William des Roches
Encyclopedia
William des Roches (1165–1222), seneschal of Anjou
, was a knight in the service of the Angevin
Kings of England, and King Philip II of France
after 1202. Guillaume was born somewhere in Anjou, most likely at Longué-Jumelles
.
. During the rebellion of 1189, Richard of Poitou (later Richard I of England
) and King Philip II of France
attacked the ageing king of England in the city of his birth, Le Mans
. Guillaume had participated in the defense of Le Mans in the company of such knights as William Marshal and Gerard Talbot and was with King Henry when he was forced to flee the city. According to "The History of William the Marshal", des Roches rode in the vanguard of the retreating royal force. He wheeled around with William Marshal and engaged Count Richard's vanguard where he successfully charged and knocked Philip de Colombiers off of his horse.
After the death of King Henry, Guillaume enrolled in the royal mesnie of Richard, now King of England, Duke of Normandy
and Aquitaine
and Count of Anjou. William was a trusted confidant of King Richard, and during the Third Crusade
he was involved in the conquest of Sicily, the Siege of Acre, the Battle of Arsuf
, and the Battle of Jaffa
. In 1192, he was sent with Pierre de Preaux and Gerard de Fournival as part of a deputation to obtain safe conducts for the crusading host to enter Jerusalem and its environs. William remained a steadfast adherent to Richard in his wars with King Philip of France from 1194–1199 and it may have been at this time that he was arranged to be married to Marguerite
, the daughter and heiress of Robert de Sablé
.
, brother of King Richard, and Arthur of Brittany, Richard's nephew. The leaders of England, Normandy, and Poitou sided with John, while the barons of Anjou and Brittany chose Arthur according to their customs of succession. William, then at Le Mans, threw in his support for Arthur along with a very powerful group of Manceaux and Angevin barons, including Juhel II of Mayenne and his mother Isabella of Meulan. Des Roches became Arthur's seneschal of Anjou
and was entrusted with the defense of Le Mans. The city of Tours
was surrendered to Arthur and Eleanor, duchess of Aquitaine and queen-mother of England. In addition, she was Arthur's grandmother. She sent a force under Viscount Aimery VII of Thouars, John's newly appointed seneschal of Anjou (replacing Robert of Turnham), Hugh IX of Lusignan
, and his brother Ralph of Exoudun, count of Eu. Eleanor's force was successful in entering the suburbs of Tours, but was driven back by King Philip II of France
who had himself chosen Arthur as Richard's rightful successor.
In May 1199, King Philip of France met with William des Roches at Le Mans and together they attacked the border fortress of Ballon
, the fortress was surrendered by Geoffrey de Brûlon, the castellan, but not before being demolished. A quarrel ensued between King Philip and William over the lordship of the site. William was adamant that Ballon belonged rightfully to Duke Arthur, while King Philip wished to retain it as his own.
In June 1199, King John of England
launched a massive attack into Northern Maine from Argentan
. On 13 September he was successful in repulsing King Philip from the fortress of Lavardin
which protected the route from Le Mans to Tours. Arthur's supporters were forced to come to terms with John, and William met with the English king at Bourg-le-Roi
, a fortress of the pro-John viscounts of Beaumont-en-Maine on or about 18 September. John convinced William that Arthur of Brittany was being used solely as tool of Capetian strategy and managed to convince him to switch sides. With this, John promised him the seneschalship of Anjou. During the night, John's incumbent seneschal, Viscount Aimery, took Arthur and Constance and fled the court. They fled first to Angers
, then to the court of King Philip. King John officially designated William seneschal of Anjou in December 1199 and entered Angers triumphantly on 24 June 1200.
During the summer of 1201, William married Marguerite de Sablé
. With this marriage came a vast landholding that included Sablé, La Suze, Briollay, Maiet, Loupelandé, Genneteil, Precigné, and the Norman manor of Agon (which was held of the lord of Mayenne). William had become overnight one of the greatest barons of Anjou and Maine and relative-in-law to the most exclusive houses of the region.
