Henri of Champagne was one of the most ardent French crusaders to join the Third Crusade. His eagerness to take part in the crusade brought him to the Holy Land well ahead of either of his uncles, the Kings of France and England respectively. Despite his youth, his royal connections assured him a prominent role. Just how prominent, he never dreamed.
Henri was born in the County of Champagne on July 29, 1166. He was the eldest son of the Count of Champagne and his wife, Princess Marie of France. Marie was the daughter of King Louis VII of France by his first wife, Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine. His father's sister Adela followed Eleanor as wife of Louis VII and became Queen of France, while his younger brother Theobald married Eleanor of Aquitaine and Louis VII’s other daughter Alix. In short, young Henri was very "well connected" to the French royal house, and through his grandmother to the Plantagenets as well.
Henri was born in the County of Champagne on July 29, 1166. He was the eldest son of the Count of Champagne and his wife, Princess Marie of France. Marie was the daughter of King Louis VII of France by his first wife, Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine. His father's sister Adela followed Eleanor as wife of Louis VII and became Queen of France, while his younger brother Theobald married Eleanor of Aquitaine and Louis VII’s other daughter Alix. In short, young Henri was very "well connected" to the French royal house, and through his grandmother to the Plantagenets as well.
In 1181, his father
died and Henri became titular Count of Champagne, but his mother retained
control of the County until he turned 21 in 1187. Hardly had he assumed his inheritance than
word reached France that Jerusalem had fallen to the Saracens after the
disastrous battle at Hattin. Almost immediately, Henri’s maternal uncle,
Richard Count of Poitou (later King of England) took the cross, vowing to
restore Jerusalem to Christian rule. He was followed by a wave of other knights
and nobles, including (reluctantly) Henri’s paternal uncle, Philip II of
France. Henri was not left cold by this
crusading fever. Indeed, he appears to have been one of the most fervent
crusaders of the entire campaign, incurring huge debts to finance a large
contingent of knights and men-at-arms, paying for their transport, and setting
out for the Holy Land more than a year before either of his uncles.
Before departing,
however, the young, unmarried count made careful provisions for his inheritance.
He designated his mother as his regent and his still underage younger brother
Theobald as his heir. His vassals duly swore to recognize Theobald as Count of
Champagne, if Henri failed to return from the crusade. This was a wise
precaution as an estimated one third of all noble crusaders were either killed
outright or fell victim to disease and illness while on crusade. What no one envisaged at this
time was that Henri might “fail to return” without actually being dead….
Henri arrived in the
Holy Land in the summer of 1190 and at once joined the Frankish siege of the Saracen-held city of Acre. His close ties to the French royal house
immediately made him a leading commander, despite his youth (he was just 24)
and inexperience. Henri was also related to Conrad de Montferrat, and ― anticipating
his uncle Philip II ― gave his support to Montferrat in his rivalry with
the discredited Guy de Lusignan (the architect of Frankish defeat at Hattin).
According to some accounts, he played a role in securing Isabella of Jerusalem’s
divorce from Humphrey of Toron thereby paving the way for her marriage to Conrad de Montferrat. Arab sources record that he was wounded in November 1190 during
one of the many skirmishes during the siege of Acre.
After the arrival of
his uncles, the kings of France and England, Henri initially managed to retain
the favor of both, but he appears to have been genuinely outraged (as were most
of the French nobles) by Philip II of France’s abrupt departure after the fall
of Acre in July 1191. Henri remained in the Holy Land, true to his crusading
vow, and when he ran low on funds to pay his troops, he turned to his uncle,
the King of England. Richard readily advanced him sufficient funds to retain
his contingent in the field, and thereby secured the gratitude and loyalty of
the Count of Champagne.
In April 1192, Richard I
of England received news that his brother John had allied himself with the Philip
II of France and that they were attempting to take his inheritance from him.
