Roucy

Who he is

Name

John I of Roucy (Jean Ier de Roucy)

Title

Count of Roucy

Since

1196, on the death of his brother Raoul I, who left only a daughter who became a nun

Born

Not pinned

Family

Son of Count Guiscard (1160-1180) and Elisabeth of Mareuil, lady of Neufchatel-sur-Aisne. Wife: Beatrice of Vignory (so the lists say; the Vignory family history is less sure). No legitimate children. His niece Eustachie, Guiscard's daughter, is the heiress.

Confidence

medium

English and French Wikipedia lists: John I 1196-1200, then Enguerrand III of Coucy from 1200 (by marriage; the lists disagree whether to John's widow or to Eustachie) until about 1204-05, then Eustachie and her husband Robert of Pierrepont. John is presumed alive on 1 January 1200; the day of his death in 1200 is not pinned.

Overlord

Theobald III, count of Champagne, for the county (by the later tradition that counts Roucy among the counts-peers of Champagne); the archbishop of Reims has rights nearby. Not pinned for 1200.

What it holds

• Roucy: castle on the hill over the Aisne
• Neufchatel-sur-Aisne: from Guiscard's wife's inheritance
• Pontavert on the Aisne
• Villages between the Aisne and the Vesle

How it was acquired

Hereditary since the tenth century; the house of Montdidier-Roucy holds it in 1200.

Allies and rivals

Enguerrand III of Coucy (a predator: the Royal researcher covers Coucy); the archbishop of Reims; the count of Champagne.

How things stand that morning

Held by a childless count with a disputed succession ahead.

Wealth

Aisne river traffic and lands.

Military

Castle of Roucy.

Threats

• Extinction of the male line
• Enguerrand III of Coucy

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. 1200, day not pinnedJohn I dies; Enguerrand III of Coucy takes the county by marriage and holds it until about 1204-05, when Eustachie of Roucy and her husband Robert of Pierrepont recover it.Depends on: John's natural death. Stopped by: John living, or the count of Champagne or the king refusing Enguerrand.

Where the sources disagree

• Whether Roucy is held of Champagne or of the king in 1200 is not settled by our sources: the Royal assignment leaves Roucy to Champagne if Champenois. We have put it in Champagne on the later tradition of the counts-peers of Champagne; treat as medium.

Evidence: Succession lists only; the overlordship in 1200 is not pinned.

On the map: Reconstructed around the castle.

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.