Coinciding with a renewed French attack on upper Normandy, Arthur along with many prominent knights of France and Poitou attempted to capture Eleanor of Aquitaine
as she traveled from Anjou to her chief seat at Poitiers
. Taking refuge in the castle of Mirebeau
on the road just north of Poitiers, she came under siege. William agreed to help John with the relief of the castle as long as any prisoners captured were treated within common custom. He led a large contingent of Angevin knights along with Aimery of Thouars (now returned to favor with John by the diplomacy of Eleanor of Aquitaine) in John's company, and they arrived outside the castle on the night of July 31, 1202. The Battle of Mirebeau
, fought the following day, was a decisive victory for King John in which Duke Arthur of Brittany was captured. Many of the prisoners captured were important Poitevins and Bretons that were grossly mistreated, including royal relatives like the viscount Hugh of Châtellerault and André de Chauvigny
, they were starved to death. Arthur himself disappeared in John's Norman prisons and many, including the French king, came to the conclusion that Arthur was in fact murdered by his uncle, King John.
William immediately left John's service (between the 17th and the 25th of August) and departed to the court of Juhel de Mayenne. John sent soldiers to secure Angers and Tours and revoked William's seneschalship. King John then split the office and gave the seneschalship of Anjou to Brice the Chamberlain, a mercenary in his pay. The seneschalship of Tours was given to another mercenary captain, Martin Algais. Des Roches launched an attack on Angers and captured the city on 30 October 1202. Simultaneously, Sulpice III d'Amboise captured the town, but not the citadel at Tours. In January 1203, John mustered an army at Argentan for the reconquest of his Loire provinces. John took up court in Alençon
and then Le Mans while his army was mustering. While in Le Mans he learned of the treachery of the count of Sees who had usurped authority in the town of Alençon ( a town that belonged to his grandfather, Count William Talvas
, up to 1166). Along with Count Robert of Sees rebelled Viscount Ralph of Beaumont. With two great barons of northern Maine now in the French camp, John's chances of retaining even Maine were reduced significantly. John, avoiding fortresses belonging to rebels, slowly made his way back to his army at Argentan. Alençon was offered to King Philip of France by the rebellious count in return for Philip's recognition of his comital authority over the area and possession of the family's castle at La Roche-Mabile
.
While the barons of northern Maine kept John busy, William and a league of barons from the region including Maurice III of Craon, Thibaud V of Blaison, Bernard III of La Ferte, and Juhel II of Mayenne traveled to Paris and offered their homage and fealty to King Philip of France. With this, King Philip launched his forces into Anjou to attack strongholds that still held out for John. Saumur
was captured in April 1203 and Beaufort-en-Vallée
and Châteauneuf-sur-Sarthe
fell soon thereafter. William, and his forces launched an attack on Le Mans and captured the city by about 17 May. One of John's final acts of 1203 was to bring Alençon under siege in August, he was unsuccessful in capturing the castle, and with many of his Norman castles under siege or already captured (including Vaudreuil
), he must have known that the end of Angevin rule north of the Loire was upon him.
, a castle that was granted as a dowry property of King Richard's widow, Berengaria of Navarre
. Guillaume arranged for the exchange of his lordship of Le Mans (split with the bishop and the hereditary Manceaux seneschals, the 'Mauchien' family) for Berengaria's castle which he then became lord of. The exchange was ratified by King Philip.
King Philip had conquered Normandy (receiving the surrender of Peter de Preaux
at Rouen
in April 1204. Philip had then marched through Anjou and entered Poitiers after the death of Duchess Eleanor on April 1. It was in Poitiers that Philip officially granted the hereditary seneschalship on to William. By a later charter (1206) William received custody of Angers, Loudun, Saumur, Brissac, Beaufort, and "all the land of Anjou" at the King's pleasure. The lasting settlement arranged in 1208 had King Philip retain authority in Touraine with the castles of Chinon, Bourgueil, Loudun, Saumur, and Langeais. William was granted custody of all of Anjou and Maine including the fortresses of Bauge and Chateauneuf-sur-Sarthe. In addition, William was granted the "third penny" of justice in Anjou and one mark of silver per fifty livres of demesnial revenue. He was also permitted to assign baillis to assist him, Hamelin de Roorta being the most prominent. Coincidentally, Aimery of Thouars was conferred the seneschalship of Poitou by King Philip to similar terms with exception to the added revenue. King John's senechal of Poitou for 1205 had been Savaric of Mauleon, who was limited to the Aunis coastline and later in the year the castle of Niort
.
