Erard of Brienne-Ramerupt

Érard de Brienne (c. 1170 † 1246) was a French nobleman. He was lord of Ramerupt and of Venizy, and also a pretender to the county of Champagne as an instigator of the Champagne War of Succession. He was a son of André of Brienne and of Alix of Vénizy.

He was born in Ramerupt, Aube, Champagne, France.

A social-climber from a minor branch of the Brienne family, Erard actually held no lands in Brienne and had little just cause to appropriate the name "of Brienne" for himself. His uncle Erard II of Brienne had indeed ruled as count of Brienne. Andre, the brother of Erard II, was the father of Erard of Brienne-Ramerupt. Erard was actually lord of Ramerupt, which wasn't very impressive compared to the holdings of the more senior branches of the Brienne family. Within his own letters, Erard thus tried to enhance his prestige by consistently referring to himself as "Erard of Brienne" and not even mentioning Ramerupt. The name "Erard of Brienne-Ramerupt" is retroactively applied by historians for the sake of clarity.

While Andre was the brother of Count Erard of Brienne, his second son - and thus Erard of Brienne-Ramerupt's cousin - was the famous crusader knight John of Brienne (1170-1237), who in 1210 wed the heiress Maria of Jerusalem to become the nominal King of Jerusalem by marriage (albeit, the crusaders had lost control of the city of Jerusalem itself by this point). Perhaps seeking to emulate the success of his uncle, who found great prestige traveling to the east and marrying a powerful heiress, thus in June 1213 he left Champagne for the Latin East with the stated intention of marrying Philippa of Champagne, the younger half-sister of Maria of Jerusalem.

The line of succession of the counts of Champagne had become complicated in the current generation. Count Henry I had two sons with Marie of Champagne, Henry II and Theobald III. Henry II succeeded as count on his father's death, but left France within a few years to fight in the Third Crusade. Before he left in 1190, Henry II had his barons swear that should he never return, his younger brother Theobald III was his designated heir. The problem was that Henry II never returned from the Latin East, but instead chose to marry the then-heiress to the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Queen Isabella I - eight days after the assassination of her husband Conrad of Montferrat, which Henry II might possibly have had a hand in orchestrating. Moreover, Isabella I was already visibly pregnant with Conrad's child - Maria of Jerusalem, who later married John of Brienne - thus the marriage was considered scandalous by many. Henry II fathered two daughters with Maria, Queen Alice of Cyprus and Philippa.

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