Marie of Champagne

Template:Short description Template:For Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox royalty Marie of Champagne (Template:Circa – 29 August 1204<ref>Alberic of Trois-Fontaines, Chronica s.a. 1204 (= L. Weiland (ed.), Monum. German. Histor.: Scriptores XXIII, Hannover, 1874, p. 884 Template:Webarchive), Ralph of Coggeshall, Chronicon Anglicanum s.a. 1204 (= Monum. German. Histor.: Scriptores XXVII, Hannover, 1885, p. 354 Template:Webarchive), Renier of St Laurent, Annales s.a. 1204 (= G.H. Pertz (ed.), Monum. German. Histor.: Scriptores XVI, Hannover, 1858, p. 658 Template:Webarchive), Sigebert of Gembloux, Continuatio Bergensis s.a. 1203 (= G.H. Pertz (ed.), Monum. German. Histor.: Scriptores VI, Hannover, 1844, p. 438 Template:Webarchive), Flandria generosa (Continuatio Claromariscensis) 12 (= L.C. Bethmann (ed.), Monum. German. Histor.: Scriptores IX, Hannover, 1861, p. 330 Template:Webarchive), Liber Obituum Ecclesie Beati Petri Insulensis (= É. Hautcœur (ed.), Documents liturgiques et nécrologiques de l'église collégiale de Saint-Pierre de Lille, Lille - Paris, 1895, p. 177), Necrologium Ecclesiæ Collegiatæ Beati Petri Insulensis (= É. Hautcœur (ed.), Documents liturgiques et nécrologiques de l'église collégiale de Saint-Pierre de Lille, Lille - Paris, 1895, p. 313). Philippe Mouskes, Chronique rimée, edited by Frédéric Auguste Ferdinand Thomas de Reiffenberg, vol. 2 (Brussels, 1838), vv. 20375–20380, p. 305).</ref> was the first Latin empress of Constantinople by marriage to Emperor Baldwin I. She acted as regent of Flanders during the absence of her spouse from 1202 until 1204.

Life

Marie was a daughter of Henry I, Count of Champagne, and Marie,<ref>Alberic of Trois-Fontaines, Chronica s.a. 1198 (= L. Weiland (ed.), Monum. German. Histor.: Scriptores XXIII, Hannover, 1874, p. 876 Template:Webarchive).</ref> daughter of King Louis VII of France and Eleanor of Aquitaine.<ref>John F. Benton, The Court of Champagne as a Literary Center, in Speculum, Vol. 36, No. 4 (Oct., 1961), p. 551.</ref>

According to the chronicle of Gislebert of Mons, on 13 May 1179 Marie was officially bethrothed to Baldwin, son of the count of Flanders and Hainaut, to whom she was already promised to be wed in 1171.<ref>Gislebert of Mons, Chronicon Hanoniense 89 (= W. Arndt (ed.), Monum. German. Histor.: Scriptores XXIX, Hannover, 1869, pp. 97 Template:Webarchive, 117 Template:Webarchive; L. Napran (introd. trad. annot.), Gilbert of Mons, Chronicle of Hainaut, Woodbridge, 2005, pp. 60, 72).</ref> Her betrothed was Baldwin VI, son of Baldwin V, Count of Hainaut and Margaret I, Countess of Flanders.

Countess of Flanders

On 6 January 1186, Marie and Baldwin were married at Valenciennes.<ref>Gislebert of Mons, Chronicon Hanoniense (= W. Arndt (ed.), "Monum. German. Histor.: Scriptores XXIX, Hannover, 1869, pp. 171 Template:Webarchive-172 Template:Webarchive). Karen S. Nicholas, Countesses as Rulers in Flanders, in Theodore Evergates (ed.), Aristocratic Women in Medieval France, (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999), pp. 127-128.</ref>

The young countess consort issued charters in her own name and seems to have a soft spot for the cities in Flanders.<ref name="KSN 1999 128">Karen S. Nicholas, Countesses as Rulers in Flanders, in Theodore Evergates (ed.), Aristocratic Women in Medieval France, (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999), p. 128.</ref> In 1200 she and her husband also released the Ninove and Bohéries Abbey from every toll on their territory.<ref name="KSN 1999 128"/>