Des Roches and Dreux of Mello, constable of France
conducted the attack in Touraine culminating with capture of John's last Angevin fortresses, Chinon and Loches. Hubert de Burgh, John's castellan of both locations was forced to surrender in June 1205.
In 1206, John restabilized his rule in Poitou, Guienne, and Gascony, driving Castilian
forces from Bourg
, Bayonne
, and Dax
. Leading barons of Poitou preferred the absentee rule of King John to the more autocratic rule of King Philip, the Thouars, Mauleon, Lusignan, Parthenay, and Sugeres families all allied with King John. William set out with a force of knights to defend the Roman road connecting Tours and Poitiers. Other than a brief occupation of Angers, John was unsuccessful in making further progress north of the Loire. John departed after signing a two-year truce with King Philip that recognized the status quo. As soon as the truce was up in 1208, William and Dreux de Mello (based at Loches) collected some 300 knights and launched numerous attacks on Thouars holdings in Poitou.
heretics. He was active at the siege of Béziers
in July and Carcassonne
in August. He wouldn't again participate in the Albigensian Crusade
until 1219 at the Siege of Marmande under Prince Louis (later Louis VIII of France
, the eldest son and heir of King Philip II of France.
King John again attacked Anjou from the south during the Bouvines Campaign of 1214. John was repulsed from Nantes
but was able to enter Angers on 17 June. John moved out of the city to reduce the local forts, two succumbed quickly, but the garrison of the new fort at La Roche-aux-Moines, located just south of Angers, held out. An army of 800 knights under the command of the seneschal, Prince Louis, Amauri I de Craon, and Henri Clement, marshal of France
collected at Chinon. John was deserted by his Thouars and Lusignan allies upon hearing of the collection of so great a force. On 2 July 1214, William and Prince Louis were victorious at the Battle of La Roche-aux-Moines and forced John to retreat clear to La Rochelle
.
The seneschal died in 1222 and his eldest daughter, Jeanne brought the Sable barony and the hereditary seneschalship to her husband, Amauri de Craon.
Seneschal of Anjou
A seneschal was an officer of an aristocratic household assigned to manage the domestic affairs of the lord...
, was a knight in the service of the Angevin
House of Plantagenet
The House of Plantagenet , a branch of the Angevins, was a royal house founded by Geoffrey V of Anjou, father of Henry II of England. Plantagenet kings first ruled the Kingdom of England in the 12th century. Their paternal ancestors originated in the French province of Gâtinais and gained the...
Kings of England, and King Philip II of France
Philip II of France
Philip II Augustus was the King of France from 1180 until his death. A member of the House of Capet, Philip Augustus was born at Gonesse in the Val-d'Oise, the son of Louis VII and his third wife, Adela of Champagne...
after 1202. Guillaume was born somewhere in Anjou, most likely at Longué-Jumelles
Longué-Jumelles
Longué-Jumelles is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France....
.
Early life and career
William des Roches early in his life had been a mesnie knight of King Henry II of EnglandHenry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...
. During the rebellion of 1189, Richard of Poitou (later Richard I of England
Richard I of England
Richard I was King of England from 6 July 1189 until his death. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Count of Nantes, and Overlord of Brittany at various times during the same period...
) and King Philip II of France
Philip II of France
Philip II Augustus was the King of France from 1180 until his death. A member of the House of Capet, Philip Augustus was born at Gonesse in the Val-d'Oise, the son of Louis VII and his third wife, Adela of Champagne...
attacked the ageing king of England in the city of his birth, Le Mans
Le Mans
Le Mans is a city in France, located on the Sarthe River. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Mans. Le Mans is a part of the Pays de la Loire region.Its inhabitants are called Manceaux...
