Limoges viscounty

Who he is

Name

Guy V of Limoges (Gui V)

Title

Viscount of Limoges

Since

1199, on the death of his father Aimar (Ademar) V

Born

not pinned

Family

Son of Aimar V (viscount from 1148, born about 1135, died 1199) and of Sarah, called of Cornwall or de Dunstanville, granddaughter of Henry I of England through his bastard son Reginald, earl of Cornwall, so a distant kinsman of John. Roger of Howden says Philip of Cognac killed Aimar V in 1199 to avenge Richard; no other source supports it.

Confidence

medium

fr.wikipedia (Ademar V); en.wikipedia (Philip of Cognac); fmg Limousin (incomplete for these years). Guy's exact accession date in 1199 is not pinned.

Overlord

Eleanor as duchess; looking to Philip II since the war of 1199

What it holds

• The viscount's castle in the Chateau of Limoges, beside the abbey of Saint-Martial (the bishop holds the Cite)
• Segur, the viscounts' favourite residence, with Saint-Yrieix and Lubersac nearby
• Chalus-Chabrol, where Richard was shot, and the castles toward Nontron
• Aixe on the Vienne
• In Perigord: Excideuil and Auberoche

How it was acquired

Hereditary.

Allies and rivals

Allies: Count Aymer of Angouleme. Rivals: the abbey and townsmen of the Chateau of Limoges; the bishop in the Cite; Philip of Cognac, if Howden is right; the routiers who served Richard (Mercadier hanged the Chalus garrison after Richard's death).

How things stand that morning

Guy V holds the viscounty, unreconciled with John and counted among Philip's friends since the war of 1199. The lands Richard ravaged in March and April 1199 have had a summer and autumn of peace; no fighting is recorded there in the winter of 1199-1200.

Wealth

Tolls and markets of the Chateau of Limoges, the town of the enamellers and of the Saint-Martial pilgrimage; rents of the castellanies; no figures.

Military

Strong castles (Chalus, Segur, Excideuil, Aixe); the Limousin's broken country favours defence; held out against Richard in 1199.

Threats

• John's revenge for Chalus
• The consuls and abbey of the Chateau
• Routiers

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. summer 1200After Le Goulet John comes south; the viscount's submission to John is expected then, but its date is not pinned (see the note on the treaty).Depends on: The peace. Stopped by: War resuming.

Places of note

• Chalus-Chabrol: Castle where Richard was mortally wounded, 26 March 1199
• Segur: The viscounts' residence
• Auberoche: Viscount's castle in Perigord

Where the sources disagree

• Whether the treaty of Le Goulet (22 May 1200) dealt with the count of Angouleme and the viscount of Limoges is not settled here: some summaries have John bound to receive their homage and do them right, protecting Philip's allies of 1199, while Dan Jones says Aquitaine, still Eleanor's, was left out of the treaty. Not checked against the text.

Evidence: The war of 1199 is well known; Guy's accession date and his formal position in late 1199 are not pinned.

On the map: The viscounty was a chain of castellanies, not a block; only the main ones are drawn and their extents are rough.

Primary sources for Angevin lands

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
• 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
• Chronicles of the Churches of Anjou (Saint-Aubin, Saint-Serge, Saint-Florent and others), Various (monks of Angers and the Loire) (11th to 13th centuries; the Saint-Aubin annals run to the 1220s). The Angevin houses' own annals of the succession crisis in their city: Arthur received at Angers in 1199 with Constance and the Breton and Angevin barons, John's counter-moves, the defection of William des Roches and the Angevin lords to John, and the peace of 1200 that left Arthur John's vassal. 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
• Chronicle of Roger of Howden, Roger of Howden (about 1192 to 1201). The fullest single narrative for the year. Read online
• Chronicle; Deeds of the Kings, Gervase of Canterbury (Chronica about 1188 to 1199; Gesta Regum about 1199 to 1210). The Chronica stops in 1199, so for 1200 the witness is the briefer Gesta Regum, which notes John's peace with Philip, the coronation of Isabella at Westminster on 8 October 1200, and matters touching Canterbury: the archbishop Hubert Walter as chancellor, the cathedral priory's quarrel with him, and the Lambeth college dispute lately settled by the pope. Read online
• English Chronicle of Ralph of Coggeshall, Ralph of Coggeshall (about 1200 to 1224, in stages). Short but independent entries for 1200 from a Cistercian house in Essex: John's levy on the Cistercians and the carucage, the peace with Philip, the king's new marriage and the queen's coronation, and the death of Hugh of Lincoln. Read online

14 more in the sources library for France and Iberia.