Summary of letters from Alix of Vergy (1212-1240)

Translated letter:

3.425, #1209, 1209 June. Alix, duchess of Burgundy, attests that she approves her husband’s gift to Citeaux of the forest of Fesc. 3.440, #1267, 1212. Alix attests that Odo, son of John of Garart and his daughters Reine and Adeline acknowledged in her presence that they gave to the abbey of Moutier St. Jean what they had at the boundary of Sincey and asked her to put her seal on the donation. 4.164, #1519, 1218, August. Alix, duchess of Burgundy, declares that John of Paques and Gillon, his eldest son, have sold to the monks of Saint-Seine half a building and domain in Val de Suzon, consisting of mills, slaughter-house and swamp, which were in the fief of the monks. 4.165, #1527, 1218, October. Alix, duchess of Burgundy, makes known the donation made by Eudes of Fouvent to the priory of Bonvaux-sous-Talant, of a house located in Dijon, on the Rennes, near the church of Saint Jean. 4.166, #1531, 1218, December. Alix, duchess of Burgundy, affirms that, at the request of the master of the Hospital of Beaune, she granted the Hospitallers of Jerusalem a market-fair every Tuesday, on the condition that they shared half the products. 4.167, #1538, 1218. Alix, duchess of Burgundy, makes known an agreement between the monks of Ogny, on one side, and William of Aignay and his wife Princha on the other, on the subject of the tithes (desdimes) of Mellecon, the lands of Monceaux, and the forest of Genevroie. H., Fulk, Andre and William, children of William d’Aignay, approve the arrangement. 4.168, #1543, 1219, (1218, February 13). Alix, duchess of Burgundy, gives confirmation of the privileges and liberties accorded by her husband to the inhabitants of the commune of Chatillon-sur-Seine. 4.168, #1544, 1219 (1218, February). Alix, duchess of Burgundy, makes known that Thibaut, knight of Colevarze, has given a third of the tillage of Louesme to the brothers of the Temple of Espailly. 4.169, #1549, 1219 (1218, March). Alice, duchess of Burgundy, makes known an agreement between the monks of the abbey of Citeaux and the men of Vergy, relating to the rights of usage in the woods of Detain and Gergeuil. 4.170, #1552, 1219 (1218, March). Alix, duchess of Burgundy, makes known that Eudes and Valon, brothers, knights of Lambre, about to depart for Jerusalem, gave the monks of Citeaux what they had at Vevre d’Izeure and at Villers, a sixth of the tithe of Meuilley. 4.171, #1556, 1219, May 31. Alix, duchess of Burgundy, declares herself ready to repair all damage which Blanche of Navarre, countess of Champagne, might endure because of the safe-conduct which she, Blanche, at the request of said Alix, accorded Peter Chaponnay, citizen of Lyon. 4.171, #1559, 1219, June. Alix, duchess of Burgundy, informs Blanche, countess of Champagne, that she has made an agreement with Pons of Chaponnay, that she received hommage from said Pons for a rent on the toll of Beaune, promised him not to arrest him, not to seize his goods, and to make sure he is freed if someone arrests him. She begs Blanche to give Pons letters of safe-conduct. 4.171-72, #1560 1219, June. Alix, duchess of Burgundy, asks Blanche of and Thibaut of Champagne to be pledges for 500 Provins pounds, owed by her to Pons de Chaponnay, and payable at the next fair/market-day of Saint-Jean de Troyes. 4.172, #1561, 1219, June. Alix, duchess of Burgundy, asks the countess of Champagne and her son to be pledges for 1000 silver marks payable by quarter in four periods and owed by her to Pons de Chaponnay. 4.173, #1570, 1219, July. Alix, duchess of Burgundy, makes known that Herve, sire of Saffres and Eguilly, for the soul of his wife Egidia and his ancestors, gives to the abbey of la Bussiere the right of pasturage in his lands. Consenting: Egidia, wife of said Herve, and his sons Guy and Herve, the other children not being of age to consent. 4.174, #1573, 1219, August. Alix, duchess of Burgundy, declares that she will examine with care and diligence the matter she has been charged with deciding between the bishop of Chalon, his lord, and the lord of Verdun, his vassal, and that she will examine the rights of each of them. 4.175-76, #1579, 1219 The duchess uses the hundred pounds given by the monks of Longuay to pay debts of duke Eudes III, her deceased husband. I, Alix, duchess of Burgundy, make known to all present and future that I have given, granted and altogether released to the church and brothers of Longuay in perpetuity whatever they had acquired from the noble man Simon lord of Chateauvillain from my fief in two towns of Dancevoir and in all the appurtenances of those towns in