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

Exoudun

The younger Lusignan brother, made a great Norman lord by Richard's gift of the heiress of Eu, keeps his Poitevin patrimony at Exoudun near Saint-Maixent.

He was at the duchess's side in Poitiers in May 1199.

Who he is

Name
Ralph of Lusignan, called of Exoudun (Raoul d'Exoudun)
Title
Lord of Exoudun; count of Eu by marriage (Normandy researcher's record)
Since
count of Eu from 1191 by his marriage to Alice, heiress of Eu
Born
before 1169
Family
Younger brother of Hugh IX. Wife Alice of Eu. Dies at Melle in 1219.
Confidence
high

fr.wikipedia (Hugues IX); 'Ralph, count of Eu' witnesses Eleanor's charter at Poitiers on 4 May 1199 (Epistolae 1327, translated there as 'count of Auge').

Overlord

Eleanor as countess of Poitou (for Exoudun); John as duke of Normandy (for Eu)

What it holds

  • Exoudun castle and lordship

How it was acquired

Paternal inheritance.

Allies and rivals

His brother Hugh IX; his Norman county makes him John's man there.

How things stand that morning

Holds Exoudun; mostly in Normandy for Eu (Normandy researcher). His later tie to Melle, where he died, is not pinned for 1200.

Wealth

No figures.

Military

Exoudun castle; the knights of Eu in Normandy.

Threats

  • John's seizure of Driencourt (Neufchatel) in 1201 after the Isabella affair

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. 1201John seizes Ralph's Norman castle of Driencourt as the Lusignan quarrel opens.Depends on: The breach over Isabella. Stopped by: A settlement with the Lusignans.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Dated witness of May 1199.

On the map: Only the castle's immediate lordship is 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

  1. Hugues IX de Lusignan (fr.wikipedia)
  2. Epistolae: Eleanor's charter for the abbey of Saint-Jean of Poitiers, Poitiers, 4 May 1199 (Ralph, count of Eu, a witness)

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