Theobald II, Count of Champagne

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Original coat of arms of the county of Blois.
Original coat of arms of the county of Blois.
Original coat of arms of the county of Champagne.
Original coat of arms of the county of Champagne.

Theobald II of Champagne (1090-1151), also known as Theobald The Great, and Theobald IV, Count of Blois. He was Count of Champagne from 1125 to 1151, as well as count of Blois and of Chartres (from 1102). 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:

[edit] Sources

  • Europaeische Stammtafeln
Preceded by:
Hugues		 Count of Champagne
1125–1151		 Succeeded by:
Henry I
Preceded by:
Stephen Henry		 Count of Blois
1102–1151		 Succeeded by:
Theobald V