Walter III of Châtillon (french: Gaucher III de Châtillon ; la, Gualcherius de Castellione) was a French knight and Lord of Châtillon, Montjay,

Troissy Troissy () is a commune in the Marne department in north-eastern France. Sights and monuments * Château de Troissy, 12th century castle. Its crypt was classified ''monument historique'' in 1924. * Saint-Martin church, classified ''monument histor ...

, Crécy et Pierrefonds until his death in 1219. With his marriage, he became

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 Fl ...

. He was also the

Butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some a ...

Champagne Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, that demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, spe ...

and the

Seneschal The word ''seneschal'' () can have several different meanings, all of which reflect certain types of supervising or administering in a historic context. Most commonly, a seneschal was a senior position filled by a court appointment within a royal, ...

Burgundy Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The c ...

Biography

Walter was the second son of Guy II of Châtillon and

Adèle of Dreux Adèle of Dreux (1145 – aft. 1210) was a member of Norman French nobility, daughter of Robert I, Count of Dreux and his second wife Hawise of Salisbury. She married Valéran III, Count of Breteuil on 24 June 1156, and had the following iss ...

. After his father's death in 1170, his eldest brother became Lord of Châtillon and Walter assist him in his functions while his youngest brother, Robert of Châtillon, do an ecclesiastical career and became bishop of

Laon Laon () is a city in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. History Early history The holy district of Laon, which rises a hundred metres above the otherwise flat Picardy plain, has always held strategic importance. In ...

in 1210 until his death in 1215. In 1189, Walter and his eldest brother Guy participated in the

Third Crusade The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt by three European monarchs of Western Christianity (Philip II of France, Richard I of England and Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor) to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by ...

and arrived at the

siege of Acre Siege of Acre may refer to: * Siege of Acre (1104), following the First Crusade *Siege of Acre (1189–1191), during the Third Crusade * Siege of Acre (1263), Baibars laid siege to the Crusader city, but abandoned it to attack Nazareth. *Siege of A ...

with the King

Philip Augustus Philip II (21 August 1165 – 14 July 1223), byname Philip Augustus (french: Philippe Auguste), was King of France from 1180 to 1223. His predecessors had been known as kings of the Franks, but from 1190 onward, Philip became the first French m ...

the 30 March 1191, but Guy III of Châtillon died during the fight and Walter became the new Lord of Châtillon. After the fall of the city and the departure of the french King, he stayed in Holy Land and fought in the

battle of Arsuf The Battle of Arsuf took place on 7 September 1191, as part of the Third Crusade. It saw a multi-national force of Crusaders, led by Richard I of England, defeat a significantly larger army of the Ayyubid Sultanate, led by Saladin. Followin ...

and the battle of Jaffa. He probably left the Crusade for Châtillon in late 1192. After being noticed for his war abilities during this Crusade, he was named

then

in 1196. In 1196, he married

Elisabeth of Saint-Pol Elizabeth, in French Élisabeth Candavène (c. 1180 – 1240/1247), was the countess of Saint-Pol from 1205 until her death, although her effective rule was limited to the periods 1219–1222 and 1226–1227. The rest of the time the county was ru ...

, daughter and heiress of Hugh IV of Campdavaine,

, and his wife Yolande of Hainaut, and in 1205 he succeeded his father-in-law as

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 Fl ...

. With his wife, he founded a new town named

Villeneuve-le-Comte Villeneuve-le-Comte () is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. Demographics Inhabitants of Villeneuve-le-Comte are called ''Villecomptois''. See also * Communes of the Seine-et-Marne ...

in the forest of

Crécy-la-Chapelle Crécy-la-Chapelle () is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. Geography Crécy-la-Chapelle is crossed by the river Grand Morin. The ground of the area is limestone. Crécy-la-Chapel ...

. In 1203, he joined the french army with the duke

Odo III of Burgundy Eudes III (1166 – July 6, 1218), commonly known in English as Odo III, was duke of Burgundy between 1192 and 1218. Odo was the eldest son of duke Hugh III and his first wife Alice, daughter of Matthias I, Duke of Lorraine. Life Odo did not foll ...

and the constable of Champagne

Guy II of Dampierre {{Infobox noble , name = Guy II of Dampierre , title = Lord of Dampierre , image = Coat of arms of the House of Welf-Brunswick (Braunschweig).svg , caption = The arms borne , alt = ...

in the conquest of

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

against the english King

John Lackland John (24 December 1166 – 19 October 1216) was King of England from 1199 until his death in 1216. He lost the Duchy of Normandy and most of his other French lands to King Philip II of France, resulting in the collapse of the Angevin Empi ...

. He fought in the

Siege of Château Gaillard The siege of Château Gaillard was a part of Philip II's campaign to conquer John, King of England's continental properties. The French king besieged Château Gaillard, a Norman fortress, for six months. The Anglo-Normans were beaten in the ba ...

and the catch of

Falaise Falaise may refer to: Places * Falaise, Ardennes, France * Falaise, Calvados, France ** The Falaise pocket was the site of a battle in the Second World War * La Falaise, in the Yvelines ''département'', France * The Falaise escarpment in Quebe ...

Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,Bayeux Bayeux () is a Communes of France, commune in the Calvados (department), Calvados Departments of France, department in Normandy (administrative region), Normandy in northwestern France. Bayeux is the home of the Bayeux Tapestry, which depicts ...

and

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...

. In 1209, he participated in the initial campaign of 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 ...

and fought at the siege of Béziers then

Carcassonne Carcassonne (, also , , ; ; la, Carcaso) is a French fortified city in the department of Aude, in the region of Occitanie. It is the prefecture of the department. Inhabited since the Neolithic, Carcassonne is located in the plain of the ...

. His habilities attracted the king's attention who gave him an army to fight against the English King in

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

. In 1213, he fought again for the King in

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

and Hainaut and took for him the city of

Tournai Tournai or Tournay ( ; ; nl, Doornik ; pcd, Tornai; wa, Tornè ; la, Tornacum) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It lies southwest of Brussels on the river Scheldt. Tournai is part of Euromet ...

and Mortagne. Before the

battle of Bouvines The Battle of Bouvines was fought on 27 July 1214 near the town of Bouvines in the County of Flanders. It was the concluding battle of the Anglo-French War of 1213–1214. Although estimates on the number of troops vary considerably among mo ...

the 27 July 1214, several French Lord doubted his loyalty and he answered ''that on that day the king would find in him a good traitor''. During the battle, he charged and crossed enemy ranks several times, causing many trouble. In the chronicle of

William the Breton William the Breton (c. 1165c. 1225), French chronicler and poet, was a contemporary and dependent of French king Philip Augustus for whom he served in diplomatic missions and for whom he wrote a Latin prose chronicle and a Latin epic poem. Willia ...

he is said to have struck down all in his path and cut a hole through the enemy line. Considering he was a veteran at this point it is not surprising that he fought with distinction. According to

he withdrew to rest after fighting a long time but saw one of his knights being attacked and rode in to save him suffering from being struck by 12 lances but probably protected by his armor he fought on. He would go on to achieve legend status through poems about his works being written 40 years after his death by the Minstrel of Reims. During the

war of the Succession of Champagne The War of the Succession of Champagne was a war from 1216 to 1222 between the nobles of the Champagne region of France, occurring within that region and also spilling over into neighboring duchies. The war lasted two years and ''de facto'' ended ...

, he supported the Countess-Regent Blanche of Navarre and her son

Theobald Theobald is a Germanic dithematic name, composed from the elements '' theod-'' "people" and ''bald'' "bold". The name arrived in England with the Normans. The name occurs in many spelling variations, including Theudebald, Diepold, Theobalt, Tybal ...

against the pretender

Erard of Brienne-Ramerupt Érard de Brienne (c. 1170 † 1246) was a French nobleman. He was lord of Ramerupt and of Venizy, and also a pretender to the county of Champagne as an instigator of the Champagne War of Succession. He was a son of André of Brienne and of A ...

and his wife

Philippa of Champagne Philippa of Champagne () ( – 20 December 1250) was the third daughter of Queen Isabella I of Jerusalem and Count Henry II of Champagne. She was the wife of Erard de Brienne-Ramerupt, who encouraged her in 1216 to claim the county of Champagne wh ...

. In 1219, he took the cross for the third time of his life and was back at

. He fought at sieges of

Marmande Marmande (; in Occitan language, Occitan, ''Marmanda'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Lot-et-Garonne ''Departments of France, département'' in south-western France. Geography Marmande is located 35 km north-west of Agen, on the ...

then

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

. He died November 1219, probably during a battle.

, a contemporary chronicler of Walter, described him as ''the bravest in arms of his time''. Walter appears in

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

of King John.

Family

In the year 1196 he married Elisabeth of Saint-Pol, daughter of Hugh IV of Campdavaine,

, and Yolande of Hainaut, and had four children: * Guy IV of Châtillon-Saint-Pol, Count of Saint-Pol after his father's death. * Hugh of Châtillon-Saint-Pol, Lord of Châtillon after his father's death, the Count of Saint-Pol after his brother's death. * Béatrix de Châtillon-Saint-Pol, married to Aubert of Hangest, lord of

Senlis Senlis () is a commune in the northern French department of Oise, Hautes de France. The monarchs of the early French dynasties lived in Senlis, attracted by the proximity of the Chantilly forest. It is known for its Gothic cathedral and other h ...

. * Eustachia de Châtillon-Saint-Pol, married in 1215 to Daniel of Bethune, and later married to Robrecht II of Wavrin, marshal of the

County of Flanders The County of Flanders was a historic territory in the Low Countries. From 862 onwards, the counts of Flanders were among the original twelve peers of the Kingdom of France. For centuries, their estates around the cities of Ghent, Bruges and Ypr ...

. After Walter's death, Elisabeth of Saint-Pol married secondly Jean of Béthune, Lord of

Béthune Béthune ( ; archaic and ''Bethwyn'' historically in English) is a city in northern France, sub-prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department. Geography Béthune is located in the former province of Artois. It is situated south-east of Calais, ...

Notes

Sources

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Walter 3 of Châtillon 1150s births 1219 deaths House of Châtillon Counts of Saint-Pol Christians of the Third Crusade People of the Albigensian Crusade Medieval French nobility 12th-century French people 13th-century French people People from Marne (department)