Champagne War of Succession
| War of the Succession of Champagne | |||||||||
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 Count of Champagne King Philip II of France Holy Roman Empire.svg){kind=small} Duchy of Burgundy County of Bar medieval Papacy
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 Most of the local barons in the eastern and southern borderlands of Champagne, united under Erard of Brienne claiming succession by marrying Theobald IV's cousin Philippa. Duchy of Lorraine
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Blanche of Navarre, Countess-Regent of Champagne Theobald IV of Champagne King Philip II of France Emperor Frederick II Stupor Mundi Duke Odo III of Burgundy Count Henry II of Bar Pope Innocent III |
Erard of Brienne, lord of Ramerupt Theobald I, Duke of Lorraine Simon of Joinville |
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The War of the Succession of Champagne was a war from 1216 to 1222 between the nobles of the Champagne region of France, occurring within that region and also spilling over into neighboring duchies. The war lasted two years and de facto ended in 1218, but did not officially end until Theobald IV reached the age of majority in 1222, at which point his rivals abandoned their claims.
In 1190, Henry II, count of Champagne, left his county for the Crusades with his two uncles Philip II of France and Richard I of England (Henry's mother was the daughter of Louis VII of France and Eleanor of Aquitaine, and thus half-sister to Philip via her father and to Richard via her mother). He made the barons of Champagne swear to pay homage to his brother Theobald if he should die on Crusade.
In the Holy Land, Henry was crowned king of Jerusalem and - to reinforce his legitimacy - married for the second time to queen Isabella, second wife and widow of Conrad of Montferrat, despite the fact that her first husband (from whom she had been forced to separate) was still alive. Henry and Isabella had three daughters and no surviving sons and so, when Henry II died in 1197, his brother inherited the county as Theobald III. Theobald III then died of a sudden illness four years later in 1201 while preparing to lead the Fourth Crusade, leaving his widow Blanche of Navarre nine months pregnant with their son Theobald IV, born after his father's death.
In 1215 Henry II's third daughter Philippa of Champagne married a nobleman from Champagne living in the Holy Land. His name was Erard of Brienne-Ramerupt, and he was a cousin of John of Brienne, king of Jerusalem. It was he who gave Philippa the idea of claiming the county of Champagne.
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