Power and Border Lordship in Medieval France: The County of the Perche, 1000-1226This is the first modern account of the emergence of the northern French county of the Perche, and the rise of a relatively minor noble family from obscure origins to princely power. The Rotrou family ruled the Perche from around the year 1000 until 1226. They took part in many of the most famous military engagements of the middle ages, from the Norman Conquest of England in 1066 to the recovery of territory from the Muslims in twelfth-century Spain. Their involvement in crusading initiatives was told in the popular poetry of the day, and they came to number the kings of France, England, Aragon and Sicily, as well as the Holy Roman Emperor, among their kinsmen. This narrative explains the family's transformation and consolidation of its position in the context of a vibrant and expanding society in the years after 1000, looking at their territorial ambitions, construction of a feudal clientele and operation of lordship through female family. Dr KATHLEEN THOMPSON is Honorary Research Fellow, University of Sheffield. |
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Contents
The SeineLoire basin | 18 |
The Perche in the making 10001100 | 28 |
The Perche 14 | 38 |
List of Figures | 51 |
Rotrou the Great 10991144 | 54 |
Rotrou the Less 11441191 | 86 |
The inlaws of Rotrou III count of the Perche | 95 |
The family relationship between Geoffrey of the Perche | 110 |
The Rotrou counts and England 11001226 | 164 |
The English connections of Countess Hawise | 168 |
The accumulation of Henry of Essexs lands | 172 |
Conclusion | 190 |
De Romanets | 195 |
hypothesis 2 | 196 |
De Romanets reconstruction | 197 |
hypothesis 2 | 198 |
Common terms and phrases
abbey Aldbourne Angevin Anglo-Norman Anjou attested Belleme benefactions bishop Blois brother cant Capetian Cartulaire Cartulary castle Chaources Chartres Chateaudun Chronica Clairets Cluniac CMPerche comital confirmation Count Geoffrey Count Rotrou Count Theobald Countess counts of Blois counts of Blois/Chartres court cousin crusading daughter death duke eleventh century England Essex Eure-et-Loir family's father favour foundation French Fulk Geoffrey's Gouet Grandmontine grant Hawise Henry's Hugh Huisne John's King Henry king of France King Philip King Richard king's l'abbaye L'Aigle La Trappe lands lords Louis Marchainville marriage Matilda monks Mortagne Moulins-la-Marche Nogent Nogent-le-Rotrou Norman Normandy Orderic Vitalis Orne Paris patronage Percheron Perseigne Philip Augustus pipe roll Plantagenet priory Recueil Remalard Robert of Torigni Roger of Howden Rotrou family Rotrou lineage royal Saint-Denis Saint-Evroul Stephen suggests surviving territory Thibaudian Thomas's Tiron Trappe twelfth century uncle Val Dieu Viscount Geoffrey Wanborough wife William Wiltshire