Bruges

Who holds it

Name

Baldwin IX, count of Flanders; the castellan of Bruges (house of Nesle) keeps the Burg; the provost of Saint-Donatian is chancellor of Flanders

Title

Lord of the town

Confidence

high

Lord in 1200

Baldwin IX, count of Flanders; the castellan of Bruges (house of Nesle) keeps the Burg; the provost of Saint-Donatian is chancellor of Flanders

How things stand that morning

The count's town, at peace.

Charter

Keure of Philip of Alsace (about 1165-1177), with privileges confirmed when Countess Margaret and Baldwin VIII took power in 1191.

Council

Échevins (schepenen) under the count's bailiff; the Franc of Bruges outside the town has its own échevins.

Communities

No Jewish community is attested here in 1200; the count's Flanders had few or none. Lombard and Cahorsin moneylenders come later.

Fairs and markets

The Bruges fair is one of the five of the count's cycle, held in spring (April-May). The five Flemish fairs (Ypres, Bruges, Torhout, Lille, Messines) follow one another through the year as a cycle under the count's peace. By the usual reconstruction of the cycle: Ypres in late winter and Lent (February-March), Bruges in spring (April-May), Torhout in early summer (June), Lille in late summer (August-September) and Messines in autumn (October-November).

The exact opening days about 1200 are not pinned here.

Militia

Town militia; the town was first walled with ditches in 1127-1128.

Walls and castle

The ditch and rampart of 1127-1128 with gates; the count's Burg with Saint-Donatian.

Trade and crafts

Cloth, wool import, money-changing, wine and the Zwin shipping; the Hanse of London.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Charters and trade well known; the fair's place in the cycle about 1200 is reconstructed.

On the map: The tierra is the town's own banlieue or district, drawn from modern municipal units.

Primary sources for Flanders

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 Andres, William of Andres (about 1220 to 1234). The chronicle and cartulary of a small abbey between Guines and Ardres, near the border of Flanders and Boulogne. 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
• 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
• Annals of Egmond (12th century to about 1205). The house annals of Egmond, the counts of Holland's abbey, and the main native source for Holland around 1200. Read online
• Chronicle of Roger of Howden, Roger of Howden (about 1192 to 1201). The fullest single narrative for the year. Read online
• Deeds of Philip Augustus, Rigord (about 1186 to 1206, in stages). The French court's own chronicle for the year, from the monk of Saint-Denis who called himself the king's chronographer. Read online

8 more in the sources library for France and Iberia.