Original coat of arms of the county of Blois.
Original coat of arms of the county of Champagne.
Theobald the Great (1090–1151) was Count of Blois and of Chartres as Theobald IV from 1102 and was Count of Champagne and of Brie as Theobald II from 1125.
He held Auxerre, Maligny, Ervy, Troyes, and Châteauvillain as fiefs from Eudes II, Duke of Burgundy. He was the son of Stephen II, Count of Blois and Adela of Normandy, and the elder brother of King Stephen of England. Although he was the second son, Theobald was chosen as heir over his elder brother, Guillaume, who was weak mentally.
King Louis VII of France became involved in a war with Theobald by permitting Count Raoul I of Vermandois and seneschal of France, to repudiate his wife Eléonore of Blois, Theobald's sister, and to marry Petronilla of Aquitaine, sister of the queen of France. The war, which lasted two years (1142-1144), was marked by the occupation of Champagne by the royal army and the capture of Vitry, where many persons perished in the burning of the church. French teacher Pierre Abélard, who became famous for his love affair with and subsequent marriage to his student Héloïse, sought asylum in Champagne during Theobald II's reign.
In 1123 he married Matilda of Carinthia, daughter of Engelbert, Duke of Carinthia.
Their children were:
- Henry I of Champagne
- Theobald V of Blois
- Adèle of Champagne, married King Louis VII of France
- Isabelle of Champagne, married 1. Roger of Apulia d. 1148 & 2. William Gouet IV d. 1170
- Marie of Champagne, married Eudes II, Duke of Burgundy, became Abbess of Fontevrault later in life.
- William White Hands, 1135-1202, Archbishop of Reims 1176-1202, Cardinal 1179
- Stephen I of Sancerre 1133-1191, Count of Sancerre and Crusader, died at the Siege of Acre
- Agnes of Champagne (d. 1207), Dame de Ligny married Renaut II of Bar (d. 1170).
- Margaret of Champagne nun at Fontevrault
Sources
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