Theobald of Champagne: Count, Crusader, and King

230 Pages·1979·8.898 MB·English

by  Janush Joseph Rozankowski

INFORMATION TO USERS
This was produced from a copy of a document sent to us for microfilming. While the
most advanced technological means to photograph and reproduce this document
have been used, the quality is heavily dependent upon the quality of the material
submitted.
The following explanation of techniques is provided to help you understand
markings or notations which may appear on this reproduction.
1. The sign or “target” for pages apparently lacking from the document
photographed is “Missing Page(s)”. If it was possible to obtain the missing
page(s) or section, they are spliced into the film along with adjacent pages.
This may have necessitated cutting through an image and duplicating
adjacent pages to assure you of complete continuity.
2. When an image on the film is obliterated with a round black mark it is an
indication that the film inspector noticed either blurred copy because of
movement during exposure, or duplicate copy. Unless we meant to delete
copyrighted materials that should not have been Aimed, you will And a
good image of the page in the adjacent frame.
3. When a map, drawing or chart, etc., is part of the material being photo­
graphed the photographer has followed a deAnite method in “sectioning”
the material. It is customary to begin Aiming at the upper left hand comer
of a large sheet and to continue from left to right in equal sections with
small overlaps. If necessary, sectioning is continued again—beginning
below the first row and continuing on until complete.
4. For any illustrations that cannot be reproduced satisfactorily by
xerography, photographic prints can be purchased at additional cost and
tipped into your xerographic copy. Requests can be made to our
Dissertations Customer Services Department.
5. Some pages in any document may have indistinct print. In all cases we
have Aimed the best available copy.
University
Micrdriims
International
300 N. ZEEB ROAD, ANN ARBOR. Ml 48106
18 BEDFORD ROW, LONDON WC1R 4EJ, ENGLAND
7918300
RQZANKOUSKI* JANUSH JOSEPH
THEOBALD OF CHAMPAGNE: COUNT* CRUSADER* AND
KING.
FORDHAM UNIVERSITY* PH.D.* 1979
CQPR. 1979 RQZANKQUSKI* JAHUSH JOSEPH
Unnii\versite
VMi crdrilms
.....
International
300 N ZEEB ROAO, ANN ARBOR. Ml 48106
©
1979
JANUSH JOSEPH ROZANKOWSKI
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
THEOBALD OF CHAMPAGNE: COUNT, CRUSADER, AND KING
JANUSH J . ROZANKOWSKI
A.B., Fordham U niversity, ’75
M.A., Fordham U niversity, '76
DISSERTATION
SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE DEPARTMENT
OF HISTORY AT FORDHAM UNIVERSITY
NEW YORK
1979
FORDHAM UNIVERSITY
G raduate School o f A rts and Sciences
Ap.nJLL.1.7.*..........................19.7.9...
This dissertation prepared under my direction by
Janush Rozankowski
entitled Theobald of Champagne: Count, Crusader,
and King.
has been accepted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the
Ph.D.
Degree of.
{Faculty Adviser)
THEOBALD OF CHAMPAGNE: COUNT, CRUSADER, AND KING
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...................................... 1
Chapter
I. THEOBALD, THE DEVIOUS COUNT................................................... 8
I I . THE COUNTY OF CHAMPAGNE............................................................. 47
Government........................................................................................ 47
F inances............................................................................................. 76
The F a irs .............................................. 85
The Church of Champagne........................................................ 92
I I I . THE CRUSADE OF TROUBADOURS................................................ 110
IV. THE KING OF NAVARRE...................................... 138
A ccession.......................................................................................... 138
Domestic Turmoil in N avarre.............................................. 152
F inances............................................................................................. 173
Economy................................. 179
B a ttle w ith a B ishop................................................................ 182
V. AN ASSESSMENT..................................................................................... 193
APPENDIX.............................................................................................................. 209
ABBREVIAT IONS.................................................................................................. 211
BIBLIOGRAPHY.................................................................................................... 212
i i i
I
INTRODUCTION
The career of Theobald IV of Champagne (1201-1253)
was one of great d iv e rsity and of immense in te re s t since
i t embodied th ree d iffe re n t asp ects: count, crusader, and
king. As Count of Champagne, T heobald's lif e o ffers an
excellent p o rtra it of a royal vassal to rn between lo y alty
to h is sovereign, fe a r of a larg e baronial conspiracy and
a concern fo r h is personal in te re s ts . He was able to
surmount these d iffic u ltie s although paying a heavy p rice
in the devastation of h is country. His fortune took an
upturn in 1234 when he became King of N avarre. As founder
of a new dynasty in th a t Iberian kingdom, he was able to
quiet opposition and to bring c e n tra liz a tio n to a land of
