Forez

Who he is

Name

Guy III (Guigues III de Forez)

Title

Count of Forez

Since

1198, when his father Guy II gave up the county in his favour (day not pinned)

Born

about 1160

Family

Son of Guy II, count of Lyon and Forez, who is still alive in retirement (his death is given as 1206 or later). Brother of Renaud of Forez, archbishop of Lyon since 1193. Wife Alix (or Adele), said to be of Sully (parentage disputed). Children include Guy IV (his heir; birth not pinned), Marquise (later wife of Guy VII of Thiers), Guigonne (later wife of Gerard II of Macon) and Eleanor.

Confidence

medium

fr.wikipedia Guigues III de Forez and Liste des comtes de Forez

Overlord

Philip II, king of France (the counts of Forez placed themselves under the crown in the reign of Louis VII); the archbishop of Lyon, the count's brother, is his neighbour and partner since the exchange of 1173

What it holds

• Montbrison castle and town, the comital seat
• Feurs, the old Roman capital that gave Forez its name
• Saint-Galmier, Sury, Saint-Bonnet and the castles of the plain
• the Roannais up to the Beaujolais border (Roanne's lordship in 1200 not pinned)
• overlordship of the Jarez lords toward Saint-Etienne (not pinned)

How it was acquired

Inheritance; the 1173 exchange with the Church of Lyon defined the county.

Allies and rivals

Allied to the archbishop of Lyon by blood; rival of the Beaujeu; neighbour of the count of Auvergne and the lords of Thiers.

How things stand that morning

Guy III rules the county; his father lives on in retirement. East lies the Lyonnais of Archbishop Renaud (imperial city and Church lordship); north the Beaujolais; south the Velay (bishop of Le Puy) and the Vivarais (Southeast researcher).

Wealth

The Loire plain's grain and cattle, the Montbrison market, tolls on the Loire and on the road from Lyon to Clermont.

Military

Montbrison castle and the castles of the plain.

Threats

• Beaujeu ambitions in the Roannais

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. 1203 (later course)Guy III dies at Acre soon after arriving in the Holy Land; Guy IV succeeds young under the guardianship of his uncle Archbishop Renaud.Depends on: Guy III taking the cross and going east Stopped by: his staying at home

Places of note

• Montbrison: comital castle and seat
• Feurs: old capital of the Forez

Where the sources disagree

• The assignment names Guy II as count; fr.wikipedia's Guigues III and its list of counts both put Guy III in office from 1198 after his father's abdication. Guy III is followed; the abdication's day is not pinned.
• fr.wikipedia's list gives Guy II's death as 1226, which seems too late; other works give 1206.

Evidence: Succession by year is clear; the county's extent follows the later county of Forez.

On the map: The Church of Lyon's enclaves (Savigny's lands, the Hospitallers of Chazelles) and the Jarez lordships are approximate.

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.