Theobald I (Blois)

This article or the following section is not adequately provided with supporting documents ( e.g. individual evidence ). Information without sufficient evidence could be removed soon. Please help Wikipedia by researching the information and including good evidence.

Date of death neither documented in wiki-en nor in web source, and the original article in wiki-fr also lacks any evidence. Therefore, please submit documents for the entire content of the article.

Theobald I. von Blois (French: Thibaud ; * around 910 ; † January 16, 975 ), called the Fraudster ( le Tricheur or Tricator ), was a vice count of Blois and Tours and assumed the title and rights of a count without authorization . He also seized the counties of Chartres and Châteaudun . Theobald was the son of Vice Count Theobald the Elder († before 942) and one of his father's two wives. The first is unknown by name, the second was Richilde, a daughter of Count Hugo II of Bourges and Rothilde, a daughter of Emperor Charles the Bald .

The Anglo-Norman poet Wace (12th century) described the Count of Blois in his novel de Rou as follows: Theobald was full of cunning and falsehood, he was friendship with man and woman, he knew no thanks and pity for free and prisoners, nor did he hesitate from wrongdoing and sin .

biography

As a loyal supporter of his liege lord, Duke Hugo the Great , he supported him in the power struggle against King Ludwig IV . After the duke captured the king in 945, Theobald was entrusted with guarding the king at Laon Castle . The king was released a year later in exchange for Laon, which he had to cede to Duke Hugo. Theobald was employed there as a caretaker and defended the castle three times (947, 948, 949) against the king, the support of King Otto I had. After the two parties had reconciled in 950, Laon was returned to the king. At the same time Theobald began a feud against Archbishop Artaud of Reims for possession of Coucy Castle , to which Theobald had a claim through his marriage, which the Archbishop contested him. But an agreement was only reached with Artaud's successor in office, Odelric , when the castle was handed over to Theobald's son Odo around 965.

After the death of his brother-in-law Duke Alain Schiefbart in 952, Theobald managed to extend his influence to Brittany , where he gained fiefdom over the County of Rennes , while he left the County of Nantes to the second husband of his sister, Count Fulko II of Anjou . Both counts were closely allied and on the occasion of a meeting in Verron called each other " governor et administrateur of the Kingdom of Neustria " ( Gouverneur et administrateur [du] royaume [de Neustrie] ) and "counts by the grace of God" ( Comtes par la grâce de Dieu ). But a generation-long feud between the Houses of Blois and Anjou was to break out among her sons.

Another death was to have a decisive influence on Theobald's and that of his descendants. When his lord Duke Hugo 956 died made himself Theobald advantage of this by the immaturity his son Hugh Capet exploited in order to Chartres and châteaudun to seized, thus where he ended the direct rule of robertians. He enjoyed the approval of King Lothar , who hoped that this would weaken the Dukes of France. With this act Theobald established a supremacy of his house in the north of France, but also broke with the Robertinians , who were to ascend the throne as Capetians in 987, which led to an ongoing hostile relationship between his descendants and them. He earned himself the nickname and a dubious reputation.

In league with the king, Theobald led an invasion against Normandy in 960 , whose Duke Richard Fearless was the protector of Hugo Capets. After the capture of Évreux in 962, however, they were defeated in front of Rouen , where Theobald's son of the same name was also killed. In return, the Normans, who were supported by the warriors of Harald Blauzahn , carried out a retaliatory campaign against Theobald's territories and attacked the Dunois and burned Chartres. In a peace negotiated in 966, he had to give up all his conquests in Normandy. Theobald strengthened his influence in the Berry by gaining control of the fortresses of Saint-Aignan-sur-Cher , Vierzon and probably Aiguillon and securing the Archdiocese of Bourges first to his brother and then to one of his sons. He also strengthened the defenses of Chartes and had the castles of Chinon , Châteaudun and Saumur (960) built. He became the ruling power on the Loire , even threatening that of Hugo Capet, who in turn sought an alliance with the Counts of Anjou .

Theobald died on January 16, 975 and was buried in the Abbey of Saint-Père in Chartres. The monks of the Abbey of Saint-Florent near Saumur, which Theobald had founded, passed on to posterity of the entry of his soul into Paradise , thanks to the intercession of Saint Florent of Anjou . They were the only ones who said that.

family

Between 942 and 945 he married Ledgard (* probably 915/920, † 27 May after 978), daughter of Count Heribert II of Vermandois and widow of the Norman Duke Wilhelm Langschwert († 942). She brought the land around Provins and Château-Thierry ( Omois ) into the marriage and her descendants the right to the county of Champagne . The couple had four children:

• Theobald († 962)
• Hugo († January 2, 985), Archbishop of Bourges since 969
• Odo I (around 950 - 12 March 996), Count of Blois
• Emma (* around 955; † August 1, 1004 or later), founder of the Benedictine Abbey of Bourgueil
  • ∞ since approx. 968 with Duke Wilhelm IV. Eisenfaust of Aquitaine (Wilhelm II. Of Poitou)

predecessor	Office	successor
Theobald the old man	Count of Blois Count of Tours 960–975	Odo I.
Hugo Capet	Count of Chartres Count of Châteaudun around 956–975	Odo I.