Power and Border Lordship in Medieval France: The County of the Perche, 1000-1226

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Boydell & Brewer Ltd, 2002 - History - 225 pages
This is the first modern account to describe 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.
 

Contents

The SeineLoire basin
10
The Perche
14
The Perche in the making 10001100
28
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

Geoffrey III 11911202
115
The Perche in the kingdom of France 12021226
145
The house of Dreux and its relation to the house of Rotrou
148

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