Joinville

Who he is

Name

Geoffrey V of Joinville, called Trouillart (Geoffroy V de Joinville)

Title

Lord of Joinville, hereditary seneschal of Champagne

Since

1190, when his father Geoffrey IV died at the siege of Acre (August 1190)

Born

Not pinned

Family

Son of Geoffrey IV of Joinville and Helvide of Dampierre (so a nephew of Guy II of Dampierre). Unmarried and childless. Brothers: Robert, Simon (his heir, father of the chronicler John of Joinville) and William, archdeacon in 1191 and later bishop of Langres (1209) and archbishop of Reims (1219).

Confidence

high

A charter of 1191 calls him lord of Joinville and seneschal of Champagne, another of May 1196 'senescallus Campanie' (fmg). He took the cross again in 1199, left for the Holy Land in late 1201 with his brothers Robert and Simon, and died in late 1203 or early 1204 fighting at the Krak des Chevaliers (French Wikipedia).

Overlord

Theobald III, count of Champagne

What it holds

• Joinville: castle on its spur over the Marne and the town below
• Villages of the Marne valley around Joinville (Thonnance, Vecqueville, Mussey, Fronville, Rupt, Suzannecourt) and the woods towards Poissons
• The hereditary seneschalcy of Champagne
• The advocacy (protection) of the abbey of Saint-Urbain on the Marne, long disputed with the monks
• Fiefs in the Barrois held of the count of Bar (not itemised; not pinned)

How it was acquired

Joinville is the family's since the eleventh century (fmg traces the line to Etienne de Vaux). The seneschalcy came to the family in the mid twelfth century (William of Joinville is named seneschal in 1153, fmg).

Allies and rivals

Allies: the count; his uncle Guy of Dampierre; the Brienne brothers (Robert of Joinville will follow Walter of Brienne to Apulia). Rivals: the monks of Saint-Urbain over the advocacy; neighbours in the Barrois.

How things stand that morning

Held. Geoffrey is in Champagne preparing for the crusade.

Wealth

Marne valley lands, woods, the advocacy of Saint-Urbain, the profits of the seneschalcy.

Military

Castle of Joinville; household knights; leads the count's household as seneschal.

Threats

• A childless lord about to leave for the East
• The abbey of Saint-Urbain's complaints at the count's court and in Rome

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. late 1201 (later course)Geoffrey leaves for the Holy Land with his brothers; he dies at the Krak des Chevaliers in late 1203 or early 1204 and Simon inherits Joinville.Depends on: The crusade going ahead. Stopped by: The crusade collapsing or the count holding him at home.

Places of note

• Castle of Joinville: Seat of the lords of Joinville.
• Abbey of Saint-Urbain: Abbey whose advocacy the Joinvilles hold and quarrel over.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Charters of 1191 and 1196 fix him as seneschal; the list of Joinville's villages in 1200 is not pinned.

On the map: Only the core around the castle is drawn; outlying fiefs and Barrois holdings are not.

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.