Recognizing he could not remain much longer in the Holy Land, Richard asked the
barons of Jerusalem to select between the rivals, Guy de Lusignan and Conrad de
Montferrat, their king. The High Court of Jerusalem chose Conrad de Montferrat,
and the King of England bowed to their will. Richard chose his nephew Henri to go
to Tyre to assure Conrad that he, Richard Plantagenet, had at last abandoned
his protégé Lusignan and was willing to recognize Conrad as King of Jerusalem.
The message delivered,
Henri began the journey back to rejoin the crusading army at Ascalon. He had
only got as far as Acre, however, when the news overtook him that Conrad had been stabbed
to death by two assassins. Henri at once returned to Tyre, probably to verify a story that seemed incredible under the circumstances. In Tyre, Henri
discovered that the news was correct: Conrad de Montferrat had been stabbed to
death, the newly elected King of Jerusalem was dead.
One version of what
happened next has captured the popular imagination and been repeated
uncritically in almost every history and novel ever since. This account claims that on
the arrival of Henri in Tyre “the people” welcomed him with jubilation and
proclaimed him king. This is utter nonsense. Kings were not elected by “popular
acclaim” in the Kingdom of Jerusalem. The High Court, composed of the most
important barons and bishops of the realm, did. The Lyon Continuation of
William of Tyre, which is based in large part on a lost chronicle written in
Outremer (rather than the West), explicitly states that “on the advice of the
barons of the Kingdom of Jerusalem,” Richard nominated his nephew Henri de Champagne
as the next king.
We can only speculate
on the exact course of events by trying to reconcile the two divergent but
parallel accounts. First, it is obvious that the barons of Jerusalem were in an
extremely difficult situation. They refused to follow Guy de Lusignan, Richard
of England was preparing to depart, and their chosen king was dead. The queen
through whom the crown was derived, however, was still alive, albeit a pregnant
widow. Thus it was imperative to marry her to nobleman capable of defending the
kingdom in its perilous state. Looking around for a suitable candidate, the eyes
of those barons who had traveled to Tyre with the news of Conrad’s election
would have fallen on Henri de Champagne. There is no way of knowing if they
would have chosen someone else if he had not been so conveniently on the scene, but as the
nephew to the kings of England and France he was certainly a diplomatic choice.
He had also been campaigning in Holy Land for more than 18 months at this
point; apparently he had won sufficient respect, despite his youth, to appear a
viable candidate from a military point of view as well.
Either the barons took
their suggestion first to Richard of England, or (as the Itinerarium Peregrinorum et Gesta Regis
Ricardi suggests) they approached Henri directly and he deferred to his
uncle. Either way, medieval chronicles agree that Henri de Champagne was initially reluctant
to accept the crown. It had clearly come to him completely unexpectedly, and acceptance
meant he would not be able to return to his home. The Kingdom itself existed
more in people’s hearts and minds than in reality. It was threatened on all
sides by the armies of Saladin. The crusading force that had
managed to regain the coastline was already disintegrating (the French refused
to take orders from the King of England and the King of England had already announced
his intention to return home.)
Worst of all, however, the throne of Jerusalem came with a serious catch: Henri could only become King of Jerusalem if he married Queen Isabella, Conrad’s widow. What was more: she was already pregnant by Conrad; if she bore a son, Henri would eventually have to surrender his crown to Conrad’s posthumous son rather than see his own offspring on the throne. It did not sound like a very good proposition to the young Count of Champagne.
Worst of all, however, the throne of Jerusalem came with a serious catch: Henri could only become King of Jerusalem if he married Queen Isabella, Conrad’s widow. What was more: she was already pregnant by Conrad; if she bore a son, Henri would eventually have to surrender his crown to Conrad’s posthumous son rather than see his own offspring on the throne. It did not sound like a very good proposition to the young Count of Champagne.
With and by his marriage, Henry of Champagne became titular King of Jerusalem. Henry's reign is the subject of a separate entry which will be posted on December 30.
Henry
de Champagne is a significant character in “Envoy of Jerusalem,” where his
relationship to Isabella is developed and examined.
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