Bordeaux

Who holds it

Name

Eleanor, duchess of Aquitaine (John her heir), through the prevot of Bordeaux and the seneschal of Gascony

Title

Lord of the city: the duke of Aquitaine

Since

6 April 1199 (Richard's death)

Confidence

high

The archbishop and the chapters hold their own quarters.

Lord in 1200

The duke (Eleanor, with John as heir) through the ducal prevot; Archbishop Helie de Malemort (since 1188) holds the cathedral quarter of Saint-Andre and his own manors; the chapter of Saint-Seurin and the abbey of Sainte-Croix hold the bourgs round their churches.

Overlord

Philip II, as overlord of the duchy since Eleanor's homage of July 1199.

How things stand that morning

Loyal and prosperous under Eleanor; the seneschal and the archbishop are the powers in the city.

Wealth

Wine customs and tolls, the river trade, the port.

Military

The Ombriere castle and the Roman walls.

Threats

• Routier violence in the city (Mercadier's murder at Easter 1200)
• The later Castilian claim to Gascony (1205-1206 siege, after the year)

Charter

A charter of John dated 18 July 1199 sets out the inhabitants' liberties and the town's organisation (date from a Bordeaux heritage plaque; text not seen). Municipal institutions are recorded from 1206 and the jurats elect the first mayor, Pierre Lambert, in 1208.

Council

No mayor on 1 January 1200. The leading citizens act together under the ducal prevot; a sworn council of jurats is attested only from 1206.

Communities

Gascon citizens and merchants; English and Flemish traders in season; a Jewish community is attested in medieval Bordeaux (size and quarter in 1200 not pinned).

Fairs and markets

Markets on the river front; the wine fleets sail in autumn after the vintage and again in spring with the racked wine. No great fair pinned for 1200.

Militia

The citizens owe service to the duke; no record of a city militia in the field before the Castilian invasion of 1205-1206 (after the year).

Walls and castle

The late Roman walls of the old city; the ducal palace-castle of the Ombriere at the river gate; the bourgs outside the walls are not yet enclosed.

Trade and crafts

Wine of the Bordelais and of the High Country brought down the Garonne and the Dordogne; salt, fish and cloth imported; shipping to England and Flanders; the pilgrim road to Santiago (the Way of Tours passes through Bordeaux).

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.

In 1200

1. 9 April 1200 (Easter)Eleanor is in Bordeaux with Blanche of Castile on her way back from Castile.Depends on: A safe crossing of the passes. Stopped by: Illness or delay.
2. 10 April 1200Easter Monday: Mercadier, come to pay his respects to Eleanor, is murdered in the city by six men-at-arms in the pay of Brandin, his rival routier captain.Depends on: Both routier companies being in Bordeaux at Easter. Stopped by: The seneschal or Eleanor keeping them apart.
3. April-May 1200Archbishop Helie de Malemort escorts Blanche north for her marriage to Louis at Port-Mort (23 May).Depends on: Le Goulet (22 May) going ahead. Stopped by: A breakdown of the peace.

Later, on the likely course

1. 1206-1208 (after the year)Jurats and then a mayor appear: Bordeaux becomes a commune.Depends on: John's need for the city's loyalty against Castile. Stopped by: John refusing the grant.

Places of note

• Palace of the Ombriere: Ducal palace-castle on the river front.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The 18 July 1199 date rests on a heritage plaque; the commune's beginnings (1206, 1208) on the list of mayors.

On the map: The banlieue of Bordeaux is defined only later; this is the city and its nearest parishes.

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.