unruly barons. Not only did he give Navarre peace w ithin
but also he was able to preserve the independence of a
realm beleaguered by power-hungry C a stile and Aragon.
This he accom plished not by arms which would have drained
the resources of h is country but by tre a tie s which, sup­
ported by the Roman p o n tiff, he was able to in itia te and
to m aintain. During h is reig n , Theobald embarked on an­
other adventure: the Crusade of 1239. This expedition,
plagued by the d isu n ity of Outremer, ended in a m ilita ry
I 1
d isa ste r but Theobald was able to win some concessions
from th e Moslems by n eg o tiatio n s.
Such a varied lifesp an has not gone unnoticed. A
number of h isto rian s have w ritten about T heobald's a c tiv i­
tie s . Of th ese, Jean Beraud and Henri d'A rbois de Jubain-
v ille provided the most thorough study of Theobald as
Count of Champagne.1 The major weakness of the form er's
work is th a t i t does not provide su ffic ie n t docum entation.
The l e tte r 's , in co n tra st, is considerably superior since
i t is based on a m eticulous study of the prim ary sources.
Both works, however, are of le sse r value in the in te rp re ­
ta tio n and in th e treatm ent of in s titu tio n s . Beraud and
Ju b ain v ille wrote during the mid-1800s and th e ir work re ­
fle c ts the rom anticism of the age. An ex cellen t case in
point is th e ir o verrating of T heobald's alleged love in ­
te re s t in Blanche of C a stile , mother of Louis IX and
regent of France. A ll h is early a c tiv itie s , consequently,
are p ictu red as the re su lts of passionate love when a
clo ser exam ination shows th a t every one of Theobald's
moves had a p o litic a l tw ist to i t . Beraud ignores in s ti­
tu tio n s com pletely w hile Ju b ain v ille devotes considerable
space to them. His work, however, is weak on th e treatm ent
of the fa irs of Champagne and slig h tly erroneous on
^Henri d'A rbois de Ju b a in v ille, H isto lre des dues
e t des comtes de Champagne. 6 vole. (P a ris, 18621; Jean
Heraud. H isto lre des comtes de Champagne et de B rie. 2 v o ls.
(P a ris, .
government. Jubainville's sketchy discussion of the fairs
becomes very evident when compared w ith F elix B ourquelot1s
o
m asterful stucty. Concerning government, he p ain ts a fa r
more dem ocratic and in stitu tio n a liz e d organization than
actu ally was the case. To name one example, he depicts a
le g isla tiv e council th a t is ahead of its tim e, as i t was
not a d is tin c t in s titu tio n w ith fix ed rep resen tatio n .
T heobald's career as a Crusader has received fu lle r
a tte n tio n w ith Runciman, G rousset, and P ain ter devoting
considerable tim e to i t . A ll of these are well-docum ented
stu d ies w ith a slig h t weakness in th a t l i t t l e e ffo rt is
expended in assessing the d iffic u ltie s of Theobald's
lead ersh ip . Too much tim e is spent in c ritic iz in g Theo­
bald w ithout focusing on the im p o ssib ility of transform ing
European barons and disagreeable Holy Land nobles in to an
e ffic ie n t m ilita ry fo rce. T heobald's successes in nego­
tia tio n s are sim ila rly played down.
T heobald's kingship of N avarre, in c o n tra st, has
been alm ost com pletely neglected. For y ears, the standard
work on th e subject has been th a t of Jose M oret, w ritten
2
Felix Bourquelot^ "Etudes sur les foires de Cham­
pagne," Memoires presentes par divers savants a 1 'Academic
des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres de l 'instltut Imperial
de France, 2nd series, 5 (.Paris, 1 8 6 .
g
Steven Runciman, A H istory of the C rusades. 3 v o ls.
(Cambridge, 1966); Rene G rousset. H lsto ire des cro isad es.
3 v o ls. (P a ris, 1936); Sidney P a in te r. wThe Crusade or
Theobald of Champagne," in Kenneth S etton, A H istory of
th e C rusades. 3 v o ls. (M adison, 1962), 2:463-85.
4
in th e seventeenth century. While M oret's work has much
u sefu l inform ation and some docum entation, h is in te rp re ta ­
tio n s have to be used w ith extreme caution. An ex cellen t
example of th is is h is ap p licatio n of the word cortes to
assem blies which are not q u ite the in s titu tio n which the
well-known word suggests. Andre Finot follow s Moret too
closely in h is biographical sketch of Theobald as King of
N avarre, repeating many of h is in te rp re ta tio n s. There is
a more serious flaw in Finot*s work in th a t h is comments
on in s titu tio n s are re fle c tiv e of the fourteenth century
which he tre a ts as c h a ra c te ristic of Theobald's reig n .
At th is p o in t, th e purpose of th is d isse rta tio n
should be c le a r. An attem pt w ill be made to study a ll of
the aspects of T heobald's career and to try to re c tify some
of th e d eficien cies of the e a rlie r works. This suggests a
re -in te rp re ta tio n of many of th e h ig h lig h ts of Theobald's
lif e , such as h is alleg ed love a ffa ir w ith Blanche, the
reason fo r h is s h ift from the reb els to the king in 1227,
a new evaluation of h is leadership of the Crusade of 1239
and of h is o v erall success as King of N avarre. A thorough
discussion w ill also be presented of governm ental,
4 /
Jose M oret, Anales del Reino de N avarra. 12 v o ls.
(Pamplona, 1890).
^Andre F ino t, "Don T h ib alt, e l Prim ero," Memoires de
la Societe d 'A g riia ltu re . -ies Sciences, des A rtes. et des
Beile-JbettreB du~T>epartment de l 'Aube 82 (.P aris. 1918):
313-432.