The seneschal is the duchess's lieutenant in Poitou, Aunis and Saintonge: he keeps the demesne castles, hears pleas in her name, leads her muster and oversees the provosts of the comital towns.
In 1199 the post was held by Peter Bertin, who witnessed Eleanor's charters at La Rochelle and at Saintes. The Plantagenets were trying to make the office the lever of central control in Poitou, but the barons still settled most affairs among themselves.
Who he is
- Name
- Peter Bertin (Pierre Bertin)
- Title
- Seneschal of Poitou
- Since
- in office under Richard; attested as 'then seneschal of Poitou' in Eleanor's 1199 charters at La Rochelle and Saintes
- Born
- not known
- Family
- A Poitevin knight of the comital household; family not pinned.
- Confidence
- medium
Witness lists of Eleanor's charters of 1199 (Epistolae 880 and 1328). Geoffrey de la Celle, in Eleanor's entourage at Le Vaudreuil in 1199, is seneschal of Poitou and Gascony by 1201, and Robert of Thornham from 1201. Whether Bertin still held office on 1 January 1200 or Geoffrey de la Celle had already replaced him is not pinned.
Overlord
Eleanor, duchess of Aquitaine, and John as her heir
What it holds
- Custody of the demesne castles: Poitiers, Niort, Chize, Montreuil-Bonnin, La Rochelle, Saintes
- Oversight of the provosts: William of Lozay at Poitiers (May 1199), Sancio of Beaulieu at La Rochelle (1199)
- The duchess's court and the summons of her vassals in Poitou and Saintonge
How it was acquired
Appointment by the count or duchess, revocable.
Allies and rivals
Works with the communes and provosts; faces barons who prefer private war and their own courts (Lusignan, Thouars, Mauleon).
How things stand that morning
Probably still Peter Bertin (last dated in 1199); not pinned. With the duchess on the road south, the seneschal is the senior officer in Poitou on 1 January 1200.
Wealth
Fees of office and a share of justice; no figures known.
Military
Commands the garrisons of the demesne castles and can call out the communes.
Threats
- Baronial resistance to comital justice
- Replacement as John settles his own men in the duchy
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.
- 1200-1201Geoffrey de la Celle holds the seneschalcy of Poitou and Gascony (attested 1201), followed by Robert of Thornham from 1201.Depends on: John's appointments once he takes the duchy in hand after Le Goulet. Stopped by: John keeping Eleanor's men in place.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Two dated witness lists of 1199 name Peter Bertin as seneschal; the 1200 holder is not pinned.
On the map: The seneschal's district is the duchess's county; the great baronies inside answered to him only in theory.
Primary sources for Angevin lands
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
- Chronicles of Saint-Martial of Limoges, Bernard Itier and other monks of Saint-Martial; Geoffrey of Vigeois for the earlier chronicle (Geoffrey's chronicle to 1184; Bernard Itier's notes about 1195 to 1225). Bernard Itier, librarian of Saint-Martial, kept dated notes through 1200 of what reached Limoges: Richard's death at Chalus in 1199, the viscounts of Limoges and the lords of the Limousin, John's passage through Aquitaine in 1200 and the affairs of Angouleme and the Lusignans, and the abbey's own elections and prices. 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
- Chronicle; Deeds of the Kings, Gervase of Canterbury (Chronica about 1188 to 1199; Gesta Regum about 1199 to 1210). The Chronica stops in 1199, so for 1200 the witness is the briefer Gesta Regum, which notes John's peace with Philip, the coronation of Isabella at Westminster on 8 October 1200, and matters touching Canterbury: the archbishop Hubert Walter as chancellor, the cathedral priory's quarrel with him, and the Lambeth college dispute lately settled by the pope. Read online
- English Chronicle of Ralph of Coggeshall, Ralph of Coggeshall (about 1200 to 1224, in stages). Short but independent entries for 1200 from a Cistercian house in Essex: John's levy on the Cistercians and the carucage, the peace with Philip, the king's new marriage and the queen's coronation, and the death of Hugh of Lincoln. Read online
14 more in the sources library for France and Iberia.
Sources and studies
- Epistolae: Eleanor's charter dated at La Rochelle, 1199 (witnesses Peter Bertin, seneschal; William of Montmirail, mayor)
- Epistolae: Eleanor's charter for the commune of Saintes, 1199
- Seneschal of Poitou (en.wikipedia)
- Epistolae: Eleanor's grant of Sainte-Severe to Andre de Chauvigny, Le Vaudreuil, 1199 (Godfrey of Celle a witness)
- Robert of Thornham (en.wikipedia)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.