Marie of France, Countess of Champagne

Marie of France (1145 – 11 March 1198) was a Capetian princess who became Countess of Champagne by her marriage to Henry I of Champagne. She ruled the County of Champagne as regent during Henry I's absence from 1179 to 1181; during the minority of their son Henry II from 1181 to 1187; and during Henry II's absence from 1190 to 1197. She was the daughter of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Louis VII of France.

Marie of France
Seal of Marie of France
Countess consort of Champagne
Tenure	1164 – 17 March 1181
Born	1145 Kingdom of France
Died	11 March 1198(1198-03-11) (aged 52–53) County of Champagne
Burial	Meaux Cathedral, Seine-et-Marne
Spouse	Henry I, Count of Champagne
Issue	Henry II, Count of Champagne Marie, Latin Empress Theobald III, Count of Champagne Scholastique, Countess of Mâcon
House	Capet
Father	Louis VII of France
Mother	Eleanor of Aquitaine

Early life

Marie's birth was hailed as a "miracle" by Bernard of Clairvaux,^[1] an answer to his prayer to bless the marriage between Eleanor of Aquitaine and Louis VII.^[2] Marie was just two years old when her parents joined the Second Crusade to the Holy Land. With the birth of her sister Alice in 1150 instead of the desperately needed son and heir the couple hoped for, the marriage broke down and was annulled on 21 March 1152; Marie was seven and Alice was not yet two.^[3] Custody of the girls was awarded to their father as they were at that time the only heirs to the French throne. Eleanor quickly moved on, marrying Henry, Duke of Normandy, on 18 May. Louis married Constance of Castile in 1154. Just five weeks after Constance died while giving birth to their second child and daughter, he married Adele of Champagne on 13 November 1160, who gave birth to Philippe in 1165.

Marriage

In 1153, Marie was betrothed to Henry of Champagne by her father Louis.^[4] These betrothals were arranged based on the intervention of Bernard of Clairvaux, as reported in the contemporary chronicle of Radulfus Niger. After her betrothal, Marie was sent to live with the Viscountess Elizabeth of Mareuil-sy-Aÿ and then to the abbey of Avenay in Champagne for her Latin-based education. In 1159, Marie married Henry I, Count of Champagne.^[a][6]

Regencies

Marie became regent for Champagne when her husband Henry I went on pilgrimage to the Holy Land from 1179 until 1181. While her husband was away, Marie's father died and her half-brother, Philip Augustus, became king of France. He confiscated his mother's dower lands and married Isabelle of Hainaut, who was previously betrothed to Marie's eldest son. This prompted Marie to join a party of disgruntled nobles—including the queen mother Adela of Champagne and the archbishop of Reims—in plotting unsuccessfully against Philip. Eventually, relations between Marie and her royal brother improved. Marie's husband died soon after his return from the Holy Land in 1181, leaving her again as regent for their young son Henry.

Marie, who had retired to the nunnery of Château de Fontaines-les-Nonnes near Meaux (1187–1190), served again as regent for Champagne as her son Henry II joined the Third Crusade from 1190 to 1197. He remained in the Levant, marrying Queen Isabella I of Jerusalem in 1192. Over the course of her regencies, Champagne was transformed from a patchwork of territories into a significant principality.^[3]

Literary patronage

Marie pictured as patroness in a medieval manuscript

Marie was a patron of literature and her court became a sphere of influence on authors and poets^[7] such as Andreas Capellanus, who served in her court and referred to her several times in his writing, Chrétien de Troyes, who credits her with the idea for his Lancelot: The Knight of the Cart, the troubadours Bertran de Born and Bernart de Ventadorn, Gautier d'Arras and Conon de Bétune.^[8]

Being literate in both French and Latin, she amassed and maintained her own extensive library.^[3] Marie's half-brother King Richard, mentions her in a stanza from his celebrated poem J'a nuns hons pris, lamenting his captivity in Austria, was addressed to her.^[9]

Death

Marie died on 11 March 1198, not long after hearing the news of her son's death.^[3] She was buried in Meaux Cathedral.

On 25 June 1562, rioting Huguenots devastated many edifices, including the Cathedral of Meaux; it was on this occasion that the tomb of Marie of Champagne, located in the choir, was destroyed.^[b]

Issue

Marie and her husband Henri I of Champagne had:

• Henry II of Champagne (1166–1197),^[11] married Isabelle of Jerusalem in 1192^[9]
• Scholastique of Champagne (1172–1219), married William IV of Macon^[11]
• Marie of Champagne (c. 1174 – 1204), married Baldwin I of Constantinople^[11]
• Theobald III of Champagne (1179–1201), married Blanche of Navarre^[11]

Genealogical table

Selective genealogy of Countess Marie[11]
Henry II of England Eleanor of Aquitaine Louis VII of France Adela Henry Robert I of Dreux Peter I of Courtenay Henry the Young King Richard I of England Geoffrey II of Brittany Henry I of Champagne Marie of France Alice Margaret Philip II of France Peter II of Courtenay Henry II of Champagne Theobald III of Champagne Marie Scholastique

Notes

1. An 1159 charter refers to Marie as Trecensis comitissa indicating the marriage had taken place. The marriage date of 1164 is from Henri d'Arbois de Jubainville based on "a late and unreliable document".^[5]
2. McCash state Protestants during the reformation destroyed Marie's tomb. She gives no dates.^[10]