Montmirail

Who he is

Name

John I of Montmirail (Jean de Montmirail)

Title

Lord of Montmirail, La Ferte-Gaucher, Conde-en-Brie, La Ferte-sous-Jouarre (La Ferte-Ancoul) and Tresmes; viscount of Meaux; lord of Oisy and Crevecoeur and castellan of Cambrai

Since

Not pinned (an adult lord in the 1190s)

Born

1165, at Montmirail

Family

Son of Andrew, lord of La Ferte-Gaucher and Montmirail, and Hildiarde of Oisy, viscountess of Meaux. Wife: Helvide of Dampierre, sister of Guy II of Dampierre, married by about 1185.

Confidence

high

French Wikipedia: a close friend, favourite and counsellor of Philip Augustus, who helped the king escape at Gisors; enters the Cistercian abbey of Longpont late in life and dies there (1217).

Overlord

Theobald III for his Brie lordships and the viscounty of Meaux; the bishop of Cambrai and the Empire for Oisy, Crevecoeur and the castellany of Cambrai

What it holds

• Montmirail: castle on the Petit Morin
• La Ferte-Gaucher on the Grand Morin
• Conde-en-Brie
• La Ferte-sous-Jouarre (La Ferte-Ancoul) on the Marne and Tresmes
• Gandelu
• The viscounty of Meaux (rights in the city under the count)
• In the Empire: Oisy, Crevecoeur and the castellany of Cambrai (drawn, if at all, by the Flanders researcher)

How it was acquired

Montmirail, La Ferte-Gaucher and Conde from his father; the viscounty of Meaux, La Ferte-Ancoul, Tresmes, Oisy, Crevecoeur and the Cambrai castellany from his mother.

Allies and rivals

Philip Augustus; his brother-in-law Guy of Dampierre; the count of Champagne.

How things stand that morning

Held. John is at the height of his royal favour.

Wealth

Brie farmland and woods, Marne river traffic at La Ferte, the viscount's dues in Meaux, Cambresis rents.

Military

Castles of Montmirail, La Ferte-Gaucher, Conde and La Ferte-Ancoul; raised troops from his lands to help the king at Gisors.

Threats

• Divided loyalties between the king and the count

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Lands and person well attested in his saint's life and charters; dates of acquisition not pinned.

On the map: Castles and their communes only; the Cambresis lands are not drawn here.

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.