405:
Brissac, Beaufort, and "all the land of Anjou" at the King's pleasure. The lasting settlement arranged in 1208 had King Philip retain authority in
Touraine with the castles of Chinon, Bourgueil, Loudun, Saumur, and Langeais. William was granted custody of all of Anjou and Maine including the fortresses of Bauge and Chateauneuf-sur-Sarthe. In addition, William was granted the "third penny" of justice in Anjou and one mark of silver per fifty livres of demesnial revenue. He was also permitted to assign baillis to assist him, Hamelin de Roorta being the most prominent. Coincidentally, Aimery of Thouars was conferred the seneschalship of Poitou by King Philip to similar terms with exception to the added revenue. King John's senechal of Poitou for 1205 had been
439:. Leading barons of Poitou preferred the absentee rule of King John to the more autocratic rule of King Philip; the Thouars, Mauleon, Lusignan, Parthenay, and Sugeres families all allied with King John. William set out with a force of knights to defend the Roman road connecting Tours and Poitiers. Other than a brief occupation of Angers, John was unsuccessful in making further progress north of the Loire. John departed after signing a two-year truce with King Philip that recognized the status quo. As soon as the truce was up in 1208, William and Dreux de Mello (based at Loches) collected some 300 knights and launched numerous attacks on Thouars holdings in Poitou.
22:
349:, up to 1166). Along with Count Robert of Sees rebelled Viscount Ralph of Beaumont. With two great barons of northern Maine now in the French camp, John's chances of retaining even Maine were reduced significantly. John, avoiding fortresses belonging to rebels, slowly made his way back to his army at Argentan. Alençon was offered to King Philip of France by the rebellious count in return for Philip's recognition of his comital authority over the area and possession of the family's castle at
296:, a fortress of the pro-John viscounts of Beaumont-en-Maine on or about 18 September. John convinced William that Arthur of Brittany was being used solely as tool of Capetian strategy and managed to convince him to switch sides. With this, John promised him the seneschalship of Anjou. During the night, John's incumbent seneschal, Viscount Aimery, took Arthur and Constance and fled the court. They fled first to
340:
mercenary in his pay. The seneschalship of Tours was given to another mercenary captain, Martin Algais. Des Roches launched an attack on Angers and captured the city on 30 October 1202. Simultaneously, Sulpice III d'Amboise captured the town, but not the citadel at Tours. In
January 1203, John mustered an army at Argentan for the reconquest of his Loire provinces. John took up court in
233:, Richard's nephew. The leaders of England, Normandy, and Poitou sided with John, while the barons of Anjou and Brittany chose Arthur according to their customs of succession. William, then at Le Mans, threw in his support for Arthur along with a very powerful group of Manceaux and Angevin barons, including Juhel II of Mayenne and his mother Isabella of Meulan. Des Roches became Arthur's
307:. With this marriage came a vast landholding that included Sablé, La Suze, Briollay, Maiet, Loupelandé, Genneteil, Precigné, and the Norman manor of Agon (which was held of the lord of Mayenne). William had become overnight one of the greatest barons of Anjou and Maine and relative-in-law to the most exclusive houses of the region.
272:, the fortress was surrendered by Geoffrey de Brûlon, the castellan, but not before being demolished. A quarrel ensued between King Philip and William over the lordship of the site. William was adamant that Ballon belonged rightfully to Duke Arthur, while King Philip wished to retain it as his own.
