Reims

Who holds it

Name

William of the White Hands, archbishop of Reims, cardinal

Title

Lord of the city (archbishop-duke, peer of France)

Since

1176

Born

1135

Family

Son of Count Theobald II of Champagne; uncle of Philip Augustus and of Theobald III

Confidence

high

As in the campaign Church notes and the Church map record Reims.

Lord in 1200

Archbishop William of the White Hands, who holds the comital rights in the city directly of the king. Inside the city the cathedral chapter and the abbey of Saint-Remi each have their own ban and court.

How things stand that morning

The archbishop's city, at peace with its townsmen. The coming interdict tests William, who presided over the annulment of Ingeborg's marriage.

Threats

• The interdict and Rome's anger at William over Ingeborg
• The old grievance of the townsmen against the archbishop's revenues

Charter

The charte willelmine of 1182, granted by Archbishop William, which lets the burgesses of his ban elect echevins. An earlier commune on the Laon model (French Wikipedia gives a royal charter of 1128 and communal liberties in 1143, both soon withdrawn; other accounts date the commune to 1139) did not survive.

Council

Echevins elected by the burgesses of the archbishop's ban; the men of the chapter's ban and of Saint-Remi's ban are outside it.

Communities

The chapter, the abbeys of Saint-Remi, Saint-Nicaise and Saint-Thierry, a Jewish community (not detailed), merchants.

Fairs and markets

Markets and fairs in the new quarter laid out by the archbishops (the rue Large); not one of the six Champagne fairs.

Militia

The archbishop summons the city's fighting men (a comital right).

Walls and castle

The old walled city around the cathedral and the separate enclosure of Saint-Remi (922); the archbishop's palace beside the Carolingian cathedral (which burns in 1210).

Trade and crafts

Cloth (serges for hangings and furnishings); William opened the street of the Jard-aux-Drapiers for the cloth trade.

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. mid-January 1200 onwardThe interdict lands: William must choose whether to shut the churches of the coronation city.Depends on: Publication of the interdict. Stopped by: Philip submitting first.

Places of note

• Abbey of Saint-Remi: Its own ban and court in the city.

Where the sources disagree

• The Royal and Church records name the archbishop; this record is the town. Realm set to crown because the city is held of the king, not of the count of Champagne. The commune's date varies between sources (1128, 1139, 1143); all agree it did not last.

Evidence: The charter of 1182 is well attested; its exact terms are not checked here.

On the map: The city and its near banlieue; the archbishop's castellanies are on the Church map.

Primary sources for Held of the king

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 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
• Chronicles of Saint-Martial of Limoges, Bernard Itier and other monks of Saint-Martial; Geoffrey of Vigeois for the earlier chronicle (Geoffrey's chronicle to 1184; Bernard Itier's notes about 1195 to 1225). Bernard Itier, librarian of Saint-Martial, kept dated notes through 1200 of what reached Limoges: Richard's death at Chalus in 1199, the viscounts of Limoges and the lords of the Limousin, John's passage through Aquitaine in 1200 and the affairs of Angouleme and the Lusignans, and the abbey's own elections and prices. 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
• 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
• History of the Counts of Guines, Lambert of Ardres (about 1196 to 1203, unfinished). A house history of the counts of Guines and lords of Ardres, written while Count Baldwin II and his son Arnold were alive and finishing in 1203. Read online

4 more in the sources library for France and Iberia.