Theobald I of Navarre Theobald I ( , ) ( 30 May 1201 – 8 July 1253 ) , called the Chansonnier and the Posthumous , was Count of Champagne ( as Theobald IV ) from birth and King of Navarre from 1234 . He was famous as a trouvère and Crusade r , and was the first Frenchman to rule Navarre . Rule of Champagne . Regency of Champagne . Born in Troyes , he was the son of Theobald III of Champagne and Blanche of Navarre , the youngest daughter of Sancho VI of Navarre . His father died before he was born , and Blanche ruled the county as regent until Theobald turned twenty - one in 1222 . He was a notable trouvère , and many of his songs have survived , including some with music . The first half of Theobald ' s life was plagued by a number of difficulties . His uncle , Count Henry II , had left behind a great deal of debt , which was far from paid off when Theobald ' s father died . Further , Theobald ' s right to the succession was challenged by Henry ' s daughter Philippa and her husband , Erard I of Brienne , Count of Ramerupt , and one of the more powerful nobles of Champagne . The conflict with Erard and Philippa broke into open warfare in 1215 as the Champagne War of Succession , and was not resolved until after Theobald came of age in 1222 . At that time he bought out their rights for a substantial monetary payment . Some years later , in 1234 , he had to spend still more to buy off Philippa ' s elder sister Alice , Queen of Cyprus . The settlement of 1222 did not end Theobald ' s problems , for in the following years he antagonized Louis VIII . Conflict with the crown . Unfortunately , Theobald IV ' s rule was initially marked by a series of difficulties . Theobald IV came into conflict with Louis VIII of France ( 1223 – 26 ) over the restrictive policies the new king tried to enforce on Jews in France . In his " Etablissement sur les Juifs " of November 8 , 1223 , Louis VIII declared that interest on Jews ' debts should no longer hold good ( though at the same time it also ordered that the capital should be repaid to the Jews in three years ) , that the debts due the Jews should be inscribed and placed under the control of their lords . The lords then collected the debts for the Jews , doubtless receiving a commission . Twenty - six barons accepted Louis VIII ' s new measures , but Theobald IV did not , since he had an agreement with the Jews that guaranteed their safety in return for extra income through taxation . Theobald IV and his mother had relied on this extra income during the Succession War of his minority . Champagne ' s capital at Troyes was where Rashi had lived a century before , and Champagne continued to have a prosperous Jewish population . Theobald IV ' s refusal to enact Louis VIII ' s new antagonistic policies towards the Jews enlarged a growing feud between the two men . During the siege of Avignon in 1226 , part of the Albigensian Crusade , due to his disagreements with the king , Theobald IV performed only the minimum service of 40 days and then went home . Unfortunately , Louis VIII died of dysentery soon after he left , leading some to accuse Theobald IV of treachery . At the death of Louis VIII , Theobald ' s political situation was difficult : he had abandoned the king in his campaigns , there were rumors that he had poisoned him , and he was barred from the coronation of Louis IX ( his mother Blanche went instead ) . At the beginning of the regency of Blanche of Castile , he abandoned a conspiracy against the French king , which also included Hugh de Lusignan , Count of La Marche and Pierre Mauclerc , Duke of Brittany , and cemented a strong relation with the regent . Strong rumors began to spread that Theobald IV was having an affair with Louis VIII ' s widow , the Queen Regent Blanche of Castile ( ruled 1226 - 1234 ) , for whom he composed a poetic homage ( Blanche of Castile and Theobald IV ' s father Theobald III were both grandchildren of Eleanor of Aquitaine ) . The first chronicler to report the rumors about a love affair between Theobald and Queen Blanche was Roger of Wendover . Wendover claims that Theobald , " tormented by passion " for the queen , tried to poison King Louis VIII at the siege of Avignon . Matthew Paris adds a story that the French nobles goaded the young King Louis IX to challenge Theobald to a duel to avenge his father ' s death , but that Blanche put a stop to the duel . Theobald IV was becoming increasingly influential at court , and the other great counts of France were becoming resentful ( it is entirely possible that the rumors of an affair with the queen regent were indeed unfounded , and merely fabricated by other barons jealous of his position at court ) . In general , the other barons were jealous of the strengthened County of Champagne which had emerged from the Succession War , and now presented a major rival to surrounding areas . Whatever the case , the resentful other barons invaded Champagne from 1229 - 1230 . Ironically , the alliances in the invasion were reversed from the arrangement they had been in during the Succession War : Count Henry II of Bar attacked Champagne from the east , prompting Theobald IV to ally with Lorraine to attack the County of Bar . Simon of Joinville , who had fought for the rebel faction during the Succession War , now allied with Theobald IV against the external threat , and aided him in ravaging Bar , which was on the northern border of Joinville ' s own lands . Unfortunately , the conflict with the County of Bar prompted the more powerful Duchy of Burgundy to invade Champagne from the south , led by Duke Hugh IV ( his father Odo III , Blanche of Navarre ' s staunch ally , had died in 1218 ) . This provoked Queen - Regent Blanche of Castile to intervene , in order to stop the spread of the conflict . Theobald IV was able to repulse the attackers , but at great cost . Champagne ' s economy was so depleted by these two major wars , as well as the crusading