Vendôme

Who he is

Name

Bouchard IV of Vendôme (Bouchard de Vendôme)

Title

Count of Vendôme, lord of Lavardin

Since

1182, on the death of his father John I

Born

Not pinned (active from about 1161)

Family

Son of John I of Vendôme and Bertha of Le Puy-du-Fou; married Agatha; sons Geoffrey (lord of Lavardin), Ralph (killed at Acre 1191) and John (later count); daughter Agnes, wife of Peter II, lord of Montoire.

Confidence

high

French Wikipedia life (mirror). He dies in 1202.

Overlord

John, as count of Anjou (the counts of Anjou have held the overlordship of Vendôme since the eleventh century); the king of France above

What it holds

• Town and castle of Vendôme
• Lavardin (from his stepmother Richilde), with its castle
• Overlordship of Montoire and the lesser castles of the Vendômois
• Advocacy disputes with the abbey of the Trinity (settled 1185)

How it was acquired

Inherited 1182.

Allies and rivals

The abbey of the Trinity of Vendôme; the counts of Blois (who besieged Vendôme in 1161) and the lords of Fréteval to the east; Philip, who has twice taken or besieged his town.

How things stand that morning

Holds Vendôme and Lavardin; no garrison of either king is known there that winter. His allegiance in 1199 is not pinned; he sits on the Angevin side by tenure.

Wealth

The Vendôme market and the Loir valley vineyards; the pilgrim trade to the Holy Tear relic at the Trinity.

Military

Castles of Vendôme and Lavardin.

Threats

• Being the first stop of any French army marching on Anjou, as in 1188 and 1194

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. 1202Bouchard dies; his son John succeeds.Depends on: Natural course. Stopped by: Earlier death in war.

Places of note

• Castle of Vendôme: Seat
• Lavardin: Castle of the count's family
• Montoire: Held by Peter II of Montoire, the count's son-in-law

Where the sources disagree

• The battle of Fréteval is dated 5 July 1194 in this source and 3 July 1194 in most accounts.

Evidence: French Wikipedia life gives dates and family; overlordship from general knowledge of the Angevin counts.

On the map: Approximate outline of the Vendômois.

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.