Renard II of Dampierre-en-Astenois
Renard II, also spelled Reynald, Raynald, Rainard or Renaud[a] (1170s – 1234), was the count or lord of Dampierre-le-Château in the Astenois. His lordship lay partly within the Holy Roman Empire, but he was also a direct vassal of the Count of Champagne in the Kingdom of France.[2]
Renard took part in the
Family and church
Renard was a son of
The same year as his wife died, Renard took the cross, vowing to go on the Fourth Crusade. Several documents from 1200–02 allude to this vow. He made gifts to the hospital of
Crusade and imprisonment
Renard left on crusade in 1202. The second edition of the
There are conflicting reports about why Renard broke from the main army. Alberic of Trois-Fontaines, writing a few decades later, claims that on his deathbed Theobald had asked Renard to fulfill his vow by going to the Holy Land as his substitute and offered him a large amount of silver for his expenses. Renard then swore to fulfill Theobald's vow. Alberic says Renard did not leave the army until the siege of Zara and then went first to Rome, but this is definitely incorrect. Geoffrey of Villehardouin, a member of the crusade who wrote a history of it, De la Conquête de Constantinople, implies that Renard was an oath-breaker when he refused to appear at Venice for the general muster. Villehardouin says that Theobald had made all his followers swear an oath to meet at Venice as planned, adding that "many there were who kept that oath badly, and so incurred great blame."[e][1]
In the Holy Land, Renard first tried to persuade King
Absence and return
During Renard's long imprisonment, his lands came under the government of his eldest son, Renard III. He died around 1230, and was succeeded by his younger brother Anselm. Renard II had returned to Astenois by early 1233. On 2 March,[g] he founded a Hospitaller commandery at Autrecourt (Hautecour, now in Épense) by giving the order a house he owned there. This commandery was later united with that of Saint-Amand. In June, he gave another charter, noting that he was recently "returned from parts overseas" (rediens a partibus transmarinis). This charter was probably aimed at raising money to repay the Hospitallers for his ransom.[1][8]
Renard's sons had alienated many of his lands, and the abbey of Monthiers-en-Argonne had usurped others. Renard successfully recovered some of his properties and received a large compensation for the others. Renard subsequently drew up a charter detailing his claims and the settlements reached to all of them:
I, Renard, lord of Dampierre, wish all present and future to know that when I returned from overseas, I became involved in many disputes with the abbot and monks of Monthiers-en-Argonne over property which I claimed that they took from me while I was detained overseas. . . So that neither I nor my heirs will ever trouble the monks again, and so that this settlement remain in perpetuity, I and my heirs [my dear and only son Anselm] have agreed to all that is contained in this charter. I have corroborated this charter by my seal. Done in the year of grace 1233.[7]
In March 1234, Renard made a gift to the
Notes
- ^ The Old French manuscripts of Geoffrey of Villehardouin's history of the Fourth Crusade spell his names in various ways: Reinars, Reinarz, Reignarz, Renart, Renaut or Renaus.[1]
- ^ Henry was a younger brother of Manasses IV, Count of Rethel.
- ^ A register of all the fiefs of the County of Champagne, first drawn up in 1178.
- ^ Among them were Villain de Nully, Henri d'Arzillières, Henry de Longchamp and Gilles II de Trazegnies.
- ^ Old French: mult i ot de cels qui malvaisement le tindrent et mult en furent blasmé. The translation is from Frank T. Marzials, Memoirs or Chronicle of the Fourth Crusade and the Conquest of Constantinople (London: J. M. Dent, 1908).
- ^ Villain de Nully was among those killed. Among the captives were his brother, Guillaume de Nully; Jean de Villers; and Bernard de Moreuil.
- ^ The charter actually reads 1232, but it is usually corrected to 1233.
References
Footnotes
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Longnon 1978, pp. 60–63.
- ^ a b c d e f g Evergates 2007, p. 228.
- ^ Schenk 2012, p. 260, n. 36.
- ^ Queller, Compton & Campbell 1974, p. 443.
- ^ Hardwicke 1969, p. 531.
- ^ a b Queller, Compton & Campbell 1974, p. 446.
- ^ a b c Evergates 1993, pp. 120–22.
- ^ a b Friedman 2002, pp. 203–04.
Sources
- Andrea, Alfred J. (1985). "Adam of Perseigne and the Fourth Crusade". Cîteaux: Commentarii Cistercienses. 36 (1–2): 21–37.
- Barthélémy, Anatole de (1884). "Chartes de départ et de retour des comtes de Dampierre-en-Astenois: IVe et Ve croisades". Archives de l'Orient Latin. 2: 184–207.
- Barthélemy, Anatole de (1888). "Le comté d'Astenois et les comtes de Dampierre-le-Château". Revue de Champagne et de Brie. 25: 401–16.
- Evergates, Theodore, ed. (1993). Feudal Society in Medieval France: Documents from the County of Champagne. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
- Evergates, Theodore (2007). The Aristocracy in the County of Champagne, 1100–1300. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
- Friedman, Yvonne (2002). Encounter Between Enemies: Captivity and Ransom in the Latin Kingdom of Jeruslame. Leiden: Brill.
- Hardwicke, Mary N. (1969). "The Crusader States, 1192–1243". In K. M. Setton; R. L. Wolff; H. Hazard (eds.). A History of the Crusades, Volume II: The Later Crusades, 1189–1311. University of Wisconsin Press. pp. 522–554.
- Longnon, Jean (1978). Les compagnons de Villehardouin: Recherches sur les croisés de la quatrième croisade. Geneva: Librairie Droz.
- Queller, Donald E.; Compton, Thomas K.; Campbell, Donald A. (1974). "The Fourth Crusade: The Neglected Majority". S2CID 163442765.
- Schenk, Jochen (2012). Templar Families: Landowning Families and the Order of the Temple in France, c. 1120–1307. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.