Origins
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).
Read more about this topic: War Of Succession Of Champagne
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