The capital of Artois and its financial heart: a bishop's city (the Cite) beside the great abbey town of Saint-Vaast (the Ville), with cloth-makers, money-changers and merchants who lend to princes.
Held by the king for Prince Louis since 1191, it withstood Baldwin's siege in 1197. It is a town of poets: the confraternity of the jongleurs and burghers (the Carite of Notre-Dame des Ardents) meets here, and Jean Bodel writes his Play of Saint Nicholas about 1200.
Who holds it
- Name
- Philip II, holding Artois for Prince Louis, through his officers; the bishop of Arras in the Cite; the abbot of Saint-Vaast in the Ville; William of Bethune as advocate of Saint-Vaast
- Title
- Lord of the town
- Confidence
- high
Lord in 1200
Philip II, holding Artois for Prince Louis, through his officers; the bishop of Arras in the Cite; the abbot of Saint-Vaast in the Ville; William of Bethune as advocate of Saint-Vaast
How things stand that morning
Royal, garrisoned by the king's men; the interdict will fall here.
Charter
Commune and échevins of long standing, confirmed by the king after 1191 (the royal confirmation of 1194 is thin here).
Council
Échevins of the Ville; the bishop's officers in the Cite.
Communities
The Jews were readmitted to the king's domain in 1198; a community at Arras in 1200 is not pinned.
Fairs and markets
Markets and the Arras cloth market; Arras lies on the road from Flanders to Champagne and Paris.
Militia
The town militia held the walls against Baldwin in 1197.
Walls and castle
The Cite and the Ville are walled separately; the king's officers in the Ville.
Trade and crafts
Cloth and wool, money-changing and lending, the tapestry and luxury trades in their beginnings.
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.
- January 1200 onwardsThe interdict is proclaimed; the bishop of Arras must choose between king and pope.Depends on: The legate's sentence. Stopped by: A royal settlement with Rome.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Its royal status and the 1197 siege are sure; council detail is summarised.
On the map: The tierra is the town's own banlieue or district, drawn from modern municipal units.
Primary sources for France (royal)
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 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
- 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
- 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
- Flowers of History, Roger of Wendover (about 1220 to 1235 at St Albans). For 1200 Wendover is mostly Howden rewritten, so he is a second witness only where he adds St Albans material: a long account of Hugh of Lincoln's last months, death and funeral, and anecdotes about John's conduct toward the Cistercians and his new queen. Read online
15 more in the sources library for France and Iberia.
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.