A letter from Blanche of Navarre, Countess of Champagne (1210, September)

Translated letter:

Blanche, palatine countess of Troyes, to all to whom these letters come, greetings. You should know that I granted to my dearest lord Philip, illustrious king of France, that I would receive no man or woman from his demesnes or wards or communes or free towns, or the towns in which he has his prises, into my demesnes or wards or communes of free towns, or in the towns in which I have my prises, until my son Theobald is twenty one. Indeed those men who are under me, in the year of the Lord 1209, in the month of September, on the third day of that month, will have all their holdings which are under me until my said son completes his twenty-first year. When he completes the twenty-first year, if he asks the lord king his right to be shown him on this in the court of the lord king, the lord king will be held to do right to him on it. Said men indeed could not return to reside in my land which they had left before my said son is twenty-one. Enacted at Melun in the year of the Lord 1210, in the month of September.

Original letter:

Blancha comitissa Trecensis palatina universis, ad quos presentes littere pervenerint, salutem. Noveritis quod ego creantavi karissimo domino meo Philippo, illustri Francie regi, quod nullum hominem sive feminam, qui sit de domaniis aut de custodiis aut de communiis sive franchis villis suis, aut de villis in quibus habet prisias suas, recipiam in domaniis aut in custodiis aut in communiis sive in franchis villis meis, aut in villis in quibus habeo prisias meas, quousque Theobaldus filius meus habeat viginti et unum annum. — Illi autem homines, qui erant sub me, anno Domini Mo CCo nono, mense septembri, tercia die ejusdem mensis, habebunt omnia tenementa sua que sub me sunt, quousque dictus filius meus vicesimum primum annum impleverit. — Cum autem impleverit vicesimum primum annum, si ipse dominum regem requisierit de jure sibi super hoc exhibendo in curia domini regis, dominus rex tenetur ei exinde jus facere. — Homines vero predicti non poterunt reverti ad residendum in terra mea, de qua recesserunt, antequam dictus filius meus habeat viginti et unum annum. Actum Meleduni, anno Domini MoCCo decimo, mense septembri.

Historical context:

The countess registers an agreement with the king that she would not receive his men in her holdings before her son's twenty-first birthday. The entry following this in the Layettes (1.357, #940) is a summary of a letter in which the countess repeats the content of this one and adds a mention of the men in chapters and monasteries of the king: Blanchae comitissae Trecensis, de hominibus et feminis domini regis nec recipiendis nec retinendis litterae, ejusdem formae ac praecedentes sed in quibus additur mentio de hominibus capitulorum et abbatiarum quae sunt de domanio dicti regis. “Actum anno gratie millesimo ducentesimo decimo, mense septembri.”

Printed source:

Layettes du Tresor des Chartes, ed. A. Teulet (Paris: Henri Plon, 1863), 1.356-57, #939.

Date:

1210, September