all their uses. Because of which he had from said brothers a hundred Provins pounds, which I paid to Colin of Chatillon, then provost of Auxerre, for the debt of my husband Eudes/Odo, duke of Burgundy. And this was done for the advantage of my son Hugh. Which, that it remain stable and firm, I enforced the present charter with the protection of my seal. Enacted in the 1219th year of the Lord. 4.176, #1580, 1219, November. Alix, duchess of Burgundy, declares that having received from the brothers and monks of Longuay the sum of a hundred pounds, she gives them what they have acquired on her fief from Simon of Chateauvillain, and two villages of Dancevoir; she promises to give surety for it or to give back the money. 4.176, #1582, 1219, December. Alix, duchess of Burgundy, declares that she has given to Pons of Chaponnay a safe-conduct to go to Chalon-sur-Saone and from there to reach Champagne. This safe-conduct will be in force until the middle of Lent. 4.176, #1583, 1219, December. Alix, duchess of Burgundy, asks Blanche, countess of Champagne, to grant Pons de Chaponnay a similar safe-conduct. 4.177, #1587, 1219, December. Arrangement between the duchess and the bishop of Chalon on the subject of tolls on the domains that were common to them. For the bishop, arbitors were the abbot of Tournus or the archdeacon of Autun; for the duchess, Clarembald of Chappes or Lambert of Chatillon. 4.178, #1590, 1219. Alix, duchess of Burgundy, declares that she has used one hundred pounds in payment of a sum owed to Colin of Chatillon, provost of Auxerre, by her husband, Eudes, duke of Burgundy. 4.181, #1605, 1220 (1219, March). Alix, duchess of Burgundy, makes known an agreement between the monks of Citeaux and William of Franxault, relating to the territory of Latrecey, whose limits, contested by the two sides, had been determined according to a previous arbitrage. William of Franxault, his wife Sara, and their son Simon give their consent to this agreement. 4.182, #1611, 1220, April. Alix, duchess of Burgundy, makes known that Aimon of Rochefort has given to the Templars of Bissey-la-Cote a mill located above that of the Templars of Thoires, on the condition that a perpetual rent will be paid to said Aymon and his heirs. 4,183, #1612, 1220, April. Alix, duchess of Burgundy, having obtained the freeing of Evrard, knight of her marshal, long held in prison by Blanche, countess of Champagne, as an accomplice of the robbing of certain townsmen, promises that there will be no reprisal for the captivity of Evrard. 4.185, #1627, 1220, August. Alix, duchess of Burgundy, declares that duke Eudes, her husband, had enjoined on his death that e inhabitants of Dijon, she undertook to respect their privileges. 4.188, #1640, 1220. Alix, duchess of Burgundy, grants the chapter of St. Vincent of Chalon all the goods she had acquired from William of Lessart, in consideration of the reimbursement of thirty Dijon pounds. 4.188, #1643, 1220. Alix, duchess of Burgundy, records that Eudes, duke of Burgundy, formerly her husband, gave the Templars of Bure two measure of wheat on the tithes of Beaunotte and Aignay, to be taken annually; the Templars in exchange gave the duke the men they had at Toire, two families they had at Marolle and the men and women they had at the parish of Saint-Phal, two men at Nod. The duke at his death, for the repose of his soul, restored to the monks of Puits d’Orbe the wheat he gave to the Templars at Aignay and Beaunotte. 4.193, #1664, 1221, July. Alix, duchess of Burgundy, makes known an agreement between the monks of Citeaux and Eudes of Marigny, in relation to the moats of the mill of Saulon-la-Chapelle, and she has her seal appended to the agreement. 4.195, #1670, 1221, August. Letter of Alix, duchess of Burgundy, in which the brothers of the troop of the Temple in France acknowledge themselves debtors for the rent which Eudes, duke of Burgundy, had given to the brothers of Val des Choux at Louesme. The dukes of Burgundy will have the right to seize and take into their hands the lands of Louesme, Bissey, Epailly in case of default of payment. 4.201, #1714, 1222, April. Alix, duchess of Burgundy, owing 500 pounds to merchants of Sienna, gives as her surety Thibaut count of Champagne to whom she promises total indemnity for harm caused. 4.201-2, #1715, 1222. Alix, duchess of Burgundy, borrows 11,720 pounds from the merchants of Sienna for affairs of the duchy and promises to pay it back at the fairs of Bar and Provins. If she does not pay, Milo of Noyers promises to render himself hostage at Troyes. If imprisoned he would not leave without their consent or if he left he would submit to excommunication by the bishop of Langres, along with his wife and all his family. 