. Guillaume had participated in the defense of Le Mans in the company of such knights as William Marshal and Gerard Talbot and was with King Henry when he was forced to flee the city. According to "The History of William the Marshal", des Roches rode in the vanguard of the retreating royal force. He wheeled around with William Marshal and engaged Count Richard's vanguard where he successfully charged and knocked Philip de Colombiers off of his horse.
After the death of King Henry, Guillaume enrolled in the royal mesnie of Richard, now King of England, Duke of Normandy
Duke of Normandy
The Duke of Normandy is the title of the reigning monarch of the British Crown Dependancies of the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey. The title traces its roots to the Duchy of Normandy . Whether the reigning sovereign is a male or female, they are always titled as the "Duke of...
and Aquitaine
Aquitaine
Aquitaine , archaic Guyenne/Guienne , is one of the 27 regions of France, in the south-western part of metropolitan France, along the Atlantic Ocean and the Pyrenees mountain range on the border with Spain. It comprises the 5 departments of Dordogne, :Lot et Garonne, :Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Landes...
and Count of Anjou. William was a trusted confidant of King Richard, and during the Third Crusade
Third Crusade
The Third Crusade , also known as the Kings' Crusade, was an attempt by European leaders to reconquer the Holy Land from Saladin...
he was involved in the conquest of Sicily, the Siege of Acre, the Battle of Arsuf
Battle of Arsuf
The Battle of Arsuf was a battle of the Third Crusade in which Richard I of England defeated Saladin at Arsuf. Following a series of harassing attacks by Saladin's forces, battle was joined on the morning of 7 September 1191...
, and the Battle of Jaffa
Battle of Jaffa
The Battle of Jaffa took place during the Crusades, as one of a series of campaigns between Saladin's army and the forces of King Richard the Lionheart. It was the final battle of the Third Crusade, after which Saladin and King Richard were able to negotiate a truce...
. In 1192, he was sent with Pierre de Preaux and Gerard de Fournival as part of a deputation to obtain safe conducts for the crusading host to enter Jerusalem and its environs. William remained a steadfast adherent to Richard in his wars with King Philip of France from 1194–1199 and it may have been at this time that he was arranged to be married to Marguerite
Marguerite de Sablé
Marguerite de Sablé, Dame de Sablé , was a French noblewoman and one of the wealthiest heiresses in the counties of Anjou and Maine...
, the daughter and heiress of Robert de Sablé
Robert de Sablé
Robert de Sablé was the Grand Master of the Knights Templar from 1191 to 1193 and Lord of Cyprus from 1191 to 1192.- Personal life :No exact record of his birth date exists, but it is believed he was relatively old at the time of his death. He was born to a respected military family in Anjou and...
.
Angevin Civil War
At the death of Richard at Chalus in April 1199, the Angevin kingship faced a serious succession dispute between Prince John of EnglandJohn of England
John , also known as John Lackland , was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death...
, brother of King Richard, and Arthur of Brittany, Richard's nephew. The leaders of England, Normandy, and Poitou sided with John, while the barons of Anjou and Brittany chose Arthur according to their customs of succession. William, then at Le Mans, threw in his support for Arthur along with a very powerful group of Manceaux and Angevin barons, including Juhel II of Mayenne and his mother Isabella of Meulan. Des Roches became Arthur's seneschal of Anjou
Seneschal of Anjou
A seneschal was an officer of an aristocratic household assigned to manage the domestic affairs of the lord...
and was entrusted with the defense of Le Mans. The city of Tours
Tours
Tours is a city in central France, the capital of the Indre-et-Loire department.It is located on the lower reaches of the river Loire, between Orléans and the Atlantic coast. Touraine, the region around Tours, is known for its wines, the alleged perfection of its local spoken French, and for the...
was surrendered to Arthur and Eleanor, duchess of Aquitaine and queen-mother of England. In addition, she was Arthur's grandmother. She sent a force under Viscount Aimery VII of Thouars, John's newly appointed seneschal of Anjou (replacing Robert of Turnham), Hugh IX of Lusignan
Hugh IX of Lusignan
Hugh IX the Brown of Lusignan was the grandson of Hugh VIII. His father, also Hugh , was the co-seigneur of Lusignan from 1164, marrying a woman named Orengarde before 1162 or about 1167 and dying in 1169...
