Barons and castellans · Other imperial lands · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Faucogney

An old baronial house of the northern county of Burgundy: lords of the castle of Faucogney at the foot of the southern Vosges and hereditary viscounts of Vesoul, with many lordships in the villages round about.

Their country is the plateau of ponds and the high valleys climbing toward the Vosges crest, between the abbeys of Luxeuil and Lure.

Who he is

Title
Lord of Faucogney and viscount of Vesoul
Since
not pinned
Born
not pinned
Family
The house descends from Gislebert, lord of Faucogney and viscount of Vesoul, who founded a priory near Vesoul in 1092. It split into four branches in the middle of the twelfth century and ended in 1370, when Jeanne of Faucogney married Henri de Longwy. The lord on 1 January 1200 is not named in the sources reached.
Confidence
low

en.wikipedia House of Faucogney; the fmg.ac chapter on the house could not be reached

Overlord

The count palatine of Burgundy (Otto I until 13 January 1200), as viscounts of his town of Vesoul; how much of their land was allod or imperial is not pinned.

What it holds

  • Faucogney castle
  • The viscounty of Vesoul: the viscount's rights in the count's town
  • Lordships in the villages round Faucogney and in the upland valleys (not named in the sources reached)

How it was acquired

Hereditary since the late eleventh century (Gislebert, 1092).

Allies and rivals

Vassals of the count palatine at Vesoul; neighbours the abbeys of Luxeuil and Lure, the counts of Montbéliard to the east, the duke of Lorraine beyond the crest.

How things stand that morning

The house holds Faucogney; its head that winter is not pinned. Count Otto I's murder on 13 January will give it a new overlord.

Wealth

Forest, ponds and upland pasture; the viscount's dues at Vesoul.

Military

The castle of Faucogney and the knights of their villages; no numbers.

Threats

  • The regency crisis in the county after 13 January
  • Encroachment by the advocates of the neighbouring abbeys

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. 13 January 1200Count Otto I of Burgundy, Philip's brother, is murdered at Besançon (campaign notes, Part 6 C); the county passes to his daughter Joan, aged about eight or nine, under her mother Margaret of Blois, and every lord of the county has a new overlord.Depends on: Otto being at Besançon among his enemies as on 1 January Stopped by: Any change in play to Otto's movements or to the feud that kills him

Places of note

  • Faucogney castle: the family seat

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The family is well known, but neither the holder nor the extent of the lordship in 1200 could be pinned; the land is drawn as the castle and the upland valleys immediately round it.

On the map: A rough castle district; the house's scattered village lordships are not drawn.

Primary sources for Empire

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.

8 more in the sources library for The Rhineland, the Low Countries and the Swiss Lands.

Sources and studies

  1. en.wikipedia: House of Faucogney
  2. fmg.ac Medieval Lands: Burgundy kingdom, nobility of the county (Faucogney, Rougemont and Villersexel chapters listed but not reachable)

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