4.202, #1718, 1222, June. Alix, duchess of Burgundy, testifies to the monks of Citeaux that Steven, brother of William, lord of Marigny, acknowledged that he had given said duchess the rights which he possessed in Grangeneuve, sold to her by William. 4.203, #1722, 1222, September. Alix, duchess of Burgundy, makes known that Salamine, Jew of Dijon, declared that the abbey of Saint-Benigne was cleared towards him of all it had previously owed him. 4.204, #1726, 1222. Alix, duchess of Burgundy, declares that since Eudes duke of Burgundy of good memory, her lord and husband, gave the brothers of Val des Choux two hogsheads of wheat from the tithes of Aignay, which were then in his hands, in place of the 20 Dijon pounds that he had given them in alms from the toll of Chatillon, and which the abbey of Puits d’Orbe had since claimed; the duchess in exchange cedes the thirds of Aignay to the Val des Choux, which is done with the approval of the venerable William, bishop of Reims, and Robert, bishop of Clermont, executors of the will of her husband the deceased duke. 4.205, #1735, 1223 (1222, January 14) Alix, duchess of Burgundy, puts her seal on an agreement between the monks of Citeaux and Pons of Blaisy, in relation to their ponds and pastures at Corcelles, an agreement approved by Guy, father of Pons, and by his older brother Guy de Blaisy. Pons promises to have it ratified by his wife and by his other brother Garnier, and by Nivard, cleric, also his brother, by Alix, wife of Garnier, which was indeed executed on this latter date of January 14. 4.205, #1736, 1223 (1222, January) Alix, duchess of Burgundy, attests that Guy, lord of Saulx and Damerous, his sister, widow of William of Chateauneuf, have made an agreement. The lord of Saulx cedes all he had at Villeconte and within the boundary, with the exception of the fiefs of the lord of Saulx held by Guy of Villeconte and Otto of Saffres and Richard of Frites. Approval of Bartholomew, son of Guy, lord of Saulx, and his other children. Approval of Damerons and of her children. 4.209, #1759, 1223 [Duchesne, Maison de Vergy, preuves, 180-81, Garnier, Chartes de communes, 1.582] Alix, duchess of Burgundy, attests that William of Vergy, her brother, senechal of Burgundy and lord of Mirebeau, agreed to a charter of freeing by mortmain of her men, for which she gives surety for the execution of the clauses contained within it. 4.209, #1760, 1223 Alix, duchess of Burgundy, makes known that Guy Bressons, townsman of Beaune, with the consent of his wife and his children , has given to Saint-Etienne of Beaune fiften n Dijon pounds on the goods of Beaune for the prebend of a priest. Equestrian seal of the duchess holding a bird on her fist. 4.217, #1799, 1224 Alix, duchess of Burgundy, declares that she has seen a charter of settlement between the monks of Clairvaux and the men of Mouceons, on the subject of the woods of Champigny-la-Ville and the grange of Champigny, which charter had been given this same year by Hugh [of Montreal], bishop of Langres. 4.218, #1802, 1224 Alix, duchess of Burgundy, makes known an agreement between the monks of Saint-Seine and Garner of Blaisy over the pastures of Ancy, Beaune, and Panges. It regulates the conditions of cultivation of lands, cutting of woods, etc. 4.221, #1821, 1225 Alix, duchess of Burgundy, makes known that Humbert of Argilly, formerly her chamberlain, “camerarius meus,” and his wife Parisie have given to the abbey of Citeaux lands and fields. This was approved by his son Philip, the duchess’s then chamberlain, by Chaulart, priest, and by Eudes the young, and the nephews of said Humbert, Renaud, provost of Argilly and Simon, brother of the latter. 4.228, #1864, 1227, June Alix, duchess of Burgundy, and her son little Hugh, “Hugoninus,” duke of Burgundy, receive the receipt from Andre’, dauphin of Viennois, for money from the sale of domains bought from the latter at Chalon-sur-Saone and at Beaune. 4.231, #1873, 1227, July [Garnier, Chartes de communes, 2.7; Ordon. des rois de France, 5.336] Alix, duchess and regent of Burgundy, approves and ratifies the charter of the freeing of her men from the castle of Saint-Jean-de-Losne, conforming to that of the inhabitants of Talant, agreed to previously by duke Eudes III, her husband.

Historical context:

These are summaries of extant documents provided by E.Petit de Vaisette. I have not been able to see the originals.

Printed source:

E. Petit, Histoire Generale des Ducs de Bourgogne de la race Capétienne (Dijon: Darentiere, 1885-1905), 6v., vv.3, 4.

Date:

1212-1245