Eu

Who he is

Name

Ralph of Exoudun (Raoul de Lusignan, Raoul d'Exoudun) and Alice of Eu (Alix d'Eu)

Title

Count of Eu by right of his wife; Alice is countess in her own right

Since

Alice inherited on the death of her father, Count Henry II of Eu, in 1191; she was married to Ralph by 1191

Born

Ralph about 1160-65; Alice about 1180

Family

Ralph is the second son of Hugh le Brun of Lusignan (died 1169) and younger brother of Hugh IX le Brun, lord of Lusignan, who is betrothed to Isabella of Angouleme. Alice is the daughter of Henry II of Eu and Matilda of Warenne, so granddaughter of Hamelin, earl of Surrey. Their son Ralph (II) was born about 1200 (whether before or after 1 January is not pinned).

Confidence

high

The marriage and title are settled (Wikipedia: Alix, Countess of Eu; Raoul I of Lusignan). Ralph was loyal to the English kings up to 1201.

Overlord

John, duke of Normandy (for Eu); John and Eleanor in Poitou (for Exoudun)

What it holds

• Castle and town of Eu, with the count's courts, tolls and the Bresle fisheries
• The port of Le Treport and the patronage of its abbey of Saint-Michel, a comital foundation
• The county's lands in the lower Bresle and the Talou (Criel, Foucarmont, Blangy)
• The castle of Driencourt (Neufchatel-en-Bray), which John will seize from Ralph in 1201 (medium confidence for 1200)
• In England: the rape and castle of Hastings
• In Poitou: Exoudun (see the Aquitaine records)

How it was acquired

By marriage, by 1191.

Allies and rivals

Allies: his brother Hugh IX le Brun and the Lusignan kin; Alice's Warenne kin. Neighbours: Count William III of Ponthieu, married to Philip's sister Alys, across the Bresle; Aumale upstream, in Philip's hands since 1196.

How things stand that morning

Holds Eu for John on 1 January 1200. The Bresle is the frontier with Ponthieu, whose count is Philip's brother-in-law. No sign of French occupation of Eu this winter.

Wealth

The port of Le Treport, the salt and herring of the Bresle mouth, the count's tolls and mills, Hastings and its port in England.

Military

The castle of Eu, Driencourt, the count's knights in the Talou and the rape of Hastings.

Threats

• Ponthieu across the Bresle
• Aumale in French hands
• The coming Lusignan quarrel with John over Isabella of Angouleme (August 1200), which costs Ralph Driencourt and his Norman lands in 1201-02

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. 24 August 1200John marries Isabella of Angouleme, Hugh IX's betrothed: the Lusignan grievance begins, and with it the threat to Ralph's Norman county.Depends on: John's marriage choice Stopped by: John not taking Isabella

Places of note

• Castle of Eu: Comital castle on the Bresle
• Le Treport: Port and abbey of Saint-Michel
• Driencourt: Castle on the Bethune, held by the count

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Holders and marriage thick; Driencourt's tenure in 1200 rests on the record of its seizure in 1201.

On the map: The county's inland edge is approximate.

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.