, and his brother Ralph of Exoudun, count of Eu. Eleanor's force was successful in entering the suburbs of Tours, but was driven back by King Philip II of France
Philip II of France
Philip II Augustus was the King of France from 1180 until his death. A member of the House of Capet, Philip Augustus was born at Gonesse in the Val-d'Oise, the son of Louis VII and his third wife, Adela of Champagne...
who had himself chosen Arthur as Richard's rightful successor.
In May 1199, King Philip of France met with William des Roches at Le Mans and together they attacked the border fortress of Ballon
Ballon
-Places:* Ballon, County Carlow , a village in Ireland* Grand Ballon, the apex of the Vosges Mountains in France-Other:* Ballon , the appearance of being lightweight and light-footed while jumping...
, the fortress was surrendered by Geoffrey de Brûlon, the castellan, but not before being demolished. A quarrel ensued between King Philip and William over the lordship of the site. William was adamant that Ballon belonged rightfully to Duke Arthur, while King Philip wished to retain it as his own.
In June 1199, King John of England
John of England
John , also known as John Lackland , was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death...
launched a massive attack into Northern Maine from Argentan
Argentan
Argentan is a commune, and the seat of two cantons and of an arrondissement in the Orne department in north-western France.Argentan is located NE of Rennes, ENE of the Mont Saint-Michel, SE of Cherbourg, SSE of Caen, SW of Rouen and N of Le Mans....
. On 13 September he was successful in repulsing King Philip from the fortress of Lavardin
Lavardin, Loir-et-Cher
Lavardin is a commune in the Loir-et-Cher department of central France.It is located on the banks of the Loir River.Its inhabitants are called Lavardinoises and Lavardinois....
which protected the route from Le Mans to Tours. Arthur's supporters were forced to come to terms with John, and William met with the English king at Bourg-le-Roi
Bourg-le-Roi
Bourg-le-Roi is a commune in the Sarthe department in the region of Pays-de-la-Loire in north-western France.-References:*...
, a fortress of the pro-John viscounts of Beaumont-en-Maine on or about 18 September. John convinced William that Arthur of Brittany was being used solely as tool of Capetian strategy and managed to convince him to switch sides. With this, John promised him the seneschalship of Anjou. During the night, John's incumbent seneschal, Viscount Aimery, took Arthur and Constance and fled the court. They fled first to Angers
Angers
Angers is the main city in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France about south-west of Paris. Angers is located in the French region known by its pre-revolutionary, provincial name, Anjou, and its inhabitants are called Angevins....
, then to the court of King Philip. King John officially designated William seneschal of Anjou in December 1199 and entered Angers triumphantly on 24 June 1200.
During the summer of 1201, William married Marguerite de Sablé
Marguerite de Sablé
Marguerite de Sablé, Dame de Sablé , was a French noblewoman and one of the wealthiest heiresses in the counties of Anjou and Maine...
. With this marriage came a vast landholding that included Sablé, La Suze, Briollay, Maiet, Loupelandé, Genneteil, Precigné, and the Norman manor of Agon (which was held of the lord of Mayenne). William had become overnight one of the greatest barons of Anjou and Maine and relative-in-law to the most exclusive houses of the region.
Coinciding with a renewed French attack on upper Normandy, Arthur along with many prominent knights of France and Poitou attempted to capture Eleanor of Aquitaine
Eleanor of Aquitaine
Eleanor of Aquitaine was one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in Western Europe during the High Middle Ages. As well as being Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right, she was queen consort of France and of England...
as she traveled from Anjou to her chief seat at Poitiers
Poitiers
Poitiers is a city on the Clain river in west central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and of the Poitou-Charentes region. The centre is picturesque and its streets are interesting for predominant remains of historical architecture, especially from the Romanesque...
