Mayenne

Who he is

Name

Juhel III of Mayenne (Juhel de Mayenne)

Title

Lord of Mayenne

Since

1169, as a baby, on the death of his father Geoffrey III (18 February or 25 July 1169)

Born

1168 (aged about 31)

Family

Son of Geoffrey III of Mayenne and Isabelle of Meulan, who then married Maurice II of Craon (about 1170): so half-brother of Maurice III of Craon and of Amaury of Craon, and brother-in-law of Guy V of Laval. His sisters married Robert IV of Sablé (Clémence, mother of William des Roches's wife) and Andrew II of Vitré (Matilda). Married Gervaise of Vitré, heiress of Dinan; the date of the marriage is not pinned.

Confidence

high

Birth and family from the Isabelle de Meulan article; the marriage date to Gervaise is not given there.

Overlord

John, as count of Maine; for Dinan (if already married to its heiress) the duke of Brittany

What it holds

• Castle and town of Mayenne
• Ambrières and Gorron on the Norman march
• Ernée and the forest lands toward Brittany
• Villaines-la-Juhel and the Pail uplands
• Overlordship of lesser castellanies (Lassay and others)
• Dinan in Brittany if already married to Gervaise (see Dinan)

How it was acquired

Inherited; the house of Mayenne has held the castle since the eleventh century.

Allies and rivals

Kin: Maurice III of Craon, Guy V of Laval, Andrew II of Vitré, William des Roches. Overlord John; his course in 1199 is not pinned.

How things stand that morning

Holds his barony in peace under John; no sign of war on his lands that winter.

Wealth

Tolls on the Mayenne river road, forest rights, mills and the town market of Mayenne.

Military

Castle of Mayenne and the march castles of Ambrières and Gorron; his own knights and the service of his vassals.

Threats

• Being drawn into the Arthur quarrel by his Breton and Angevin kin
• The Norman march if the war resumes

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. 1202Deserts John with William des Roches after Mirebeau (far beyond the first turn).Depends on: John's treatment of Arthur. Stopped by: John keeping faith over Arthur.
2. 1204-1205Founds the Cistercian abbey of Fontaine-Daniel near Mayenne.Depends on: His own choice. Stopped by: Ruin or death.

Places of note

• Castle of Mayenne: Seat
• Ambrières: March castle against Normandy
• Gorron: March castle

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Family well attested; his political course in 1199 and the date of his Dinan marriage are not pinned.

On the map: Castellany limits approximate; Lassay was held under him by its own lords.

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.