322:
on the road just north of
Poitiers, she came under siege. William agreed to help John with the relief of the castle as long as any prisoners captured were treated within common custom. He led a large contingent of Angevin knights along with Aimery of Thouars (now returned to favor with John by the
153:
and Gerard Talbot and was with King Henry when he was forced to flee the city. According to "The
History of William the Marshal", des Roches rode in the vanguard of the retreating royal force. He wheeled around with William Marshal and engaged Count Richard's vanguard where he successfully charged
339:
William immediately left John's service (between 17 and 25 August 1202) and departed to the court of Juhel de
Mayenne. John sent soldiers to secure Angers and Tours and revoked William's seneschalship. King John then split the office and gave the seneschalship of Anjou to Brice the Chamberlain, a
372:
fell soon thereafter. William, and his forces launched an attack on Le Mans and captured the city by about 17 May. One of John's final acts of 1203 was to bring Alençon under siege in August, he was unsuccessful in capturing the castle, and with many of his Norman castles under siege or already
197:
and Gerard de
Fournival as part of a deputation to obtain safe conducts for the crusading host to enter Jerusalem and its environs. William remained a steadfast adherent to Richard in his wars with King Philip of France from 1194–1199 and it may have been at this time that he was arranged to be
404:
in April 1204. Philip had then marched through Anjou and entered
Poitiers after the death of Duchess Eleanor on 1 April. It was in Poitiers that Philip officially granted the hereditary seneschalship on to William. By a later charter (1206) William received custody of Angers, Loudun, Saumur,
482:
but was able to enter Angers on 17 June. John moved out of the city to reduce the local forts, two succumbed quickly, but the garrison of the new fort at La Roche-aux-Moines, located just south of Angers, held out. An army of 800 knights under the command of the seneschal, Prince Louis,
327:, fought the following day, was a decisive victory for King John in which Duke Arthur of Brittany was captured. Many of the prisoners captured, important Poitevins and Bretons, were grossly mistreated and some, including royal relatives like the viscount Hugh of Châtellerault and
360:, Thibaud V of Blaison, Bernard III of La Ferte, and Juhel II of Mayenne traveled to Paris and offered their homage and fealty to King Philip of France. With this, King Philip launched his forces into Anjou to attack strongholds that still held out for John.
393:. Guillaume arranged for the exchange of his lordship of Le Mans (split with the bishop and the hereditary Manceaux seneschals, the 'Mauchien' family) for Berengaria's castle which he then became lord of. The exchange was ratified by King Philip.
344:
and then Le Mans while his army was mustering. While in Le Mans he learned of the treachery of the count of Sees who had usurped authority in the town of Alençon (a town that belonged to his grandfather, Count
331:, were starved to death. Arthur himself disappeared in John's Norman prisons and many, including the French king, came to the conclusion that Arthur was in fact murdered by his uncle, King John.
491:
collected at Chinon. John was deserted by his
Thouars and Lusignan allies upon hearing of the collection of so great a force. On 2 July 1214, William and Prince Louis were victorious at the
245:
and queen-mother of
England. In addition, she was Arthur's grandmother. She sent a force under Viscount Aimery VII of Thouars, John's newly appointed seneschal of Anjou (replacing
655:
300:, then to the court of King Philip. King John officially designated William seneschal of Anjou in December 1199 and entered Angers triumphantly on 24 June 1200.
215:
665:
292:
which protected the route from Le Mans to Tours. Arthur's supporters were forced to come to terms with John, and
William met with the English king at
502:
The seneschal died in 1222 and his eldest daughter, Jeanne brought the Sable barony and the hereditary seneschalship to her husband, Amauri de Craon.
660:
310:
Coinciding with a renewed French attack on upper Normandy, Arthur along with many prominent knights of France and Poitou attempted to capture
43:
645:
511:
178:
65:
650:
550:
323:
diplomacy of Eleanor of Aquitaine) in John's company, and they arrived outside the castle on the night of 31 July 1202. The
268:
In May 1199, King Philip of France met with William des Roches at Le Mans and together they attacked the border fortress of
182:
492:
225:
At the death of Richard at Chalus in April 1199, the Angevin kingship faced a serious succession dispute between Prince
36:
30:
113:
Born about 1160, his origins are unknown but he is taken to be from the same family of knightly status in or near
420:
conducted the attack in Touraine culminating with capture of John's last Angevin fortresses, Chinon and Loches.
369:
269:
47:
98:
356:
While the barons of northern Maine kept John busy, William and a league of barons from the region including
346:
304:
289:
199:
190:
635:
448:
390:
365:
328:
203:
640:
468:
357:
311:
242:
138:
122:
464:
417:
262:
250:
142:
134:
102:
428:
406:
324:
254:
234:
230:
86:
585:
261:. Eleanor's force was successful in entering the suburbs of Tours, but was driven back by King
114:
488:
484:
475:
447:
William took the cross in 1209 and left Anjou to crusade in the Toulousain and Languedoc with
246:
581:
555:
194:
162:
118:
90:
421:
397:
386:
350:
281:
226:
186:
158:
150:
149:. Guillaume had participated in the defense of Le Mans in the company of such knights as
604:
Daniel Power (2004), "The Norman Frontier in the Twelfth and Early Thirteenth Centuries"
521:
516:
170:
157:
After the death of King Henry, Guillaume enrolled in the royal mesnie of Richard, now
629:
174:
544:
Vincent, Nicholas (January 2008). "Roches, Peter des (Peter de Rupibus) (d. 1238)".
