Town · Flanders and Hainaut · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Mons

The count of Hainaut's castle town and the seat of his court and of the peers of Hainaut, grown up around the noble canonesses of Sainte-Waudru.

In July 1200 the count will issue the two general charters of Hainaut here.

Who holds it

Name
Baldwin VI of Hainaut; the chapter of Sainte-Waudru, of which the count is lay abbot
Title
Lord of the town
Confidence
high

Lord in 1200

Baldwin VI of Hainaut; the chapter of Sainte-Waudru, of which the count is lay abbot

How things stand that morning

The count's town, at peace.

Charter

Town privileges under the count; a written charter for 1200 not pinned here.

Council

Échevins under the count's provost.

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

Markets.

Militia

Town militia.

Walls and castle

The count's castle on the hill and the town wall.

Trade and crafts

Market town of Hainaut, cloth.

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. 28 July 1200The two general charters of Hainaut are issued at the castle of Mons, with a sealed part kept in the count's archive there.Depends on: The count's presence. Stopped by: War.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Thin on institutions.

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.

Sources and studies

  1. Mons (English Wikipedia)
  2. Baldwin I, Latin Emperor (English Wikipedia)
  3. N. Ruffini-Ronzani, Laws in the Making: the Hainaut feudal and penal charters of 28 July 1200 (2024, UNamur)

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