War of Succession of Champagne - Aftermath

Aftermath

Blanche and Theobald IV had centralized comital authority within Champagne, reining in the rebellious local barons and ending any pretensions of collegiate rule in the county. Theobald IV promptly divorced Gertrude as soon as he came of age and peace was secured, terminating their brief two-year-long and childless marriage, in order to marry Agnes of Beaujeu.

Unfortunately, Theobald IV's rule was initially marked by a series of misfortunes: he was accused of abandoning King Louis VIII at the siege of Avignon (1226), costing him the royal alliance he had relied on to secure his inheritance. Moreover, 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). 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. Alice had become queen of Cyprus by marrying her stepbrother Hugh I of Cyprus in 1210.

However, the fortunes of Theobald IV and Champagne dramatically shifted soon afterward, when in 1234 he became King of Navarre on the death of his uncle (after successfully outmaneuvering James I of Aragon's attempt to succeed in Navarre). Suddenly, Theobald IV became too wealthy and powerful for neighboring counts to risk fighting. This also ended Alice of Cyprus's attempt to renew the succession war, and she was paid off with a substantial cash settlement. Alice was at this time engaged in the War of the Lombards against Blanche's old ally Emperor Frederick II, so it is possible that Alice did not want to fight two wars at once, and wanted to concentrate on the direct threat to Cyprus itself. This war was based on Emperor Frederick II's attempt to claim the throne of Jerusalem and Cyprus, based on his marriage to Isabella II of Jerusalem, the young half-niece of Alice and Philippa (Isabella II's mother Maria was the daughter of Isabella I of Jerusalem by her previous husband Conrad, while Alice and Philippa were the daughters of her subsequent husband Henry II of Champagne). Maria died giving birth to Isabella II in 1212, and Isabella II died in 1228 giving birth to Frederick II's son Conrad IV, sparking the war against Frederick II over control of his son's regency.

Theobald IV spent most of his subsequent time and attention in Navarre, but the removal of external threats ensured an unprecedented era of peace and prosperity for Champagne that would last for the next five decades. Margaret of Bourbon and Theobald IV ultimately had four surviving children together, including Theobald IV's successor Theobald II of Navarre (Theobald V of Champagne), who would rule from his father's death in 1253 to 1270. Theobald IV and Margaret's two daughters Margaret and Beatrix were married to the dukes of Lorraine and Burgundy respectively, to cement peaceful relations through marriage-alliance. After Theobald II/V died childless while on the Eighth Crusade, his younger brother Henry I of Navarre (Henry III of Champagne) succeeded him for a brief but talented reign which ended when he also died in 1274, leaving only his one year old daughter (Theobald IV's granddaughter) Joan I of Navarre as his heir. Henry's wife Blanche of Artois would rule Champagne as regent for Joan until 1284, when Joan (at 11 years old, still under the regency of her mother) was married to King Philip IV the Fair of France (who was himself 16 years old). With this marriage alliance to the Kings of France, Champagne was absorbed into the royal holdings. Philip IV and Joan had three sons who each ruled as king of France in turn, because each was unable to produce a male heir. When their last son Charles IV of France died without a male heir in 1328 the Capetian Dynasty ended, resulting in Philip of House Valois (Philip IV's nephew) and King Edward III of England (son of Isabella, Philip IV and Joan's daughter, great-granddaughter of Theobald IV) entering into conflict over the succession, which began the Hundred Years' War.