. Taking refuge in the castle of Mirebeau
Mirebeau
Mirebeau is a commune in the Vienne department in the Poitou-Charentes region in western France.-Demographics:-Twin towns:*Bassemyam, Burkina Faso*Membrilla, Spain*Regen, Germany*Saint-raymond, Quebec...
on the road just north of Poitiers, she came under siege. William agreed to help John with the relief of the castle as long as any prisoners captured were treated within common custom. He led a large contingent of Angevin knights along with Aimery of Thouars (now returned to favor with John by the diplomacy of Eleanor of Aquitaine) in John's company, and they arrived outside the castle on the night of July 31, 1202. The Battle of Mirebeau
Battle of Mirebeau
The Battle of Mirebeau was a three-sided battle between the House of Lusignan-Breton alliance, the Kingdom of England, and the Kingdom of France...
, fought the following day, was a decisive victory for King John in which Duke Arthur of Brittany was captured. Many of the prisoners captured were important Poitevins and Bretons that were grossly mistreated, including royal relatives like the viscount Hugh of Châtellerault and André de Chauvigny
André de Chauvigny
Andre de Chauvigny was a Poitevin knight in the service of Richard I of England. He was the second son of Pierre-Hélie of Chauvigny and Haois of Châtellerault. Haois was the great-aunt of King Richard making Andrew and Richard relatives.-Richard the Lion-Hearted:Pierre-Hélie served the bishops of...
, they were starved to death. Arthur himself disappeared in John's Norman prisons and many, including the French king, came to the conclusion that Arthur was in fact murdered by his uncle, King John.
William immediately left John's service (between the 17th and the 25th of August) and departed to the court of Juhel de Mayenne. John sent soldiers to secure Angers and Tours and revoked William's seneschalship. King John then split the office and gave the seneschalship of Anjou to Brice the Chamberlain, a mercenary in his pay. The seneschalship of Tours was given to another mercenary captain, Martin Algais. Des Roches launched an attack on Angers and captured the city on 30 October 1202. Simultaneously, Sulpice III d'Amboise captured the town, but not the citadel at Tours. In January 1203, John mustered an army at Argentan for the reconquest of his Loire provinces. John took up court in Alençon
Alençon
Alençon is a commune in Normandy, France, capital of the Orne department. It is situated west of Paris. Alençon belongs to the intercommunality of Alençon .-History:...
and then Le Mans while his army was mustering. While in Le Mans he learned of the treachery of the count of Sees who had usurped authority in the town of Alençon ( a town that belonged to his grandfather, Count William Talvas
William III of Ponthieu
William III of Ponthieu was son of Robert II of Bellême and Agnes of Ponthieu. He is also called William Talvas....
, up to 1166). Along with Count Robert of Sees rebelled Viscount Ralph of Beaumont. With two great barons of northern Maine now in the French camp, John's chances of retaining even Maine were reduced significantly. John, avoiding fortresses belonging to rebels, slowly made his way back to his army at Argentan. Alençon was offered to King Philip of France by the rebellious count in return for Philip's recognition of his comital authority over the area and possession of the family's castle at La Roche-Mabile
La Roche-Mabile
La Roche-Mabile is a commune in the Orne department in north-western France....
.
While the barons of northern Maine kept John busy, William and a league of barons from the region including Maurice III of Craon, Thibaud V of Blaison, Bernard III of La Ferte, and Juhel II of Mayenne traveled to Paris and offered their homage and fealty to King Philip of France. With this, King Philip launched his forces into Anjou to attack strongholds that still held out for John. Saumur
Saumur
Saumur is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France.The historic town is located between the Loire and Thouet rivers, and is surrounded by the vineyards of Saumur itself, Chinon, Bourgueil, Coteaux du Layon, etc...
was captured in April 1203 and Beaufort-en-Vallée
Beaufort-en-Vallée
Beaufort-en-Vallée is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France....
and Châteauneuf-sur-Sarthe
Châteauneuf-sur-Sarthe
Châteauneuf-sur-Sarthe is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department of western France. It is approx. 175 miles from Paris. It had a population of 2,656 according to 2006 statistics...
fell soon thereafter. William, and his forces launched an attack on Le Mans and captured the city by about 17 May. One of John's final acts of 1203 was to bring Alençon under siege in August, he was unsuccessful in capturing the castle, and with many of his Norman castles under siege or already captured (including Vaudreuil
Vaudreuil
-Places:Canada* Vaudreuil-Dorion, a city located west of Montreal, Quebec* Terrasse-Vaudreuil, Quebec, a small Quebec municipality located near Montreal* Vaudreuil-Soulanges Regional County Municipality, Quebec...