377:), he must have known that the end of Angevin rule north of the Loire was upon him.
374:
293:
288:. On 13 September he was successful in repulsing King Philip from the fortress of
567:
496:
460:
436:
258:
559:
580:
Some sources give his father as Baldwin des Roches and his mother as Alice de
456:
341:
427:
In 1206, John restabilized his rule in Poitou, Guienne, and Gascony, driving
409:, who was limited to the Aunis coastline and later in the year the castle of
166:
424:, John's castellan of both locations was forced to surrender in June 1205.
385:
William's family had originated from the lesser aristocracy, knights from
389:, a castle that was granted as a dowry property of King Richard's widow,
319:
315:
285:
94:
432:
146:
133:
William des Roches early in his life had been a mesnie knight of King
479:
452:
361:
297:
410:
401:
238:
173:. William was a trusted confidant of King Richard, and during the
396:
King Philip had conquered Normandy (receiving the surrender of
265:
who had himself chosen Arthur as Richard's rightful successor.
467:
until 1219 at the Siege of Marmande under Prince Louis (later
145:
attacked the ageing king of England in the city of his birth,
15:
620:
237:
and was entrusted with the defense of Le Mans. The city of
601:
John W. Baldwin (1986), "The Government of Philip Augustus"
137:. During the rebellion of 1189, Richard of Poitou (later
474:
King John again attacked Anjou from the south during the
471:, the eldest son and heir of King Philip II of France.
284:launched a massive attack into Northern Maine from
154:and knocked Philip de Colombiers off of his horse.
607:Sir Maurice Powicke (1913), "The Loss of Normandy"
463:in August. He wouldn't again participate in the
314:as she traveled from Anjou to her chief seat at
85:) was a French knight and crusader who acted as
105:and became a leading member of his government.
8:
554:(online ed.). Oxford University Press.
303:During the summer of 1201, William married
455:heretics. He was active at the siege of
101:, in 1202 he changed his loyalty to King
66:Learn how and when to remove this message
29:This article includes a list of general
551:Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
546:Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
533:
241:was surrendered to Arthur and Eleanor,
216:French invasion of Normandy (1202–1204)
656:13th-century French military personnel
539:
537:
610:John Gillingham, "The Angevin Empire"
210:Angevin war of succession (1199–1204)
7:
495:and forced John to retreat clear to
584:, while a suggested birthplace is
443:Albigensian Crusade and later life
318:. Taking refuge in the castle of
35:it lacks sufficient corresponding
14:
666:People of the Albigensian Crusade
512:List of Counts and Dukes of Anjou
478:of 1214. John was repulsed from
20:
661:Christians of the Third Crusade
416:Des Roches and Dreux of Mello,
364:was captured in April 1203 and
229:, brother of King Richard, and
117:that produced his contemporary
202:, the daughter and heiress of
1:
493:Battle of La Roche-aux-Moines
568:UK public library membership
193:. In 1192, he was sent with
682:
646:12th-century French people
213:
99:Angevin kings of England
651:Medieval French knights
177:he was involved in the
81:(died 1222) (in French
50:more precise citations.
