who he is

Name

Robert II of Dreux

Title

Count of Dreux and Braine

Since

Count of Braine from 1184; count of Dreux on his father Robert I's death, 11 October 1188

Born

1154; aged about 45

Family

Capetian cadet: grandson of Louis VI, first cousin of Philip Augustus. Brother of Philip of Dreux, bishop of Beauvais, John's prisoner since 1197. First marriage to Matilda of Burgundy annulled; second wife Yolande of Coucy (aunt of Enguerrand III of Coucy). Children include Robert (born about 1185), Peter (about 1190, the future Mauclerc), Henry (about 1193), John (about 1198), and daughters Philippa (1192), Agnes (1195) and Yolande (1196).

Confidence

high

Dates from en.wikipedia; his mother Agnes of Baudemont brought Braine and the Baudemont inheritance.

Overlord

Philip II (Dreux held directly of the king; Braine held of the king and the church of Reims)

What it holds

• The castle, town and county of Dreux (the Drouais) on the Norman border
• Braine (Braine-sur-Vesle) and its county, with Fere-en-Tardenois, Pont-Arcy, Quincy, Nesles, Longueville and Savigny
• Brie-Comte-Robert, the castle his father founded in the Brie
• The Baudemont inheritance in the Vexin [what of it lies in Philip's or John's hands on this date is not pinned]

How it was acquired

Dreux was granted to his father Robert I, son of Louis VI, in 1137-52; Braine came through his mother Agnes of Baudemont; Robert II succeeded to Braine in 1184 and to Dreux in 1188.

Allies and rivals

Allies: the king, his cousins of Courtenay, his Coucy in-laws (his sister Alix was the mother of Enguerrand III; his wife Yolande is Enguerrand's aunt). Rivals: the Norman marcher lords across the Avre; John, who holds his brother.

How things stand that morning

In full possession, loyal to the king; the Avre frontier quiet under the truce to 13 January.

Wealth

Tolls on the Paris to Normandy road at Dreux; the cloth and wine of the Soissonnais; the Brie lands.

Military

Castles of Dreux, Braine, Fere-en-Tardenois and Brie-Comte-Robert. A veteran commander (Acre 1191, Arsuf; the Norman wars from 1193). Will fight at Bouvines in 1214.

Threats

• War on the Avre if the truce with John fails.
• His brother's continued captivity.

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. 1200, date not pinnedHis brother Philip, bishop of Beauvais, is released by exchange for the bishop-elect of Cambrai.Depends on: The peace with John and Flanders. Stopped by: Renewed war.

Places of note

• Castle of Dreux: Comital seat.
• Braine: Seat of the county of Braine; abbey of Saint-Yved, the family's burial church.
• Fere-en-Tardenois: Castle.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Holder, dates and family firm; the bounds of the county of Dreux and of the Braine lands are drawn from the castellanies.

On the map: Castellanies approximated by their villages; the Drouais outline follows the rivers.

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.