Gisors

Who holds it

Name

Philip II

Title

Lord

Since

April 1193

Confidence

high

Lord in 1200

The king, through his castellan [name not pinned]; a Norman town under French rule since its castellan Gilbert de Vascoeuil surrendered it in April 1193, given to Philip at Louviers in 1196.

Allies and rivals

John's garrisons at Les Andelys and Chateau-Gaillard.

How things stand that morning

Royal; frontier under truce until 13 January.

Wealth

Grain of the Vexin.

Military

One of the strongest castles of the march.

Threats

• War resuming after 13 January.

Charter

Norman custom; no commune known.

Militia

A royal garrison.

Walls and castle

Motte and shell keep with Philip's new works; town walls.

Trade and crafts

Market of the Vexin, grain.

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. 22 May 1200Le Goulet confirms the Norman Vexin to Philip.Depends on: The peace. Stopped by: Renewed war.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Possession firm.

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.