A letter from William of Dampierre

Translated letter:

To his revered and dearest lady Blanche, illustrious countess palatine of Champagne, William of Dampierre, her faithful, [sends] greetings and ready service in all things with honor and reverence.  You should know that I give and grant to my dearest lady and mother the viscounty of Troyes, and I invest her with it and uninvest myself for the money which I had assigned/promised her and owed each year according to the form of agreement which was drawn up and decided by us/before you,* on such condition that said lady, my mother, will possess said viscounty as long as she lives.  After she is no longer alive, said viscounty will revert to me or to my heirs, whole, unencumbered, and absolute.  Thus it is that I inform you and ask that you invest her with said viscounty and put that in the posession quietly and peacefully of that lady, my mother, or of her envoy.  Enacted in the year of the Lord, 1219, in the month of May.

Original letter:

Reverende ac karissime domine sue Blanche illustri comitisse Campanie pala­tine, Guillermus de Dampetra fidelis suus salutem, et paratum in omnibus cum honore et reverentia famulatum. Noveritis quod ego reddo et concedo karissme domine et matri mee vicecomitatum Trecensem, et eamdem de eo investio et me deinvestio pro denariis quos eidem assignaveram et debebam singulis annis secundum formam compositionis que fuit tractata et diffinita coram nobis/vobis,* tali siquidem conditione quod dicta domina et mater mea possidebit dictum vice­comitatum quamdiu tenebit terram. Postquam vero terram non teneret, dictus vicecomitatus revertetur ad me vel ad heredes meos integer, immunis et absolutus. Inde est quod vobis mando et vos rogo quatinus eandem super dicto vicecomitatu investiatis et faciatis illum ab eadem domina et matre mea vel a mandato suo quiete et pacifice possideri. Actum anno Domini M CC XIX, mense mayo. 

Historical context:

William of Dampierre informs the countess that he gave his mother the viscounty of Troyes to repay a debt.

Scholarly notes:

* There are different readings for this pronoun, according to Evergates:  vobis in the cartulary and in CR7, copied from the original document, nobis in CR6.  Vobis would mean that the matter was resolved in front of Blanche, nobis that it was resolved between themselves earlier.  Within the context of the document Evergates suggests:  "my mother and I resolved the matter between us, and now ask you to divest and invest the viscounty."

Printed source:

The Cartulary of Countess Blanche of Champagne, edited by Theodore Evergates, © The Medieval Academy of America 2010 (University of Toronto Press, 2009), 189, #194.  Reprinted with permission of the press.

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