The abbey town north of Paris where the kings are buried and the oriflamme hangs, taken up by the king when he goes to war.
Its abbey owns the Lendit fair and wide estates; the king's own power here passes through the abbot.
Who holds it
- Name
- The abbot of Saint-Denis
- Title
- Lord
- Confidence
- medium
The abbot on 1 January 1200 is not pinned.
Lord in 1200
The abbey of Saint-Denis, royal necropolis and keeper of the oriflamme, with full justice over its town; the king as its protector and advocate.
Allies and rivals
The Montmorency over rights in the Plaine de France.
How things stand that morning
Quiet; the interdict will silence the abbey's choir if the abbot obeys.
Wealth
The Lendit and the abbey estates.
Military
The oriflamme.
Threats
- The interdict.
Charter
No commune; the abbey's town.
Communities
The monks.
Fairs and markets
The Lendit, in June, on the plain between Saint-Denis and La Chapelle; also the abbey's fairs of Saint-Denis [season not pinned].
Militia
The abbey's men serve under the oriflamme.
Walls and castle
Abbey walls and town enclosure.
Trade and crafts
Fair trade in cloth and parchment, wine.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Standard.
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.
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.