Wezemaal

Who he is

Name

Arnold of Wezemaal (Arnulphus de Wismale); which Arnold of the line holds on 1 January 1200 is not pinned

Title

Lord of Wezemaal, the duke's marshal

Since

Not pinned

Born

Not pinned

Family

Lords of Wezemaal (Wesemael), later also of Westerlo; the en.wikipedia list of marshals runs Arnold I, Arnold II, Arnold III, Godfrey, Arnold IV.

Confidence

medium

Independent Crusaders Project (Fordham): an Arnold of Wezemaal witnesses charters of Godfrey III and Henry I and went to Jerusalem with Godfrey III in 1183; en.wikipedia dates the family's marshal privilege to 1160.

Overlord

The duke of Brabant

What it holds

• Wezemaal
• The marshal's office (privilege dated 1160)

How it was acquired

Hereditary.

Allies and rivals

The duke's household.

How things stand that morning

In the duke's service; follows Brabant's side (Otto).

Wealth

Lands on the Demer; the office's fees.

Military

Leads the duke's host as marshal.

Places of note

• Wezemaal: Seat of the marshals

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The family and office are attested; the holder in 1200 is not pinned.

On the map: Not drawn: Wezemaal lies in the modern commune of Rotselaar (Rotselaar); shown as a point.

Primary sources for Brabant

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.

• Annals of Reiner of Saint James, Liège, Reiner of Liège (1197 to 1230, kept year by year). Contemporary annals kept inside Liège. Read online
• Royal Chronicle of Cologne (in stages from about 1175 to about 1250; the section on 1198 to 1220 written soon after the events). The fullest German narrative of the throne war from the Welf and Cologne side. Read online
• 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
• Dialogue on Miracles, Caesarius of Heisterbach (about 1219 to 1223). Not a chronicle but a Cistercian's book of exempla, full of stories about Cologne, the Rhineland and the Low Countries around 1200: the throne war, usurers, heretics, crusade preachers, knights and townsmen, monks and recruits at Heisterbach, founded in 1189. Read online