Royal Artois

Who he is

Name

Philip II Augustus, holding the dowry of Queen Isabella of Hainaut for Prince Louis (born 1187), through his bailli and prevots

Title

Royal demesne held by the king for his son

Since

1191 (death of Philip of Alsace; treaty of Arras, October 1191)

Family

Capetian

Confidence

high

French Wikipedia (Comte d'Artois). The bailli in Artois on 1 January 1200 is not pinned here.

Overlord

The king.

What it holds

• Arras: the king's rights in the city and the town (with the bishop and the abbot of Saint-Vaast)
• Bapaume: castle and the royal toll
• Lens: castle and prevote
• Hesdin: castle and town
• The homage of the Artois fiefs south of the ditch, of Boulogne, Saint-Pol and Bethune

How it was acquired

Dowry of Isabella of Hainaut (1180), taken into the king's hand in 1191.

Allies and rivals

The count of Saint-Pol and the count of Ponthieu are the king's men nearby; Baldwin is the enemy until 2 January.

How things stand that morning

Held by the king's officers; Arras withstood Baldwin's siege in 1197. Saint-Omer and Aire are lost to Baldwin since 1198.

Wealth

Arras's cloth, money-changers and markets; the Bapaume toll, one of the richest in the kingdom.

Military

Castles of Bapaume, Lens and Hesdin; the militia of Arras.

Threats

• Baldwin, until the peace
• The interdict

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. 2 January 1200Peronne confirms these four places to the king.Depends on: The peace. Stopped by: A rupture.
2. January 1200 onwardsThe interdict is proclaimed and observed or evaded by the bishops of Arras.Depends on: The legate's sentence and each bishop's choice. Stopped by: A royal settlement with Rome.

Places of note

• Castle of Bapaume and the royal toll: Toll on the Flanders road
• Castle of Hesdin (at Vieil-Hesdin): Royal castle

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The list of places is sure; the officers in post on 1 January are not pinned here.

On the map: The Arras block is a rough outline; the king held rights, not every village.

Primary sources for France (royal)

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 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
• 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
• Flowers of History, Roger of Wendover (about 1220 to 1235 at St Albans). For 1200 Wendover is mostly Howden rewritten, so he is a second witness only where he adds St Albans material: a long account of Hugh of Lincoln's last months, death and funeral, and anecdotes about John's conduct toward the Cistercians and his new queen. Read online

15 more in the sources library for France and Iberia.