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, France, Champagne, where members of the family were tenants in a castle belonging to the Counts o ...

was the '' de facto''

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 ...

as Guy II from 1219/1223 until his death. SiegeAvignon1226

Life

Born around 1197, Guy was the eldest son of

Walter III of Châtillon Walter III of Châtillon ( ; ) was a Medieval France, French knight and Lord of Châtillon-sur-Marne, Châtillon, Villevaudé, Montjay, Troissy, Crécy-la-Chapelle, Crécy et Pierrefonds, Oise, Pierrefonds until his death in 1219. With his marria ...

and

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Empress Elisabeth (disambiguation), lists various empresses named ''Elisabeth'' or ''Elizabeth'' * Princess Elizabeth ...

, 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 is the English-language variant of the masculine given name , itself the Old French variant of '' Hugo (name)">Hugo'', a short form of Continental Germanic Germanic name">given names beginning in the element "mind, spirit" (Old English ). ...

, inherited Châtillon, Crécy and the butlership of the

county of Champagne The County of Champagne (; ) was a medieval territory and feudal principality in the Kingdom of France. It developed on the rich plains between Paris and the border of the Holy Roman Empire in the 12th century. It became an economic hub of north ...

. 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 Agnès II, Countess of Nevers, daughter of Hervé IV of Donzy, who had been betrothed to Philip, eldest son of the future King Louis VIII, until his premature death in 1218. She was supposed to then marry the future

Louis IX Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), also known as Saint Louis, was King of France from 1226 until his death in 1270. He is widely recognized as the most distinguished of the Direct Capetians. Following the death of his father, Louis ...

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

consanguineous Consanguinity (from Latin '' consanguinitas'' 'blood relationship') is the characteristic of having a kinship with a relative who is descended from a common ancestor. Many jurisdictions have laws prohibiting people who are closely related by blo ...

, 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 the law in certain cases.The Law of Christ Vol. I, pg. 284 Its object is to modify the hardship often caused by rigor ...

. Before the marriage, Guy and Hugh signed an agreement with King Philip II whereby they ceded him their joint lordship of

Pont-Sainte-Maxence Pont-Sainte-Maxence () is a Communes of France, commune in the Oise Departments of France, 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-Ma ...

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. Within the U. ...

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 (, ; 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 as a trouvère, and was ...

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: ₶ or £) 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. ...

'' annually to the ''domus Dei'' (monastery) of Troissy for the construction of a chapel. This would eventually become the abbey of L'Amour-Dieu. Agnes died in 1225, possibly in childbirth., but , says that his wife died soon after him in 1226. In 1226, Guy founded the

Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, 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 Benedict, as well as the contri ...

nunnery of Pont-aux-Dames for the sake of his soul and his late wife's. He donated an annual ten '' muids'' 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 (), also known as the Cathar Crusade (1209–1229), was a military and ideological campaign initiated by Pope Innocent III to eliminate Catharism in Languedoc, what is now southern France. The Crusade was prosecuted pri ...

. 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 taken to the priory of

Longueau Longueau (; ) is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography Longueau is situated southeast of Amiens, a suburb just by the airport, on the N29 road. Longueau station has rail connections to Amiens, Crei ...

for burial.

Marriage and issue

Guy and Agnes had two children: * Yolande married

Archambaud IX of Bourbon Archambaud IX of Bourbon (died 15 January 1249), called "''Le Jeune''" ("The Young"), was a ruler (sire) of Bourbonnais in the modern region of Auvergne (region), Auvergne, France. He was the son of Archambaud VIII of Bourbon. He married Yolande ...

Walter Walter may refer to: People and fictional characters * Walter (name), including a list of people and fictional and mythical characters with the given name or surname * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–19 ...

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

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * *

Life

Marriage and issue

References

Sources

Further reading