560:10.1093/ref:odnb/22014
381:King Philip triumphant
370:Châteauneuf-sur-Sarthe
487:, and Henri Clement,
449:Eudes III of Burgundy
391:Berengaria of Navarre
214:Further information:
469:Louis VIII of France
373:captured (including
358:Maurice III of Craon
312:Eleanor of Aquitaine
243:duchess of Aquitaine
139:Richard I of England
123:Bishop of Winchester
97:. After serving the
83:Guillaume des Roches
465:Albigensian Crusade
431:forces from Bourg,
418:constable of France
305:Marguerite de Sablé
280:In June 1199, King
263:Philip II of France
251:Hugh IX of Lusignan
143:Philip II of France
135:Henry II of England
103:Philip II of France
407:Savaric of Mauleon
366:Beaufort-en-Vallée
329:André de Chauvigny
325:Battle of Mirebeau
255:Raoul I of Exoudun
253:, and his brother
235:seneschal of Anjou
231:Arthur of Brittany
179:conquest of Sicily
87:Seneschal of Anjou
79:William des Roches
566:(Subscription or
489:marshal of France
485:Amauri I de Craon
476:Bouvines Campaign
247:Robert of Turnham
76:
75:
68:
673:
589:
578:
572:
571:
563:
541:
195:Pierre de Preaux
163:Duke of Normandy
119:Peter des Roches
71:
64:
60:
57:
51:
46:this article by
37:inline citations
24:
23:
16:
681:
680:
676:
675:
674:
672:
671:
670:
626:
625:
617:
598:
596:Further reading
593:
592:
586:Longué-Jumelles
579:
575:
565:
543:
542:
535:
530:
508:
445:
422:Hubert de Burgh
398:Peter de Preaux
387:Chateau-du-Loir
383:
351:La Roche-Mabile
337:
282:John of England
278:
276:English service
227:John of England
223:
218:
212:
204:Robert de Sablé
191:Battle of Jaffa
187:Battle of Arsuf
159:King of England
151:William Marshal
131:
115:Château-du-Loir
111:
72:
61:
55:
52:
42:Please help to
41:
25:
21:
12:
11:
5:
679:
677:
669:
668:
663:
658:
653:
648:
643:
638:
628:
627:
624:
623:
616:
615:External links
613:
612:
611:
608:
605:
602:
597:
594:
591:
590:
573:
532:
531:
529:
526:
525:
524:
519:
517:Angevin Empire
514:
507:
504:
444:
441:
382:
379:
347:William Talvas
336:
335:French service
333:
277:
274:
222:
221:Breton service
219:
211:
208:
171:Count of Anjou
130:
127:
110:
107:
74:
73:
28:
26:
19:
13:
10:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
678:
667:
664:
662:
659:
657:
654:
652:
649:
647:
644:
642:
639:
637:
634:
633:
631:
622:
619:
618:
614:
609:
606:
603:
600:
599:
595:
587:
583:
582:Châtellerault
577:
574:
569:
561:
557:
553:
552:
547:
540:
538:
534:
527:
523:
520:
518:
515:
513:
510:
509:
505:
503:
500:
498:
494:
490:
486:
481:
477:
472:
470:
466:
462:
458:
454:
450:
442:
440:
438:
434:
430:
425:
423:
419:
414:
412:
408:
403:
399:
394:
392:
388:
380:
378:
376:
371:
367:
363:
359:
354:
352:
348:
343:
334:
332:
330:
326:
321:
317:
313:
308:
306:
301:
299:
295:
291:
287:
283:
275:
273:
271:
266:
264:
260:
256:
252:
248:
244:
240:
236:
232:
228:
220:
217:
209:
207:
205:
201:
196:
192:
188:
184:
183:Siege of Acre
180:
176:
175:Third Crusade
172:
168:
164:
160:
155:
152:
148:
144:
140:
136:
128:
126:
124:
120:
116:
108:
106:
104:
100:
96:
92:
88:
84:
80:
70:
67:
59:
49:
45:
39:
38:
32:
27:
18:
17:
636:1160s births
576:
549:
545:
501:
473:
459:in July and
451:against the
446:
426:
415:
395:
384:
355:
338:
309:
302:
294:Bourg-le-Roi
279:
267:
224:
156:
132:
129:Early career
112:
82:
78:
77:
62:
53:
34:
641:1222 deaths
621:earlyBlazon
497:La Rochelle
461:Carcassonne
259:count of Eu
198:married to
141:) and King
56:August 2017
48:introducing
630:Categories
570:required.)
528:References
200:Marguerite
189:, and the
31:references
429:Castilian
375:Vaudreuil
167:Aquitaine
506:See also
320:Mirebeau
316:Poitiers
290:Lavardin
286:Argentan
95:Touraine
457:BĂ©ziers
433:Bayonne
342:Alençon
147:Le Mans
109:Origins
93:and of
44:improve
564:
480:Nantes
453:Cathar
435:, and
362:Saumur
298:Angers
270:Ballon
185:, the
181:, the
121:, the
33:, but
522:Anjou
411:Niort
402:Rouen
239:Tours
91:Maine
89:, of
368:and
169:and
165:and
556:doi
437:Dax
400:at
249:),
632::
548:.
536:^
499:.
413:.
353:.
257:,
206:.
161:,
125:.
588:.
562:.
558::
69:)
63:(
58:)
54:(
40:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.