Guy IV (c. 1197 – 1226) of the

House of Châtillon The House of Châtillon was a notable French family, with origins in the 9th century. The name comes from that of Châtillon-sur-Marne in Champagne, where members of the family were tenants in a castle belonging to the Counts of Champagne. Gauch ...

was the ''

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

count of Saint-Pol The county of Saint-Pol (or ''Sint-Pols'') was a county around the French city of Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise (''Sint-Pols-aan-de-Ternas'') on the border of Artois and Picardy, formerly the county of Ternois. For a long time the county belonged to Fla ...

as Guy II''L'Art de vérifier les dates'', vol. 3 (Paris, 1818)
pp. 309–310
from 1219/1223 until his death. SiegeAvignon1226

Born around 1197, Guy was the eldest son of

Walter III of Châtillon Walter III of Châtillon (french: Gaucher III de Châtillon ; la, Gualcherius de Castellione) was a French knight and Lord of Châtillon, Montjay, Troissy, Crécy et Pierrefonds until his death in 1219. With his marriage, he became Count of ...

and

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

, heiress of Saint-Pol. Upon his father's death in 1219, he inherited the castle of Montjay-la-Tour and the county of Saint-Pol, although his mother retained the right of residence for life. His younger brother,

Hugh Hugh may refer to: *Hugh (given name) Noblemen and clergy French * Hugh the Great (died 956), Duke of the Franks * Hugh Magnus of France (1007–1025), co-King of France under his father, Robert II * Hugh, Duke of Alsace (died 895), modern-day ...

, inherited Châtillon, Crécy and the butlership of the

county of Champagne The County of Champagne ( la, Comitatus Campaniensis; fro, Conté de Champaigne), or County of Champagne and Brie (region), Brie, was a historic territory and Feudalism, feudal principality in France descended from the early medieval kingdom of ...

. Guy and Hugh consented to their father placing his lands under the guardianship of Philip of Nanteuil, his executor. In a sign of his father's wealth and prestige, Guy made a very advantageous marriage. In 1221, he married

Agnes of Donzy Agnes or Agness may refer to: People * Agnes (name), the given name, and a list of people named Agnes or Agness * Wilfrid Marcel Agnès (1920–2008), Canadian diplomat Places *Agnes, Georgia, United States, a ghost town * Agnes, Missouri, Unite ...

, daughter of

Hervé IV of Donzy Hervé IV of Donzy (1173– 22 January 1222) was a French nobleman and participant in the Fifth Crusade. By marriage in 1200 to Mahaut de Courtenay (1188–1257), daughter of Peter II of Courtenay, he became Count of Nevers. In a dispute over the ...

, who had been betrothed to Philip, eldest son of the future King

Louis VIII Louis VIII (5 September 1187 – 8 November 1226), nicknamed The Lion (french: Le Lion), was King of France from 1223 to 1226. As prince, he invaded England on 21 May 1216 and was excommunicated by a papal legate on 29 May 1216. On 2 June 1216 ...

, until his premature death in 1218. She was supposed to then marry the future

Louis IX Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), commonly known as Saint Louis or Louis the Saint, was King of France from 1226 to 1270, and the most illustrious of the Direct Capetians. He was crowned in Reims at the age of 12, following the d ...

, but this marriage never took place. Her marriage to Guy was challenged as

consanguineous Consanguinity ("blood relation", from Latin '' consanguinitas'') is the characteristic of having a kinship with another person (being descended from a common ancestor). Many jurisdictions have laws prohibiting people who are related by blood fro ...

, but the couple received a

papal dispensation In the jurisprudence of the canon law of the Catholic Church, a dispensation is the exemption from the immediate obligation of law in certain cases.The Law of Christ Vol. I, pg. 284 Its object is to modify the hardship often arising from the ...

. Before the marriage, Guy and Hugh signed an agreement with reigning King

Philip II Philip II may refer to: * Philip II of Macedon (382–336 BC) * Philip II (emperor) (238–249), Roman emperor * Philip II, Prince of Taranto (1329–1374) * Philip II, Duke of Burgundy (1342–1404) * Philip II, Duke of Savoy (1438-1497) * Philip ...

whereby they ceded him their joint lordship of

Pont-Sainte-Maxence Pont-Sainte-Maxence () is a commune in the Oise department in northern France, in the region of Hauts-de-France. It is named after Saint Maxentia of Beauvais, whose relics were taken here. Pont-Sainte-Maxence station has rail connections to Sa ...

and he ceded them the

right of redemption The right of redemption, in the law of real property, is the right of a debtor whose real property has been foreclosed upon and sold to reclaim that property if they are able to come up with the money to repay the amount of the debt. Most U.S. state ...

over Nevers, which had thitherto required a new count of Nevers to pay the king at his accession. In 1223, Elizabeth ceded control of Saint-Pol to Guy, although the exact terms of this cession are unclear. She continued to be called countess while Guy preferred to call himself "son of the count of Saint-Pol". In 1224, he and his brother were forced by Count

Theobald IV of Champagne Theobald I (french: Thibaut, es, Teobaldo; 30 May 1201 – 8 July 1253), also called the Troubadour and the Posthumous, was Count of Champagne (as Theobald IV) from birth and King of Navarre from 1234. He initiated the Barons' Crusade, was famous ...

to make all their castles renderable, that is, liable to be made available as needed to Theobald as their feudal lord. Guy attended Theobald's Christmas court in 1224. In Theobald's charter from this occasion, Guy is styled as count of Saint-Pol. In August 1225, Guy made a donation of 10 ''

livres tournois The (; ; abbreviation: ₶.) was one of numerous currencies used in medieval France, and a unit of account (i.e., a monetary unit used in accounting) used in Early Modern France. The 1262 monetary reform established the as 20 , or 80.88 gr ...

'' annually to the ''domus Dei'' (monastery) of

Troissy Troissy () is a commune in the Marne department in north-eastern France. Sights and monuments * Château de Troissy The Château de Troissy is a former castle in the '' commune'' of Troissy in the Marne ''département'' of France. It dates fro ...

for the construction of a chapel. This would eventually become the

abbey of L'Amour-Dieu An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The conc ...

. Agnes died in 1225, possibly in childbirth. In 1226, Guy founded the

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

nunnery of Pont-aux-Dames for the sake of his soul and his late wife's. He donated an annual ten ''

muids Muids () is a commune in the Eure department in Normandy in northern France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in ...

'' of wheat from the mills of Claye and ten ''livres'' from his lands at Montgé. This was, however, a whole new convent. In 1226, Guy joined Theobald in the royal army on the

Albigensian Crusade The Albigensian Crusade or the Cathar Crusade (; 1209–1229) was a military and ideological campaign initiated by Pope Innocent III to eliminate Catharism in Languedoc, southern France. The Crusade was prosecuted primarily by the French crown ...

. At the siege of Avignon, he led the only major assault on the walls on 8 August and was killed by a stone. Louis VIII ordered his body put in a lead coffin and taken to the priory of

Longueau Longueau (; pcd, Londjeu) is a Communes of France, commune in the Somme (department), Somme Departments of France, department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography Longueau is situated southeast of Amiens, a suburb just by the airpor ...

for burial. Guy and Agnes left behind two young children: a daughter, Yolande, and a son,

Walter Walter may refer to: People * Walter (name), both a surname and a given name * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968) * Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born 19 ...

.For his descendants, see , fig. 5. The county of Saint-Pol reverted to Elizabeth, who ceded it to Hugh. Walter inherited his mother's estates.

Notes

Works cited

* * * * * * * *

Notes

Works cited

Further reading