page_title: War of the Succession of Champagne
section_title: Origins
hierarchical_section_title: War of the Succession of Champagne / Origins
caption_attribution_description: English: Vincent of Beauvais, Le Miroir Historial (Vol. IV). Philippe II's victory at Bouvines (Koninklijke Bibliotheek MS 72 A 24 fol. 308r) Place of origin, date: Paris, Master of the Cité des Dames (illuminator); c. 1400-1410 Material: Vellum, ff. 401, 425x320 (254x196) mm, 43 lines, littera cursiva, Binding: 18th-century brown leather; gilt; with coat of arms of Stadholder William V Decoration: 1 two-column miniature (185x200 mm); 19 column miniatures (110/70x90/85 mm); decorated initials with border decoration (ff. 3r, 10r, 15r, 19r, 20r, etc.) Added: 1 illustration in the margin (coat of arms) Provenance: acquired before 1492 by Philip of Cleves (d. 1528; coat of arms with label; signature); purchased in 1531 from his estate by Henri III, Count of Nassau (d. 1538); by descent to the Princes of Orange-Nassau, the later Stadholders, at The Hague; carried off in 1795 toParis by the French and restituted to the KB in 1816 Annotation: Vol. I-III (now: Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, fr. 308-311) were decorated but not illustrated in the early 15th century. Apparently separated from their fourth volume from the beginning, they were illustrated on behalf of a later owner, Louis de Gruuthuse,in the early 1450s
context_page_description: 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.
context_section_description: 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.
  Blanche of Navarre, however, proved to be an incredibly strong and efficient regent, and had devoted herself for the past 15 years to ensuring the legal status of her son Theobald IV as rightful heir.  Blanche was aided in securing her powerbase during the first few shakey years of her regency by the fact that so many lords and knights of the county, who might have posed a challenge to her, had left to fight on the Fourth Crusade from 1202 to 1204.  Queen Mother Adèle of Champagne (who was Theobald III's aunt) also took Blanche under her wing, giving Blanche vital counsel during the early years of her regency until Adèle's death in 1206 (for the rest of her life, Blanche would make large monastic donations devoted to Adèle's memory).
  By 1216, despite the fact that Erard rallied most of the local barons of the county against Blanche, she had built up such strong alliances with both King Philip II as well as Pope Innocent III that Erard never gained any official legal support for his claims.  From the start of the conflict, Pope Innocent III began excommunicating rebel barons, negatively affecting their efforts.  Further, while Theobald IV was still an underaged youth of 13 years, he had acquitted himself so valiantly in combat at the decisive Battle of Bouvines that King Philip II threw his full support behind him (though this was also the culmination of over a decade of Blanche cementing an alliance with the monarchy, through financial ties and homage).
caption: King Philip II's victory at Bouvines
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