Grandpré

Who he is

Name

Henry III of Grandpre (Henri III de Grandpre)

Title

Count of Grandpre

Since

After his father Henry II died, between 1188 and 1190

Born

Not pinned

Family

Son of Henry II and Liutgard of Luxembourg. Married first, after 1197, Isabelle (or Melisende) of Coucy, and secondly, about 1200, Ada of Avesnes; which wife he has on 1 January 1200 is not pinned. Died 1211.

Confidence

medium

French Wikipedia (Maison de Grandpre): vassals of the counts of Champagne. fmg places a Henry of Grandpre with Count Henry I in the Holy Land in 1178-79.

Overlord

Theobald III, count of Champagne

What it holds

• Grandpre: castle at the Argonne gap
• Villages of the Aire and upper Aisne valleys around it

How it was acquired

Hereditary in the house of Grandpre, a branch of the Porcien counts.

Allies and rivals

Neighbours: the counts of Rethel, the bishop of Verdun, the count of Bar; the Coucy and Avesnes by marriage.

How things stand that morning

Held.

Wealth

Argonne woods and passage dues.

Military

Castle of Grandpre guarding the Argonne passage.

Threats

• Border quarrels with Bar and Verdun

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Holder from a family list; no 1199-1200 charter seen.

On the map: Reconstructed around the castle.

Primary sources for Champagne

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
• Chronicle of Robert of Auxerre, Robert of Auxerre (Robert of Saint-Marien) (about 1190 to 1211; continued at Saint-Marien to 1227). A universal chronicle whose last twenty years are contemporary and well informed from Burgundy and the Auxerrois. 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
• 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
• The Conquest of Constantinople (Villehardouin), Geoffrey of Villehardouin (about 1207 to 1213). Opens with the preaching of Fulk of Neuilly and the tournament at Ecry (28 November 1199) where Theobald III of Champagne and Louis of Blois took the cross, then the taking of the cross by Baldwin of Flanders, Hugh of Saint-Pol, Geoffrey of Perche and others through early 1200, the assemblies at Soissons and Compiegne in 1200, and the six envoys sent to Venice in the winter of 1200 to 1201. Read online
• The Conquest of Constantinople, Robert de Clari, knight of Picardy (about 1205 to 1216). A rank-and-file crusader's account that begins with the preaching of the crusade and the taking of the cross in 1199 to 1200 by the counts of Flanders, Blois and Champagne and by the Picard lords, among them Peter of Amiens, Robert's own lord, then the negotiations with Venice. Read online

3 more in the sources library for France and Iberia.