debts of Theobald IV ' s father and uncle , that Theobald IV had to sell off his overlordship of the counties west of Paris that his ancestors held before expanding east to Champagne : Blois , Sancerre , and Chateaudun . Another major blow to morale came near the start of the invasion of 1229 , when Blanche of Navarre died ( of natural causes ) while in retirement at Argensolles convent . Moreover , Theobald IV ' s second wife Agnes of Beaujeu suddenly died in 1231 , leaving Theobald IV with only their five - year - old daughter , Blanche . This left Champagne in need of a male heir , prompting Theobald IV to remarry in 1232 to Margaret of Bourbon . The situation reached its nadir in 1233 , when Henry II ' s elder daughter Queen Alice of Cyprus threatened to reprise the succession war of Theobald IV ' s minority yet again . Theobald IV was able to pay off Alice to make her abandon her claim , but this massive expenditure left him even further in debt . Rule of Navarre . Theobald succeeded his uncle Sancho VII of Navarre as King of Navarre . Theobald was in Pamplona at the time of Sancho ' s death and he immediately affirmed the " fueros " of the realm . This greatly increased his resources ( not to mention his prestige ) , and the remaining years of his rule were far more peaceful and prosperous . The lords and barons of Northern France who had been in conflict with Theobald IV in 1229 left him in peace , realizing that as the new king of Navarre , his position was too strong to challenge . Domestic and foreign policy . As king , Theobald sealed pacts with the Crown of Castile and that of Aragon , and the Kingdom of England . He entrusted most of the government to nobles of Champagne and divided Navarre into four new districts based on fiscal functions and maintenance of public order . He began the codification of the law in the " Cartulario Magno " and set down on paper the Navarrese traditions known as the " Fuero General " , not systematically recorded until that time and kept up following Basque traditions in use on the different districts of the kingdom . In order to gain the support of Castile , he had his daughter Blanche engaged to the infante Alfonso , later Alfonso X . By the marriage pact , Ferdinand III of León offered the lands of Guipúzcoa as long as Theobald lived , but not those of Álava to which the Navarrese monarchs had long laid claim . But with Guipúzcoa he would have attained direct access to the Cantabrian Sea . This alliance was never effected , however , as it would have meant the incorporation of Navarre as a " feudum " of Castile . The next year , Theobald engaged his daughter to John I , Duke of Brittany , the son of his close crusading ally Peter of Dreux . Crusade of 1239 . It was in 1239 that Theobald directed a crusading host to the Holy Land . Militarily , his crusade was not glorious , but it led to several diplomatic successes . He spent much time dallying at pleasant Acre ( where he wrote a poem to his wife ) before moving on Ascalon , where he began the construction of a castle . He fought two minor battles , one was a slight victory . The second battle , near Gaza was a decisive defeat . He negotiated with the Ayyubids of Damascus and Egypt , who were at odds with each other at the time , finalizing a treaty with the former ( in the north ) against the latter ( in the south ) whereby the Kingdom of Jerusalem regained Jerusalem itself , plus Bethlehem , Nazareth , and most of the region of Galilee with many Templar castles , such as Belfort and Saphet . He also negotiated a truce with the Egyptians . Some contemporary sources even imply that the whole of the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean was put back in crusader hands . It is debatable how much of the ultimate success of the crusade ( the most successful since the First in territorial terms ) was attributable to Theobald ' s intentions and how much was just fortuitous . He returned from Palestine late in 1240 , before Richard of Cornwall arrived , because he did not wish to be present during any more debating over the leadership and direction of the enterprise . Souvenirs that he brought back to Europe included the rose called " Provins " ( Latin name rosa gallica ' officinalis ' , the Apothecary ' s Rose ) from Damascus , transporting it " in his helmet " ; a piece of the true cross ; and perhaps the Chardonnay grape which in modern times is an important component of champagne . Conflict with Church and final years . Theobald spent most of the remainder of his reign travelling back and forth between Navarre and Champagne . He was at odds with the bishop of Pamplona , Pedro Jiménez de Gazólaz , who held a provincial synod in 1250 to excommunicate him . He refused to respond to papal tribunals , but Pope Innocent IV conceded him the privilege of kings : nobody could excommunicate him save the Holy See . Theobald died at Pamplona , on a return from one of his many visits to Champagne . He was buried in the Cathedral of Pamplona . He was succeeded first by his elder son Theobald II and then by his younger son Henry I . Marriages and issue . Theobald married three times . He married Gertrude of Dagsburg in 1220 , and divorced her two years later when he came of age . They had no children . Secondly , in 1222 , he married Agnes of Beaujeu , she was a daughter of Guichard IV , sire of Beaujeu and his wife , Sybille of Flanders . The marriage produced at least one daughter : Agnes died in 1231 . Theobald married thirdly to Margaret of Bourbon . Theobald and Margaret had six children : Theobald had at least two daughters out of wedlock . With an unknown mistress , he had Agnes , who married Álvar Pérez de Azagra , 4th Lord of Albarracín . With Marquesa López de Rada , daughter of Lope Díaz de Rada and Brunisende of Narbonne , he had Marquesa Gil de Rada , who married Pedro Fernández , baron of Hijar , illegitimate son of king Jaime I of Aragon .