), he must have known that the end of Angevin rule north of the Loire was upon him.
King Philip triumphant
William's family had originated from the lesser aristocracy, knights from Chateau-du-LoirChâteau-du-Loir
Château-du-Loir is a commune in the Sarthe department in the Pays de la Loire region in north-western France.-References:*...
, a castle that was granted as a dowry property of King Richard's widow, Berengaria of Navarre
Berengaria of Navarre
Berengaria of Navarre was Queen of the English as the wife of King Richard I of England. She was the eldest daughter of King Sancho VI of Navarre and Sancha of Castile. As is the case with many of the medieval queens consort of the Kingdom of England, relatively little is known of her life...
. Guillaume arranged for the exchange of his lordship of Le Mans (split with the bishop and the hereditary Manceaux seneschals, the 'Mauchien' family) for Berengaria's castle which he then became lord of. The exchange was ratified by King Philip.
King Philip had conquered Normandy (receiving the surrender of Peter de Preaux
Peter de Preaux
Peter de Preaux was a Norman knight in the service of the Angevin kings of England. Osbert, Peter's father, was a minor Norman baron in the Roumois . He held the tower and ville of Preaux as well as land at Darnétal. Osbert also owned a scattering of manors in England...
at Rouen
Rouen
Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...
in April 1204. Philip had then marched through Anjou and entered Poitiers after the death of Duchess Eleanor on April 1. It was in Poitiers that Philip officially granted the hereditary seneschalship on to William. By a later charter (1206) William received custody of Angers, Loudun, Saumur, Brissac, Beaufort, and "all the land of Anjou" at the King's pleasure. The lasting settlement arranged in 1208 had King Philip retain authority in Touraine with the castles of Chinon, Bourgueil, Loudun, Saumur, and Langeais. William was granted custody of all of Anjou and Maine including the fortresses of Bauge and Chateauneuf-sur-Sarthe. In addition, William was granted the "third penny" of justice in Anjou and one mark of silver per fifty livres of demesnial revenue. He was also permitted to assign baillis to assist him, Hamelin de Roorta being the most prominent. Coincidentally, Aimery of Thouars was conferred the seneschalship of Poitou by King Philip to similar terms with exception to the added revenue. King John's senechal of Poitou for 1205 had been Savaric of Mauleon, who was limited to the Aunis coastline and later in the year the castle of Niort
Niort
Niort is a commune in the Deux-Sèvres department in western France.The Latin name of the city was Novioritum.The population of Niort is 60,486 and more than 137,000 people live in the urban area....
.
Des Roches and Dreux of Mello, constable of France
Constable of France
The Constable of France , as the First Officer of the Crown, was one of the original five Great Officers of the Crown of France and Commander in Chief of the army. He, theoretically, as Lieutenant-general of the King, outranked all the nobles and was second-in-command only to the King...
conducted the attack in Touraine culminating with capture of John's last Angevin fortresses, Chinon and Loches. Hubert de Burgh, John's castellan of both locations was forced to surrender in June 1205.
In 1206, John restabilized his rule in Poitou, Guienne, and Gascony, driving Castilian
Kingdom of Castile
Kingdom of Castile was one of the medieval kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula. It emerged as a political autonomous entity in the 9th century. It was called County of Castile and was held in vassalage from the Kingdom of León. Its name comes from the host of castles constructed in the region...
forces from Bourg
Bourg
Bourg is the French rendering of the Germanic root *burgs , related to the Germanic root *bergan "to protect, shelter"; and may refer to:-In France:* Bourg, Aisne, a defunct commune in France, now part of Bourg-et-Comin* Bourg,...
, Bayonne
Bayonne
Bayonne is a city and commune in south-western France at the confluence of the Nive and Adour rivers, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, of which it is a sub-prefecture...
