Sancerre

Who he is

Name

William I (Guillaume Ier de Sancerre)

Title

Count of Sancerre

Since

1191 (his father Stephen I died at the siege of Acre)

Born

about 1176

Family

Cadet line of the house of Blois-Champagne: son of Stephen I, son of Theobald II of Champagne; cousin of Theobald III and of Duke Odo III. Unmarried on 1 January 1200: he marries Denise of Deols in 1205, Marie of Charenton about 1208 and Eustachie of Courtenay in 1211.

Confidence

high

fr.wikipedia Guillaume Ier de Sancerre

Overlord

Theobald III, count of Champagne (the suzerainty of Sancerre was sold to Louis IX by Theobald IV in 1234)

What it holds

• Sancerre castle and the Sancerrois
• Saint-Brisson-sur-Loire
• La Ferte-Loupiere

How it was acquired

Inherited 1191.

Allies and rivals

Cousin of Theobald III and of Odo III (whose lieutenant he is at Bouvines in 1214). Neighbour of royal Berry and of the Donziais across the Loire.

How things stand that morning

Held by William I as Theobald's vassal. Royal Berry (the king's Bourges and the lords of Sully and Charenton) surrounds the county on the left bank; the Donziais and the Nivernais lie across the Loire.

Wealth

Sancerrois wines; the Loire crossing at Saint-Satur; tolls.

Military

Sancerre castle on its hill above the Loire.

Places of note

• Sancerre castle: seat

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The count's dates are secure; the Champagne overlordship is shown by Theobald IV's later sale of his overlordship of Sancerre with Blois and Chateaudun (1234).

On the map: The county's western limits toward royal Berry are approximate.

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.