In 1200, she and her husband took the cross in Bruges.<ref>Flandria generosa (Continuatio Gislenensis) s.a. 1200 (= L.C. Bethmann (ed.), Monumenta Germania Historica, Scriptores IX, Hannover, 1861, p. 326 Template:Webarchive).</ref> On 14 April 1202 her husband left Flanders to join the Fourth Crusade.<ref>Geoffrey of Villehardouin, De la Conquête de Constantinople VI (= Paulin Paris (ed.), La Conquête de Constantinople, Paris, 1838, pp. 3-4; F.T. Marzials (trad.), Memoirs or Chronicle of The Fourth Crusade and The Conquest of Constantinople, London, 1908).</ref> During her husband's absence, Marie acted as regent for Flanders<ref name="KSN 1999 128"/> for two years.

Marie herself left Flanders to join her husband in Outremer. According to Geoffrey of Villehardouin and other authors she could not join him in the crusade earlier as she was pregnant at the time of his departure.<ref name="GdV CXXX, AoT-F 1204"/> After delivery of the child, Margaret and sufficient recovery, she set forth to join him.<ref name="GdV CXXX">Geoffrey of Villehardouin, De la Conquête de Constantinople CXXX (= Paulin Paris (ed.), La Conquête de Constantinople, Paris, 1838, pp. 104-105; F.T. Marzials (trad.), Memoirs or Chronicle of The Fourth Crusade and The Conquest of Constantinople, London, 1908)</ref>

Latin Empress

Her husband's Crusade was diverted to Constantinople, capital of the Roman Empire, where the crusaders captured and sacked the city. Then the Crusaders and Venetian established the Latin Empire of Romaniae in place of the fallen one. On 9 May 1204, Baldwin was elected its first Emperor, making Marie the Empress.

She set sail from the port of Marseille and landed in Acre.<ref name="GdV CXXX, AoT-F 1204">Geoffrey of Villehardouin, De la Conquête de Constantinople CXXX (= Paulin Paris (ed.), La Conquête de Constantinople, Paris, 1838, pp. 104-105; F.T. Marzials (trad.), Memoirs or Chronicle of The Fourth Crusade and The Conquest of Constantinople, London, 1908). Cfr. Alberic of Trois-Fontaines, Chronica s.a. 1204 (= L. Weiland (ed.), Monum. German. Histor.: Scriptores XXIII, Hannover, 1874, p. 884 Template:Webarchive), Flandria generosa (Continuatio Claromariscensis) 12 (= L.C. Bethmann (ed.), Monumenta Germania Historica, Scriptores IX, Hannover, 1861, p. 330 Template:Webarchive), Baldwin of Avesnes, Chronicon Hanoniense quod dicitur Balduini Avennensis (= J. Heller (ed.), Monum. German. Histor.: Scriptores XXV, Hannover, 1880, p. 448 Template:Webarchive-449 Template:Webarchive).</ref> It was only when she arrived in Outremer that the news reached her of the fall of Constantinople and the election of Baldwin as the new Emperor of the East. There as an Empress of Constantinople she received the homage of the Prince Bohemond IV of Antioch.<ref>Alberic of Trois-Fontaines, Chronica s.a. 1204 (= L. Weiland (ed.), Monum. German. Histor.: Scriptores XXIII, Hannover, 1874, p. 884 Template:Webarchive). Template:Cite book</ref> She wanted to set sail for Constantinople but fell sick and died in the Holy Land.<ref name="GdV CXXX, AoT-F 1204" />

News of her death reached Constantinople through Crusading reinforcements from Syria. Baldwin was reportedly afflicted by the death of his wife.<ref name="GdV CXXX"/> Villehardouin reports that Marie "was a gracious and virtuous lady and greatly honoured".<ref name="GdV CXXX"/>

Children

They had two known children:

• Joan, Countess of Flanders (1199/1200 – 5 December 1244).
• Margaret II, Countess of Flanders (2 June 1202 – 10 February 1280).

Historical sources

• Alberic of Trois-Fontaines, Chronica Alberici Monachi Trium Fontium.
• Gislebert of Mons, Chronicon Hanoniense (Chronicle of Hainaut).
• Geoffrey of Villehardouin, De la Conquête de Constantinople

References

• Karen S. Nicholas, Countesses as Rulers in Flanders, in Theodore Evergates (ed.), Aristocratic Women in Medieval France, (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999), pp. 111–137 (especially pp. 127–129).
• Template:Cite book

External links

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