Polignac

Who he is

Name

Heracle III of Polignac (died about 1200-1201), with his son Pons beside him

Title

Viscount of Polignac

Since

after his father Pons III (viscount 1165-1189, died about 1191-1192)

Born

not pinned

Family

House of Polignac, the old viscounts of the Velay. Heracle's wife Marqueze (or Belissende) of Auvergne is alive after 1199. His son Pons went to Acre in 1191, received Salzuit from his maternal uncle the Dauphin, did homage to the bishop of Le Puy (date not pinned) and ended as a Cistercian monk.

Confidence

low

fr.wikipedia Maison de Polignac

Overlord

Disputed between the bishop of Le Puy, who claims their homage for Polignac, and the king, who held Pons III captive in 1169-1171 for his violence; the old grant of the viscounty came from the counts of Auvergne

What it holds

• the fortress of Polignac
• lands and tolls around Le Puy and toward Saint-Paulien
• Salzuit (Pons, from his uncle the Dauphin)
• Ceyssac (part), Roche-Savine (a cadet's)

How it was acquired

Ancient viscounty.

Allies and rivals

Rivals of the bishop of Le Puy, Bertrand of Chalencon (bishop since 1198); nephews of the Dauphin of Auvergne.

How things stand that morning

Held; whether Heracle or Pons acts as viscount that winter is not pinned. South and east lie the Gevaudan (Crown of Aragon's overlordship: Toulouse researcher) and the Vivarais (Southeast researcher).

Wealth

Tolls on the pilgrim roads to Le Puy, the start of the via Podiensis to Compostela.

Military

Polignac, one of the strongest rocks in the Massif Central.

Threats

• the bishop's claims, backed in the past by the king

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. about 1200-1201Death of Heracle III; Pons succeeds.Depends on: natural death Stopped by: nothing known

Places of note

• Fortress of Polignac: seat

Where the sources disagree

• fr.wikipedia's Maison de Polignac names Pons IV's homage to a bishop 'Robert de Chalencon'; the bishop of Le Puy from 1198 to 1213 is Bertrand of Chalencon (campaign notes and the fr.wikipedia list).

Evidence: The genealogy of the viscounts around 1200 is confused in the sources checked.

On the map: Core only; the viscounts' scattered fiefs across the Velay are not drawn.

Primary sources for Held of the king

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 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
• 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
• 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
• 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
• History of the Counts of Guines, Lambert of Ardres (about 1196 to 1203, unfinished). A house history of the counts of Guines and lords of Ardres, written while Count Baldwin II and his son Arnold were alive and finishing in 1203. Read online

4 more in the sources library for France and Iberia.