Theobald II (Champagne)

Theobald the great

Theobald the Great ( French: Thibaut le Grand , * 1093 ; † January 10, 1152 ) was from 1102 as Theobald IV. Count of Blois , Chartres , Châteaudun , Sancerre and as Theobald II. Count of Meaux , and since 1125 also as Theobald II. Count of Troyes ( Champagne ).

biography

He was a son of Count Stephan Heinrich von Blois and Adela of England , a daughter of William the Conqueror , and thus an older brother of the future King Stephen of England . Although not the eldest son, Theobald nevertheless became his father's main heir after his older brother Wilhelm was probably excluded from the inheritance because of an intellectual disability. In 1125 Theobald inherited the county of Troyes and the title of Count of Champagne ( comes Campanie ) from his uncle Hugo , which he had created himself, although he did not rule the entire province. At first Theobald was under the tutelage of his mother, who had great influence on him even after he came of age in 1109. Theobald was previously knighted in 1107 .

Theobald led to his royal liege lord Ludwig VI. a changeable relationship. At first he stood by the king during the so-called "uprising of the little barons" and burned down the ancestral castle of the rebellious lord of Le Puiset . But soon afterwards he fell out with the king, the cause was the vacant county of Corbeil to which Theobald made a claim, which the king did not recognize. Theobald allied himself with the rebels, but was defeated by the king at Toury . Theobald was able to win against his ally, Count Robert II of Flanders , near Meaux . After a brief peace in 1113, Theobald supported the rebelling Hugues de Crécy in 1114 in the defense of Gournay , which was unsuccessful and thus ended the uprising.

Theobald then allied himself with his uncle King Henry I of England and led the fight against King Ludwig VI. away, whose allied Count Wilhelm II of Nevers he captured in 1115. In October 1119 Theobald was forced to make peace with the king after Pope Kalixt II excommunicated both Emperor Henry V , the antipope Gregory VIII and his supportive Henry I of England at a council in Reims . Theobald then gave the king military successes after the emperor invaded France with an army in 1124, but could be forced to retreat near Metz . After overcoming this threat, Theobald took up his opposition to the king again and supported the uprising of Stephan von Garlande in 1127 , whereupon the king devastated the Champagne with an army.

Henry I of England died in 1135 and Theobald, as the eldest grandson of William the Conqueror, was offered the crown by the Norman barons, as they wanted to prevent his cousin Matilda from inheriting the Count of Anjou . But his younger brother Stephan, who was already wealthy in England, seized the throne with the support of his third brother, Bishop Heinrich von Winchester, and was recognized by Pope Innocent II . Matilda and her husband Count Gottfried V of Anjou defended themselves against this usurpation and allied themselves with the Duke of Aquitaine . At first the Blois brothers were able to assert themselves, especially after Aquitaine was neutralized by the death of the duke in 1137 and Theobald was able to mediate the marriage of his heir Eleanor with the new French king Louis VII . In the same year Theobald was entrusted by his brother with the reign in Normandy as compensation for the lost crown.

However, this rapprochement with the French crown was soon followed by a new confrontation. In the dispute over the investiture of a new archbishop in Bourges in 1141 between the king and the pope, Theobald sided with the papal candidate. A year later there was a deeper break with the king after his uncle and seneschal , Count Rudolf von Vermandois , separated from Theobald's sister in order to marry a sister of the queen instead. Theobald saw this as a plot by the king against him and at a council in Lagny, Champagne, he achieved the imposition of the Interedict on Vermandois. The king declared war on Theobald and marched into Champagne with his brother Robert von Dreux . After the king had more than a thousand people burned to the ground in a church during an attack on Vitry-en-Perthois , Theobald appealed to the authority of the Pope through Bernard of Clairvaux, whom he trusted , which in 1143 forced a peace made in Vitry by the king had to vacate the Champagne and also give way on the bishops question in Bourges.

This conflict with the king meant that Theobald was largely inactive to the English civil war that broke out at the same time and the accompanying invasion of Normandy by the Count of Anjou, which led to the loss of Normandy until 1144. In return, this development promoted Theobald's reconciliation with the king, who saw himself threatened by the Anjous' increase in power and was therefore dependent on strong allies.

Theobald died on January 10, 1152 and was buried in the church of Lagny. Thanks to his skill, the influence of Champagne in eastern France was expanded considerably by extending his sovereignty to five vassals of the Archbishop of Reims , to as many of the Bishop of Langres and several of the Duke of Burgundy , including Joigny in particular .

Theobald is known to posterity, among other things, as an active supporter of the Cistercians , which is reflected in the foundations of important institutions of the order, for example the abbeys of Clairvaux , Trois-Fontaines and Pontigny . After his escape from Saint-Denis , he granted the militant philosopher Peter Abelard asylum in Champagne. Furthermore, the champagne fairs , which had been under the patronage of the Count since Theobald, ushered in an economic prosperity in Champagne, which made the region one of the richest in Europe.

Marriage and offspring

Theobald was married since 1123 to Mathilde von Kärnten , a daughter of Duke Engelbert von Kärnten († 1141) and Uta von Passau († February 9, 1150). Both children were:

• Henry I the Generous (* 1126 - † March 16, 1181), Count of Champagne
• Maria (* 1128 - † March 11 or August 7, 1190), abbess in Fontevrault Abbey since 1174
  • ∞ since 1145 with Duke Odo II of Burgundy († 1162)
• Theobald V the Good († 1191 at the siege of Acre ), Count of Blois, Chartres and Châteaudun, Seneschal of France
• Isabella (* 1130; †?)
  • ∞ since 1140/43 with Duke Roger III. of Apulia
  • ∞ since 1050/55 with Guillaume Goët, Lord of Montmirail ( Perche-Gouët )
• Stephan I († 1190 at the siege of Acre), Count of Sancerre
• William with the white hands (* 1135; † September 7, 1202), Bishop of Chartres , Archbishop of Sens , Archbishop of Reims , Cardinal and papal legate
• Hugo (†?), Abbot of Cîteaux
• Mathilde († January 1, 1184)
  • ∞ with Count Rotrou IV of Perche († 1191 at the siege of Acre)
• Agnes († August 7, 1207), mistress of Ligny-en-Barrois
  • ∞ since 1155 with Rainald II. († 1170), Count von Bar ( House of Scarponnois )
• Adela (Alix) (around 1140 - June 14, 1206 in Paris ), regent of France
  • ∞ since November 13, 1160 with King Louis VII of France (1120–1180)
• Margarethe (†?), Nun in Fontevrault

Theobald left his property to his eldest son Heinrich I, who a little later divided it up within the family and contented himself with Champagne.

Web links

• Short biography of Theobald IV./II.

predecessor	Office	successor
Stephan Heinrich	Count of Meaux 1102-1151	Heinrich I.
Stephan Heinrich	Count of Châteaudun 1102–1151	Theobald V.
Stephan Heinrich	Count of Sancerre 1102-1151	Stephan I.
Wilhelm	Count of Blois Count of Chartres 1107–1151	Theobald V.
Hugo	Count of Champagne (Troyes) 1125-1151	Heinrich I.