Rethel

Who he is

Name

Hugh II of Rethel (Hugues II de Rethel)

Title

Count of Rethel

Since

1199, on the death of his father Manasses IV (count 1171-1199); the day is not pinned

Born

Not pinned

Family

Son of Manasses IV and Mathilde of Kyburg. Married Felicite of Broyes, daughter of Simon of Broyes (date of marriage not pinned). Count until his death in 1227.

Confidence

medium

French Wikipedia list of the counts of Rethel: Manasses IV 1171-1199, Hugh II 1199-1227. A 1199 succession means Hugh is count on 1 January 1200, but neither date is pinned to the day.

Overlord

Theobald III, count of Champagne (the early counts had been vassals of the archbishop of Reims)

What it holds

• Rethel: castle on the Aisne bluff and the town below
• Mezieres on the Meuse, the county's northern stronghold
• Villages of the Aisne, Vaux and Vence valleys between them (not itemised)

How it was acquired

Hereditary in the house of Rethel; through the Vitry line since Ithier (1158-1171).

Allies and rivals

Neighbours: the archbishop of Reims (Mouzon, the Reims castellanies), the lords of Chateau-Porcien, the counts of Grandpre, the count of Bar and Luxembourg beyond the Meuse. His wife ties him to the Broyes.

How things stand that morning

Held by a new count.

Wealth

Aisne and Meuse traffic, woods of the Ardennes edge, rents.

Military

Castles of Rethel and Mezieres.

Threats

• A new count's succession dues and homage
• The archbishop of Reims's neighbouring castellanies

Places of note

• Mezieres: The counts' town on the Meuse (Charleville did not exist).

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Succession year from a Wikipedia list; the county's bounds in 1200 are reconstructed.

On the map: A corridor reconstructed from the castles; the county's exact bounds in 1200 are not established 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.