Melun in April 1198, William was among those who stood surety for
him.^12 Within a year or so, William may well have held the village of
Herbisse directly from Theobald.^13 However, William was not alone in
this. The whole family was becoming much more closely involved with
the house of Champagne. All three brothers were at Troyes in April
1195, and all three witnessed a charter, issued by Theobald himself, in
1198.^14
Nevertheless, these connections did not prevent the Briennes from
acting in their own way, as they sawfit. In the late 1190s, conflict erupted
on their southern border, pitting Peter of Courtenay, count of Nevers,
Auxerre and Tonnerre, against his own vassal, the skilful opportunist
Hervé of Donzy. Although the evidence is far from clear, it would seem
that the Briennes allied with Hervé, whilst Peter tried to call in a much
greater power: his kinsman, King Philip. Philip, though, was preoccupied
with his own struggle against King Richard‘the Lionheart’of England,
and so he could do little as Hervé forced Peter to terms.^15 Peace between
the Briennes and the Courtenays may well have been sealed by the
wedding of William to Peter’s daughter, Eustacia. The marriage brought
with it close kinship ties to a number of eminentfigures, such as the
counts of Champagne and Flanders. It was thus a significant step forward
for the Briennes–rather more important than has usually been real-
ized.^16 However, the conflict that gave rise to the marriage could well
have had broader repercussions. As the twelfth century drew to a close,
Walter III was one of a handful of northern French barons who tempor-
arily‘abandoned the king of France’, allying instead with Richard the
Lionheart.^17 It is possible that, for a brief period, Walter and his suzerain,
the count of Champagne, stood on opposite sides–although this may
only have been on paper. At any rate, it is unlikely that King Philip swiftly
forgot the serious irritation that the Briennes had proved capable of
causing in the late 1190s.^18
This brings us to the crucial watershed in Walter’s life, and, indeed, in
the history of his family as a whole. In order to understand it, we need to
go back in time to events following the death of William II of the Norman
kingdom of Sicily, which included mainland southern Italy, in 1189.
After William’s premature demise, there was a prolonged period of
competition for the crown of Sicily between two rival claimants: Tancred
(^12) ‘Catalogue’, no. 108. (^13) See Perry,John,31–3. (^14) ‘Catalogue’, nos. 106, 109.
(^15) See Perry,John,30–1.
(^16) See the pope’s comments inThe Deeds of Pope Innocent III, tr. J. M. Powell (Washington,
17 DC, 2004), ch. 25.
18 Roger of Howden,Chronica, ed. W. Stubbs, 4 vols. (London, 1868–71), iv, 54.
Closely following Perry,John, 31.
36 Breakthrough and High Point (c. 1191–1237)