Angers

Who holds it

Name

John; his seneschal William des Roches

Title

Count of Anjou (John), with the bishop in the Cité

Since

April 1199

Confidence

medium

Control of the castle that winter not pinned.

Lord in 1200

The count of Anjou (John), represented by his seneschal; the bishop (William of Chemillé, 1197-1202) and the great abbeys hold their own quarters and courts. Who kept the castle on 1 January 1200 is not pinned: it was delivered to Arthur's men on 18 April 1199, Constance and Guy of Thouars were in the city in October 1199, and John made his formal entry only on 24 June 1200.

How things stand that morning

John's in law and through his seneschal; Arthur's party was there in October 1199; not pinned that morning.

Charter

No commune; the city is governed by the count's officers and the church lordships.

Council

None of its own recorded; the count's prévôt and the seneschal's court.

Communities

Jews are attested in Anjou in the twelfth century; their numbers at Angers in 1200 are not given in the sources consulted.

Fairs and markets

Weekly markets; fairs not pinned.

Militia

No town militia recorded in war in this period.

Walls and castle

The old Roman wall around the Cité and cathedral, with the counts' hall on the rock above the Maine; the Grand Pont across the Maine; Henry II's hospital of Saint-Jean in the suburb across the river (the Doutre). The great castle seen today is later (1230s).

Trade and crafts

Wine of the Loire and the Layon, river trade on the Maine and Loire (salt up, wine down), slate.

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. 24 June 1200John enters Angers in state after Le Goulet.Depends on: Le Goulet. Stopped by: No treaty.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Events of 1199-1200 attested; town institutions thinly documented.

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.