, and Dax
Dax, Landes
Dax is a commune in Aquitaine in south-western France, sub-prefecture of the Landes department.It is particularly famous as a spa, specialising in mud treatment for rheumatism and similar ailments....
. Leading barons of Poitou preferred the absentee rule of King John to the more autocratic rule of King Philip, the Thouars, Mauleon, Lusignan, Parthenay, and Sugeres families all allied with King John. William set out with a force of knights to defend the Roman road connecting Tours and Poitiers. Other than a brief occupation of Angers, John was unsuccessful in making further progress north of the Loire. John departed after signing a two-year truce with King Philip that recognized the status quo. As soon as the truce was up in 1208, William and Dreux de Mello (based at Loches) collected some 300 knights and launched numerous attacks on Thouars holdings in Poitou.
Albigensian Crusade and later life
William took the cross in 1209 and left Anjou to crusade in the Toulousain and Languedoc with the Eudes III of Burgundy against the CatharCathar
Catharism was a name given to a Christian religious sect with dualistic and gnostic elements that appeared in the Languedoc region of France and other parts of Europe in the 11th century and flourished in the 12th and 13th centuries...
heretics. He was active at the siege of Béziers
Béziers
Béziers is a town in Languedoc in southern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the Hérault department. Béziers hosts the famous Feria de Béziers, centred around bullfighting, every August. A million visitors are attracted to the five-day event...
in July and Carcassonne
Carcassonne
Carcassonne is a fortified French town in the Aude department, of which it is the prefecture, in the former province of Languedoc.It is divided into the fortified Cité de Carcassonne and the more expansive lower city, the ville basse. Carcassone was founded by the Visigoths in the fifth century,...
in August. He wouldn't again participate in the Albigensian Crusade
Albigensian Crusade
The Albigensian Crusade or Cathar Crusade was a 20-year military campaign initiated by the Catholic Church to eliminate Catharism in Languedoc...
until 1219 at the Siege of Marmande under Prince Louis (later Louis VIII of France
Louis VIII of France
Louis VIII the Lion reigned as King of France from 1223 to 1226. He was a member of the House of Capet. Louis VIII was born in Paris, France, the son of Philip II Augustus and Isabelle of Hainaut. He was also Count of Artois, inheriting the county from his mother, from 1190–1226...
, the eldest son and heir of King Philip II of France.
King John again attacked Anjou from the south during the Bouvines Campaign of 1214. John was repulsed from Nantes
Nantes
Nantes is a city in western France, located on the Loire River, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the 6th largest in France, while its metropolitan area ranks 8th with over 800,000 inhabitants....
but was able to enter Angers on 17 June. John moved out of the city to reduce the local forts, two succumbed quickly, but the garrison of the new fort at La Roche-aux-Moines, located just south of Angers, held out. An army of 800 knights under the command of the seneschal, Prince Louis, Amauri I de Craon, and Henri Clement, marshal of France
Marshal of France
The Marshal of France is a military distinction in contemporary France, not a military rank. It is granted to generals for exceptional achievements...
collected at Chinon. John was deserted by his Thouars and Lusignan allies upon hearing of the collection of so great a force. On 2 July 1214, William and Prince Louis were victorious at the Battle of La Roche-aux-Moines and forced John to retreat clear to La Rochelle
La Rochelle
La Rochelle is a city in western France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department.The city is connected to the Île de Ré by a bridge completed on 19 May 1988...
.
The seneschal died in 1222 and his eldest daughter, Jeanne brought the Sable barony and the hereditary seneschalship to her husband, Amauri de Craon.
See also
- List of Counts and Dukes of Anjou
- Angevin EmpireAngevin EmpireThe term Angevin Empire is a modern term describing the collection of states once ruled by the Angevin Plantagenet dynasty.The Plantagenets ruled over an area stretching from the Pyrenees to Ireland during the 12th and early 13th centuries, located north of Moorish Iberia. This "empire" extended...
- AnjouAnjouAnjou is a former county , duchy and province centred on the city of Angers in the lower Loire Valley of western France. It corresponds largely to the present-day département of Maine-et-Loire...