Normandy

Who he is

Name

John, king of England

Title

Duke of Normandy

Since

25 April 1199, girded duke at Rouen

Born

24 December 1166

Family

Son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine; brother and heir (by Norman choice) of Richard I

Confidence

high

Normandy accepted John without a fight in April 1199; Norman custom did not admit Arthur's claim by representation. On 1 January 1200 John is in the duchy (no crossing to England until late February).

Overlord

Philip II of France (homage not yet done by John; comes at Le Goulet, 22 May 1200)

What it holds

• Ducal castles: Rouen, Arques, Lillebonne, Montivilliers, Caudebec, Lyons-la-Foret, Chateau-Gaillard and Les Andelys, Boutavant, Pont-de-l'Arche, Radepont, Verneuil, Exmes, Argentan, Falaise, Caen, Bayeux, Valognes, Cherbourg, Avranches, Pontorson, Domfront, Mortain (as count)
• The ducal forests: Lyons, Brotonne, Roumare, the Lillebonne forest, the Cinglais, Gouffern, Brix and the Cotentin forests
• The Seine tolls at Rouen, Pont-de-l'Arche and the river stations; the vicomtes' farms of mills, ovens, markets and fairs
• Patronage of the great abbeys founded by the dukes (Fecamp, Saint-Wandrille, Jumieges, Saint-Etienne and La Trinite of Caen)
• The Channel Islands (see Channel Islands)
• Claims held by Philip: Evreux and the Evrecin, Gisors and Neaufles, Vernon, Gaillon, Pacy, Ivry, Nonancourt, Aumale

How it was acquired

Hereditary in the ducal house since 911; John succeeded his brother Richard in April 1199.

Allies and rivals

The Norman baronage is overwhelmingly with John this winter. The weak points are the barons of the march who also hold of Philip (the count of Meulan for Meulan, the count of Perche for Mortagne, Hugh of Gournay, the count of Eu as a Lusignan) and the men of the Evrecin, who have been under French garrison since April 1199.

How things stand that morning

Held by John except the eastern march. Philip holds: Evreux and the heart of the Evrecin (since April 1199); Gisors and Neaufles (since April 1193); Vernon, Gaillon, Pacy and Nonancourt (left to Philip by the treaty concluded at Gaillon and Le Vaudreuil about 14 January 1196; Gaillon now Cadoc's); probably Ivry (not named in the sources checked); Aumale (since 1196). John holds Les Andelys and Chateau-Gaillard, Lyons, Gournay, the Bray, the Caux and Talou, the Roumois, Pont-de-l'Arche, Louviers (the archbishop's town), Le Neubourg, Conches, Breteuil, Verneuil, Tillieres and all of Lower Normandy.

Legally all of it is still the duke's until Le Goulet.

Wealth

The richest of the Angevin lands after England: the Seine trade through Rouen, salt pans of the coast and the Seine estuary, Caen stone, the Caux grain, the Cotentin and Bessin cattle and the fish and herring of the Channel ports; the exchequer at Caen audits the vicomtes' farms twice a year. No figures.

Military

The Norman host (the 1172 inquest of knight service), castle-guard in the ducal castles, the communes' militias (Rouen, Caen, Falaise and others), Richard's new Seine defences around Chateau-Gaillard, and paid companies. Record: John's men held the line of the Andelle and the Iton in 1199; Philip took Evreux at a stroke in April 1199.

Threats

• Philip's garrisons at Evreux, Pacy, Vernon, Gaillon and Gisors
• The approach to Rouen by the Seine and the Andelle
• Defection of march barons
• War taxation fatigue

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. 22 May 1200Le Goulet: the Evrecin is divided along a line midway between Evreux and Le Neubourg; Philip keeps Evreux with its part, the Norman Vexin except Les Andelys, and the Eure castles; the rest stays the duke's.Depends on: Both kings willing to settle Stopped by: Breakdown of the January talks or renewed war

Places of note

• Rouen castle: Ducal castle and treasury
• Arques: Ducal castle guarding Dieppe and the Talou
• Lyons-la-Foret: Ducal castle and forest on the Vexin march
• Pont-de-l'Arche: Richard's fortified bridge on the Seine
• Falaise: Ducal castle and treasury
• Domfront: Ducal castle facing Maine

Where the sources disagree

• The GM's date rule calls Evreux and the Norman Vexin still Angevin on 1 January 1200; in law yes, in fact Philip has held Evreux since April 1199 and Gisors since 1193. The map shows them as claimed by John and held by Philip.

Evidence: Castle-by-castle possession on the march is drawn from the treaty history of 1193-1200; Ivry is the least certain.

On the map: The outer border follows the duchy's twelfth-century limits closely; the edges of the French-held pockets are rough, since the sources name castles, not parishes.

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.