Vermandois was a French county that appeared in the

Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gauli ...

period. Its name derives from that of an ancient tribe, the

Viromandui The Viromanduī or Veromanduī (Gaulish: *''Uiromanduoi'') were a Belgic tribe dwelling in the modern Vermandois region (Picardy) during the Iron Age and Roman periods. During the Gallic Wars (58–50 BC), they belonged to the Belgic coalition of ...

. In the 10th century, it was organised around two castellan domains: St Quentin ( Aisne) and Péronne ( Somme). In today's times, the Vermandois county would fall in the

Picardy Picardy (; Picard and french: Picardie, , ) is a historical territory and a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region of Hauts-de-France. It is located in the northern part of France. Hi ...

region of northern France.

Pepin I of Vermandois Pepin II (french: Pépin; c. 817—after 850) was Count of Vermandois, lord of Senlis, Péronne and Saint Quentin. He was son of King Bernard of Italy (a grandson of Charlemagne) and his Queen, Cunigunda of Laon. He supported Emperor Lothar after ...

, the earliest of its hereditary counts, was descended in direct male line from the emperor

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy ...

. More famous was his grandson Herbert II (902–943), who considerably increased the territorial power of the house of Vermandois, and kept the lawful king of France, the unlucky

Charles the Simple Charles III (17 September 879 – 7 October 929), called the Simple or the Straightforward (from the Latin ''Carolus Simplex''), was the king of West Francia from 898 until 922 and the king of Lotharingia from 911 until 919–923. He was a memb ...

, prisoner for six years. Herbert II was son of

Herbert I Herbert I may refer to: * Herbert I, Count of Vermandois (c. 848/850 – 907) * Herbert I, Count of Maine (died in 1036) {{hndis, Herbert 01 ...

, lord of Péronne and St Quentin, who was killed in 902 by an assassin in the pay of Baldwin II, Count of Flanders. His successors, Albert I, Herbert III, Albert II,

Otto Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', '' Odo'', ''Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded f ...

and Herbert IV, were not as historically significant. In 1077, the last count of the first house of Vermandois, Herbert IV, received the county of Valois through his wife. His son Eudes (II) the insane was disinherited by the council of the Barons of France. He was lord of Saint-Simon through his wife, and the county was given to his sister Adela, whose first husband was

Hugh the Great Hugh the Great (16 June 956) was the duke of the Franks and count of Paris. Biography Hugh was the son of King Robert I of France and Béatrice of Vermandois.Detlev Schwennicke, '' Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der E ...

, the brother of King

Philip I of France Philip I (23 May 1052 – 29 July 1108), called the Amorous, was King of the Franks from 1060 to 1108. His reign, like that of most of the early Capetians, was extraordinarily long for the time. The monarchy began a modest recovery from the low i ...

. Hugh was one of the leaders of the

First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic ru ...

, and died in 1102 at Tarsus in

Cilicia Cilicia (); el, Κιλικία, ''Kilikía''; Middle Persian: ''klkyʾy'' (''Klikiyā''); Parthian: ''kylkyʾ'' (''Kilikiyā''); tr, Kilikya). is a geographical region in southern Anatolia in Turkey, extending inland from the northeastern coa ...

. The eldest son of Hugh and Adela was count Raoul I (c. 1120–1152), who married

Petronilla of Aquitaine Petronilla of Aquitaine ( 1125 – c.1151) was the second daughter of William X of Aquitaine and Aenor of Châtellerault. She was the elder sister of William Aigret and the younger sister of Eleanor of Aquitaine, who was Queen consort of France ...

, sister of the queen,

Eleanor Eleanor () is a feminine given name, originally from an Old French adaptation of the Old Provençal name ''Aliénor''. It is the name of a number of women of royalty and nobility in western Europe during the High Middle Ages. The name was introd ...

, and had by her three children: Raoul (Rudolph) II, the Leper (count from 1152–1167); Isabelle, who possessed from 1167 to 1183 the counties of Vermandois, Valois and

Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...

conjointly with her husband,

Philip, Count of Flanders Philip I (1143 – 1 August 1191), commonly known as Philip of Alsace, was count of Flanders from 1168 to 1191. During his rule Flanders prospered economically. He took part in two crusades and died of disease in the Holy Land. Count of Flander ...

; and

. By the terms of a treaty concluded in 1186 with the king, Philip Augustus, the count of Flanders kept the county of Vermandois until his death, in 1191. At this date, a new arrangement gave Eleanor (d. 1213) a life interest in the eastern part of Vermandois, together with the title of countess of St Quentin, and the king entered immediately into possession of Péronne and its dependencies.

References

* Anselme, "Histoire Genealogique de la Maison royale de France", 1726. * M.Fouquier-Cholet, "Histoire des Comtes héréditaires du Vermandois", Saint-Quentin, 1832. * Ioh.Mabillon, "Annales ord. Sancti Benedicti. Ticinense". Lucae, 1739. * Louis Moreri, "Le Gran Dictionnaire Historique", Paris, 1743–1749. {{Authority control Former provinces of France * Viromandui

See also

References