Provins

Who holds it

Name

Theobald III, count of Champagne

Title

Lord of the town

Since

1197

Born

1179

Family

House of Blois-Champagne

Confidence

high

Comital castle town since the eleventh century (a 1095 charter calls it Count Stephen's famous castle).

Lord in 1200

Count Theobald III: the castle and great tower, the palace and the collegiate church of Saint-Quiriace in the upper town; the priory of Saint-Ayoul holds the market hall in the lower town.

How things stand that morning

The count's, at peace.

Threats

• Interdict during the fairs

Charter

None in 1200; the commune comes with Theobald IV in 1230.

Council

None of its own; the count's prevot.

Communities

Jews; merchants of Italy and Flanders in fair time; the abbey of Saint-Jacques (founded 1157 by Henry I) and the hospital of the Holy Spirit (founded by Henry I at the end of the century).

Fairs and markets

The May fair, or fair of Saint-Quiriace, in the upper town (from the Tuesday before Ascension: 16 May in 1200), and the fair of Saint-Ayoul in the lower town (from the Exaltation of the Cross, 14 September, running towards All Saints).

Militia

Not established.

Walls and castle

The great tower (later called the Tour Cesar) on a motte in the upper town, twelfth century; the surviving upper-town walls are later (1226-1314).

Trade and crafts

Cloth (a great drapery town, using fuller's earth dug under the town); the mint of the provinois deniers; money-changing; a twelfth-century market hall (the Halle du Minage).

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. 16 May 1200May fair opens.Depends on: Custom. Stopped by: War or interdict.
2. 14 September 1200Fair of Saint-Ayoul opens.Depends on: Custom. Stopped by: War or interdict.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Monuments and fairs well known; the institutional detail for 1200 is thin.

On the map: Town and near villages.

Primary sources for Champagne

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 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
• 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
• Deeds of Philip Augustus; The Philippide, William the Breton (Guillaume le Breton) (Gesta about 1214 to 1220; Philippide 1214 to 1224). William abridged Rigord for the years before 1207 and then continued him, so for 1200 the Gesta is a shortened Rigord with a few added touches: the Le Goulet settlement, Blanche's marriage, and the interdict. Read online
• The Conquest of Constantinople (Villehardouin), Geoffrey of Villehardouin (about 1207 to 1213). Opens with the preaching of Fulk of Neuilly and the tournament at Ecry (28 November 1199) where Theobald III of Champagne and Louis of Blois took the cross, then the taking of the cross by Baldwin of Flanders, Hugh of Saint-Pol, Geoffrey of Perche and others through early 1200, the assemblies at Soissons and Compiegne in 1200, and the six envoys sent to Venice in the winter of 1200 to 1201. Read online
• The Conquest of Constantinople, Robert de Clari, knight of Picardy (about 1205 to 1216). A rank-and-file crusader's account that begins with the preaching of the crusade and the taking of the cross in 1199 to 1200 by the counts of Flanders, Blois and Champagne and by the Picard lords, among them Peter of Amiens, Robert's own lord, then the negotiations with Venice. Read online

3 more in the sources library for France and Iberia.