Mortain

Who he is

Name

John, king of England (count since 1189)

Title

Count of Mortain

Since

1189, granted by Richard at his accession with lands in England

Born

24 December 1166

Family

See Angevin lands

Confidence

medium

No grant of Mortain to anyone else between 1199 and 1204 is known in the sources checked; it stays in John's hand, run by his bailiff. Philip gives it after 1204 to Renaud of Dammartin and later to his son Philip Hurepel.

Overlord

The duke of Normandy (John himself)

What it holds

• Castle and town of Mortain
• The Mortainais: Sourdeval, Le Teilleul, Barenton, Tinchebray
• Patronage of the collegiate church of Mortain and of Savigny Abbey

How it was acquired

Granted to John by Richard in 1189; merged with the ducal demesne when John became duke.

Allies and rivals

Faces Maine and Brittany; the earls of Chester's Avranchin lies to the west.

How things stand that morning

In John's hand.

Wealth

Forests and pasture of the bocage; the comital mills and tolls; little trade.

Military

Castle of Mortain; the knights of the honour.

Threats

• Breton raids from Fougeres and the march of Maine

Places of note

• Savigny Abbey: Head of the Savigniac congregation, Cistercian since 1147

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: John's countship from 1189 is certain; that no one else held it in 1200 is inferred from the absence of any grant.

On the map: The county's medieval edge is approximate.

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.