Elizabeth, Countess of Saint-Pol
Elizabeth, in French Élisabeth Candavène (c. 1180 – 1240/1247), was the
Elizabeth is not mentioned in any surviving chronicle. Her life can be traced only through the documentary record. For the period after the death of her first husband, that consists primarily of 39 preserved charters issued by her between 1219 and 1240.[2]
Heiress
Elizabeth belonged to the
The earliest surviving source that mentions Elizabeth is an agreement made by Hugh and Yolanda with a local
Although only about ten years old, Elizabeth continued to be associated with her mother's regency. She and Eustachie witnessed a charter of 1190 in their father's absence. She witnessed another in October 1193, after her father's return.[3]
Marriage to Gaucher of Châtillon
In 1196, aged about sixteen, Elizabeth married
Elizabeth had a
In March 1202, Elizabeth returned to Saint-Pol to witness her father's charters as he prepared to leave on the
Quarrel with Guy
Elizabeth and Gaucher had two sons, Guy II and Hugh, and a daughter named Eustachie.[10] Guy and Hugh were adults when Gaucher died in 1219. The succession plan entailed Hugh succeeding to Gaucher's fiefs in the Champagne and Guy succeeding to the county of Saint-Pol. This plan placed Guy's interests at odds with his mother's since she was still living when Gaucher died.[11]
Guy and Hugh were with their mother when she issued her first charter for her Champenois dower lands in
The partition of the inheritance was not practical. Almost immediately there was dissension between Elizabeth and Guy. In February 1220, in a letter to King
Debts and loss of power
In 1222–1223, Elizabeth was progressively forced to give up most of her comital powers to cover her financial obligations. The nature and source of these obligations are unknown. Possibly her debts arose from the destitution of comital finances by the crusades of her father and husband (who took part in the
In October 1222, Elizabeth, facing a debt of 3,200 pounds of Paris, was forced to come to an agreement with Guy. Her son agreed to cover her existing debts and she agreed to contract no more debts for two years with her total debt not exceeding 1,000 pounds after that. For his help, Guy received half of the judicial revenues of the county of Saint-Pol for eight years, the right of usufruct on Elizabeth's dower for eight years and the right of succession to the castellany of Encre when his grandmother died. For the usufruct on her dowry, Elizabeth was to receive an annual 200 pounds of Provins from Guy. She remained countess and was responsible for the royal service (servitium regis) owed by the county, but she was forced to give up her seal to the keeping of Robert II of Boves.[13] This arrangement between Elizabeth and Guy was authorized by King Philip and his son, the future Louis VIII, who as count of Artois was the immediate feudal superior of Saint-Pol.[5]
By early 1223, Elizabeth's debts had ballooned to 8,000 pounds. It is not known to whom or for what she owed the money. The sudden appearance of an 8,000-pound debt is best explained by demand from Philip II for payment of an exorbitant relief. Such a high amount exceeded that demanded even from the counts of
In May 1223, Guy agreed to take on the 8,000-pound debt in exchange for "the whole county of Saint-Pol and all here land wherever she has it", including her revenues and rights of justice, for a period of ten years.[12] While 1222 agreement was expressed in a charter issued by Elizabeth, she was marginalized in the 1223 agreement, which comprised a series of three acts (conventiones) issued by Guy, Philip and Louis.[12] In his, Guy specified that if he should die before the ten years' was up, his rights would be inherited by whomever he named.[15]
Guy and Hugh's regency
During the three years of his de facto rule in Saint-Pol, Guy did not take the title of count, preferring to call himself "firstborn of the count[ess]" or "heir of the county".[14] All that was left to Elizabeth under the agreement of 1223 was the villa and newly constructed castle of Frévent, a pension of 600 pounds and the right to hunt and fish in Lucheux. She remained legally the countess of Saint-Pol and as such received the homage of the county's vassals and sat with the peers of Artois when they acted as a court.[12]
In 1224, Elizabeth confirmed the donation of a vassal to the
Guy died on crusade at the
Second marriage and barons' revolt
In 1228, probably after June, Elizabeth married John, a younger son of the House of Béthune who had followed a military career and possessed neither land nor money. His brother Daniel, lord of Béthune, was the first husband of Elizabeth's daughter.[16] Shortly after her second marriage, Elizabeth wrote to the abbot of Anchin, from whom she held a small fief, asking him to receive homage from John "whom I legally married".[17] The marriage does not have the appearance of a love match and, with Elizabeth beyond childbearing, was probably part of larger web of alliances.[16]
The marriage took place during a rebellion against
Hugh, who followed his new suzerain against Blanche, opposed his mother's second marriage and sought to have it annulled. He charged his ally,
As part of his alliance with Elizabeth, Ferdinand gave her an annuity of 40 pounds of Artois from the revenue of the fair of
Cession of Encre and final years
At some point after the rebellion, Elizabeth ceded Encre to Hugh. This is known from an annotation in a 13th-century necrology of the
Elizabeth spent her last years at Frévent, patronizing religious houses, particularly nearby Cercamp. Acts in favour of Cercamp survive from May, July and December 1234; April 1234 or 1235; January 1235; February, March and December 1240. The last is her last known act.[20] She previously financed the construction new buildings at Cercamp in June–July 1228.[17] She also made acts in favour of the priory of Framecourt in 1238.[20] She managed her estate without interference from either her son or her husband, who died abroad in 1238.[17]
Elizabeth's death between 1240 and 1247 cannot be precisely dated.[20] She was buried in Cercamp alongside her ancestors.[17]
Notes
- ^ a b Nieus 2012, pp. 205–206.
- ^ Nieus 2012, p. 186.
- ^ a b c d Nieus 2012, p. 187.
- ^ Nieus 2012, p. 207.
- ^ a b c Nieus 2012, p. 191.
- ^ a b Nieus 2012, p. 188.
- ^ a b Evergates 2007, p. 137.
- ^ a b Nieus 2012, p. 189.
- ^ Clarke 2007, p. 137.
- ^ Nieus 2012, p. 211.
- ^ a b c Nieus 2012, p. 190.
- ^ a b c d e Nieus 2012, p. 193.
- ^ Nieus 2012, p. 192.
- ^ a b c Nieus 2012, p. 194.
- ^ a b c Nieus 2012, p. 195.
- ^ a b c Nieus 2012, p. 196.
- ^ a b c d Nieus 2012, p. 200.
- ^ a b Nieus 2012, p. 197.
- ^ a b c Nieus 2012, p. 198.
- ^ a b c d Nieus 2012, p. 199.
Bibliography
- Clarke, Peter D. (2007). The Interdict in the Thirteenth Century: A Question of Collective Guilt. Cambridge University Press.
- Evergates, Theodore (2007). The Aristocracy in the County of Champagne, 1100–1300. University of Pennsylvania Press.
- Nieus, Jean-François (2012). "Élisabeth Candavène, comtesse de Saint-Pol (†1240/47): une héritière face à la Couronne". In Éric Bousmar; Jonathan Dumont; Alain Marchandisse; Bertrand Schnerb (eds.). Femmes de pouvoir, femmes politiques durant les derniers siècles du Moyen Âge et au cours de la première Renaissance. De Boeck. pp. 185–211.