The counts of Joigny hold the castle and town of Joigny on the Yonne and a county reaching over the Othe and into the Tholon and Vrin valleys, on the border of the Senonais and the Auxerrois.
Their count is reckoned first of the peers of Champagne. Count William's divorced first wife is the mother of Isabella of Angouleme, whom John will marry in August 1200.
Who he is
- Name
- William I of Joigny (Guillaume Ier de Joigny)
- Title
- Count of Joigny
- Since
- After Count Renard IV (died 1179 at the latest)
- Born
- Not pinned
- Family
- Son of Renard IV and Adelaide of Nevers. First wife Alice of Courtenay (married about 1178, divorced 1186), who then married Aymer of Angouleme and is the mother of Isabella of Angouleme; second wife Beatrix (family not pinned). Sons Peter (by Alice) and William (by Beatrix). He went on crusade in 1190 and dies about 1220-21.
- Confidence
- medium
French Wikipedia list of the counts of Joigny; the county is under Champagne and its count ranks first among the peers of Champagne.
Overlord
Theobald III, count of Champagne
What it holds
- Joigny: castle and town on the Yonne
- Cezy (dower seat of the countesses)
- Migennes and the Brienonnais
- The Tholon and Vrin valleys
How it was acquired
Hereditary; under Champagne's suzerainty since the eleventh century.
Allies and rivals
The count of Bar-sur-Seine, whose wife Helisent is of the Joigny house; the Courtenays and the counts of Nevers and Auxerre; the La Ferte-Loupiere lords of Donzy and Sancerre who cut into the county.
How things stand that morning
Held.
Wealth
The Yonne river traffic to Paris, wine, the woods of the Othe.
Military
Castle of Joigny.
Threats
- Neighbouring Nevers and Auxerre quarrels
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Holder from a Wikipedia list with uncertain dates.
On the map: Reconstructed around the Yonne.
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.
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.