Namur

Who he is

Name

Philip I the Noble (Philippe le Noble)

Title

Marquis (margrave) of Namur

Since

1195-1196, under the will of his father Baldwin V

Born

1175, so 24 or 25

Family

Second son of Baldwin V of Hainaut and Margaret I of Flanders; brother of Baldwin IX. Unmarried. In July 1199 he was a prisoner of Philip Augustus; when and where he was taken, and when he was freed, are not pinned here.

Confidence

medium

English Wikipedia (Philip I, Marquis of Namur); Ruffini-Ronzani 2024 for his captivity in July 1199 and the terms of Dinant.

Overlord

His brother Baldwin, as count of Hainaut, of whom Namur is held in fief; the emperor above (Namur was made a margraviate by imperial grant for Baldwin V).

What it holds

• The castle and town of Namur
• The county on the left bank of the Meuse: the land between the Sambre and the Meuse west of the river, Floreffe and the march towards Brabant to the north
• Bouvignes on the left bank opposite Dinant
• Advocacies of the Namur abbeys (Floreffe, Malonne, Brogne)
• Lost in July 1199: the lands on the right bank of the Meuse, ceded to Theobald of Bar at Dinant

How it was acquired

Bequest of Baldwin V, who won Namur from his uncle Henry the Blind (battle of Noville-sur-Mehaigne, 1 August 1194); the treaty of Dinant (26 July 1199), made by Baldwin while Philip was a prisoner, kept Namur for him but gave the right bank of the Meuse to Theobald of Bar.

Allies and rivals

Brother Baldwin; rival Theobald I of Bar and Luxembourg (peace since July 1199); neighbours the bishop of Liege (Dinant, Fosses, Thuin) and the duke of Brabant (Gembloux, Nivelles).

How things stand that morning

Namur and the left bank are his; across the Meuse the ceded right-bank lands are Theobald of Bar's (East researcher); Dinant and the Condroz are the bishop of Liege's; to the north the duke of Brabant. Philip himself may be a captive in France that morning (not pinned).

Wealth

Meuse tolls, the Namur market, metal working, quarries and forests.

Military

The rock castle of Namur, which held against Theobald's siege; Bouvignes.

Threats

• A renewed claim from Bar-Luxembourg
• Liege and Brabant

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.

In 1200

1. January 1200 (not pinned)If he is still a prisoner, Philip is freed as part of the peace between Baldwin and the king made at Peronne on 2 January.Depends on: The peace of Peronne and the king's goodwill. Stopped by: A breakdown of the peace; the king keeping him as a hostage.
2. 28 July 1200Seals, with his brother and the leading Hainaut barons, the two general charters of Hainaut at the castle of Mons.Depends on: His freedom and the peace. Stopped by: Captivity or war.

Later, on the likely course

1. 1202Guardian of Baldwin's daughters and regent when Baldwin leaves on crusade (14 April 1202).Depends on: Baldwin's departure. Stopped by: The crusade not sailing.

Places of note

• Castle of Namur: Rock castle at the Sambre-Meuse confluence

Where the sources disagree

• English Wikipedia says only that the treaty of Dinant (26 July 1199) recognised Philip as holder of Namur; Ruffini-Ronzani (2024) adds that Baldwin made it while Philip was the French king's prisoner and that it gave Theobald of Bar a large part of the county on the right bank of the Meuse. The map follows the second.

Evidence: Dinant and the captivity of July 1199 are attested; the date of his capture and release and the exact line of the 1199 cession are not pinned.

On the map: A rough outline; the 1199 cession is drawn along the Meuse itself.

Primary sources for Flanders

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 Andres, William of Andres (about 1220 to 1234). The chronicle and cartulary of a small abbey between Guines and Ardres, near the border of Flanders and Boulogne. Read online
• Chronicle of Hainaut, Gislebert of Mons (about 1195 to 1196). Ends in 1195, so it has no 1200 entries, but it is the indispensable background for Flanders and Hainaut: the career of Count Baldwin V of Hainaut (VIII of Flanders), his union of the two counties, the settlement with Philip over Artois, the rights, castles, fiefs and vassals of Hainaut listed by a man who ran its chancery, and the youth of Baldwin IX, who held both counties in 1200. 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
• Annals of Egmond (12th century to about 1205). The house annals of Egmond, the counts of Holland's abbey, and the main native source for Holland around 1200. 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

8 more in the sources library for France and Iberia.