Copy of a seal of Theobald I
(
30 May 1201 –
8 July 1253), called
the Troubadour,
the Chansonnier, and
the Posthumous, was
Count of Champagne (as
Theobald IV) from birth and
King of Navarre from 1234. He 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
Blanca of Navarre, the youngest daughter of
Sancho VI of Navarre. His father died before he was born, and Blanca (
Blanche in French) 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
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. At the beginning of the regency of
Blanche of Castile, he abandoned a conspiracy against the French king, which also included
Hugues de Lusignan and
Pierre Mauclerc, and cemented a strong relation with the regent. Many have hinted at a possible love for Blanche, and he wrote a poetical homage to her. He became so influential at court, that other barons resented him and started a rebellion in 1229.
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.
In the following years, however, he antagonized the young king of
France Louis IX, which led to an invasion of Champagne by a group of French barons. They were driven off at the cost of further expense and hardship in Champagne. Thus in order to settle with Alice, Theobald had to sell his overlordship over the counties of
Blois,
Sancerre, and
Chateaudun to the king.
Rule of Navarre
Theobald experienced a reversal of his fortunes in 1234, when he succeeded his uncle
Sancho VII of Navarre as
King of Navarre. While Sancho's will named
James I of Aragon as his heir, the Navarrese ignored this and elected Theobald, son of Sancho's sister. 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.
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 codificaton of the law in the
Cartulario Magno and wrote down the Navarrese traditions known as the
Fuero General.In order to gain the support of Castile, he married his daughter
Blanca 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. 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 and finalised a treaty with the former against the latter whereby the
Kingdom of Jerusalem regained
Jerusalem itself, plus
Bethlehem,
Nazareth, and most of the region of
Galilee with many
Templar castles, like
Belfort. 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.
Conflict with church and final years
Theobald passed 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:
- Eleanor of Navarre (1233 -?), Died young
- Peter of Navarre (died young)
