Frontier town · Prince-bishopric of Liège · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Bouillon

Godfrey of Bouillon's great castle on the Semois, pledged to the bishop of Liege in 1096 for his crusade, seized by Renaud of Bar and recovered by Bishop Albero II in 1141 with the relics of St Lambert carried to the siege.

Who holds it

Name
The bishop of Liege
Title
Lord
Since
1096
Confidence
high

General accounts

Lord in 1200

The bishop of Liege, through his castellans (not named for 1200).

How things stand that morning

Liege's, a fortress facing Bar and Chiny.

Militia

Castle garrison.

Walls and castle

The castle on its ridge over the Semois.

Trade and crafts

Ardennes forest.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Standard history.

Primary sources for Liege

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 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

Sources and studies

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.