Royal demesne

Who he is

Name

Philip II Augustus

Title

King of the French

Since

18 September 1180

Born

21 August 1165

Family

Capetian

Confidence

high

The demesne is reconstructed from the prevotes named in the king's acts and in the account of 1202-03 (the nearest full list, three years after our date), less what was gained after 1 January 1200 (Evreux and the Vexin in law, Issoudun and Gracay at Le Goulet, Normandy in 1204).

What it holds

• Paris and the Parisis; the castles and prevotes of Poissy, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Montlhery, Corbeil, Melun, Moret, Samois and Fontainebleau, Dourdan and Etampes.
• The French Vexin: Pontoise, Chaumont-en-Vexin and Mantes (the county of the Vexin has been the king's since 1077, and he carries the Vexin banner of Saint-Denis).
• The Orleanais and Gatinais: Orleans, the forest of Orleans and its prevotes (Chateauneuf-sur-Loire, Vitry-aux-Loges, Neuville-aux-Bois, Boiscommun), Yevre-le-Chatel, Janville on the Beauce frontier, Lorris, Montargis, Chateau-Landon; Gien since 1199.
• Sens and Villeneuve-le-Roi (Villeneuve-sur-Yonne, founded by Louis VII in 1163).
• Senlis, Compiegne, Choisy-au-Bac, Verberie, Bethisy and Pierrefonds (acquired by Philip at the end of the twelfth century).
• Laon with the king's rights in the Laonnois.
• The Amienois (the county of Amiens since 1185), Montdidier and Roye (1185), Peronne (1191-92).
• Royal Berry: Bourges and its septaine, Dun-le-Roi, with the king's rights over the lords of the Berry who hold of Bourges.
• Norman ground: Gisors, Neaufles and most of the Norman Vexin; Vernon, Pacy, Ivry and Nonancourt; Gaillon held for the king by Cadoc; the city and county of Evreux, occupied since April 1199.

How it was acquired

The old Capetian core (Paris, Orleans, Etampes, Senlis, Compiegne), added to by Philip I (the Vexin 1077, Bourges 1101), Louis VI (Montlhery 1118, Corbeil 1120), Louis VII and Philip II: the Vermandois settlement (1185 and 1191-92), the Norman conquests of 1193-99, Gien in 1199.

Allies and rivals

See France (royal). Inside the demesne the king's rivals are less barons than churches: the bishops and chapters of Paris, Orleans, Senlis and Laon, and the abbeys of Saint-Denis and Saint-Germain-des-Pres, each with its own justice, and the communes with their charters.

How things stand that morning

The king's lordship is uncontested inside these lands on 1 January 1200, except on the Norman ground, which John has not yet ceded: Gisors, Neaufles and the Norman Vexin up to the line of Les Andelys (held since 1193, given to Philip at Louviers in 1196), Vernon, Pacy, Ivry and Nonancourt (Louviers, 1196), Gaillon (Cadoc's since 1197), and Evreux with its county (occupied since April 1199, ceded only at Le Goulet in May 1200). The interdict will close the demesne's churches from mid-January. Artois is held in Prince Louis's name and drawn by the Flanders researcher.

Wealth

Rents and tolls farmed by the prevots; forests (Yveline, Biere, Orleans, Compiegne, Retz is the Valois's); mills on the Seine, Oise and Loire; the Paris halls and Seine trade; Orleans wine; Amiens woad; the Jews' tallage; the regalia of vacant sees.

Military

The king's castles listed in France (royal); communal sergeants owed by the communes of the demesne (prisee des sergents, about 1194); routiers under Cadoc at Gaillon.

Threats

• The Norman ground reverting to war if the talks after 13 January fail.
• The interdict closing the churches of every royal town.

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 turns the occupation of Evreux and the Vexin into lawful possession and adds the fiefs of Issoudun and Gracay in Berry (for Louis and Blanche).Depends on: The peace with John. Stopped by: Renewed war.

Places of note

• Louvre (building): The king's new tower and castle on the right bank, begun about 1190.
• Montlhery castle: Royal since 1118; prevote.
• Yevre-le-Chatel: Royal castle and prevote in the Gatinais.
• Janville: Royal castle facing Le Puiset and the Chartrain.
• Gisors castle: Held since April 1193.
• Evreux: Occupied since April 1199.

Where the sources disagree

• The GM's brief has Evreux and the Norman Vexin still Angevin on 1 January 1200; in fact Philip holds them (see France (royal)). We mark Evreux occupied and the Vexin held.

Evidence: The prevotes are firm; their exact bounds are not, and the drawing follows the main castellanies and forests.

On the map: Rough. The demesne was a network of rights, not a territory; the polygons follow the prevotes' main castellanies and forests and include church lands. Baronies drawn in their own records are cut out where they sit inside the line.

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.