Henry II of Champagne (or Henry I of Jerusalem) (29 July 1166 – 10 September 1197) was
count of Champagne
The count of Champagne was the ruler of the County of Champagne from 950 to 1316. Champagne evolved from the County of Troyes in the late eleventh century and Hugh I was the first to officially use the title count of Champagne.
Count Theobald I ...
from 1181 to 1197, and
king of Jerusalem
The King of Jerusalem was the supreme ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, a Crusader states, Crusader state founded in Jerusalem by the Latin Church, Latin Catholic leaders of the First Crusade, when the city was Siege of Jerusalem (1099), conqu ...
from 1192 to 1197 by virtue of his marriage to Queen
Isabella I of Jerusalem
Isabella I (1172 – 5 April 1205) was reigning Queen of Jerusalem from 1190 to her death. She was the daughter of Amalric I of Jerusalem and his second wife Maria Comnena, a Byzantine princess. Her half-brother, Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, engag ...
.
Early life
Henry was the elder son of Count
Henry I of Champagne
Henry I (December 1127 – March 16, 1181), known as the Liberal, was count of Champagne from 1152 to 1181. He was the eldest son of Count Theobald II of Champagne, who was also count of Blois, and his wife, Matilda of Carinthia.
Biography
Henry ...
and
Marie
Marie may refer to:
People Name
* Marie (given name)
* Marie (Japanese given name)
* Marie (murder victim), girl who was killed in Florida after being pushed in front of a moving vehicle in 1973
* Marie (died 1759), an enslaved Cree person in Tr ...
, daughter of King
Louis VII of France
Louis VII (1120 – 18 September 1180), called the Younger, or the Young (french: link=no, le Jeune), was King of the Franks from 1137 to 1180. He was the son and successor of King Louis VI (hence the epithet "the Young") and married Duchess ...
and Duchess
Eleanor of Aquitaine
Eleanor ( – 1 April 1204; french: Aliénor d'Aquitaine, ) was Queen of France from 1137 to 1152 as the wife of King Louis VII, Queen of England from 1154 to 1189 as the wife of King Henry II, and Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right from ...
. His aunt
Adela of Champagne
Adela of Champagne (french: Adèle; c. 1140 – 4 June 1206), also known as Adelaide, Alix and Adela of Blois, was Queen of France as the third wife of Louis VII. She was regent of France from 1190 to 1191 while her son Philip II participate ...
was Louis VII's third wife. In 1171, Henry was betrothed to
Isabella of Hainault
Isabella of Hainault (5 April 1170 – 15 March 1190) (Also spelled: Ysabella de Hainault, Ysabelle de Hainaut or Ysabeau de Hainaut) was a Queen of France as the first wife of King Philip II. She was also formally ruling Countess of Artois ''de ...
. When she married
Philip II of France
Philip II (21 August 1165 – 14 July 1223), byname Philip Augustus (french: Philippe Auguste), was King of France from 1180 to 1223. His predecessors had been known as kings of the Franks, but from 1190 onward, Philip became the first French ...
instead, his father, aunt and other members of his family were angered. It made Queen Adela's faction hostile to Isabella's family and so caused tension at the French court. Henry's father died in 1181, and his mother ruled, as
regent
A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...
, until 1187.
Crusade
In 1190 Henry left for the East, after having his barons swear to recognize his younger brother
Theobald Theobald is a Germanic dithematic name, composed from the elements '' theod-'' "people" and ''bald'' "bold". The name arrived in England with the Normans.
The name occurs in many spelling variations, including Theudebald, Diepold, Theobalt, Tybal ...
as his successor should he fail to return. He joined the
Third Crusade
The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt by three European monarchs of Western Christianity (Philip II of France, Richard I of England and Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor) to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by ...
, arriving ahead of his uncles, Kings
Philip II of France
Philip II (21 August 1165 – 14 July 1223), byname Philip Augustus (french: Philippe Auguste), was King of France from 1180 to 1223. His predecessors had been known as kings of the Franks, but from 1190 onward, Philip became the first French ...
and
Richard I of England
Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, and Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes, and was ...
. Initially, he was one of the leaders of the French contingent at the
siege of Acre Siege of Acre may refer to:
* Siege of Acre (1104), following the First Crusade
*Siege of Acre (1189–1191), during the Third Crusade
* Siege of Acre (1263), Baibars laid siege to the Crusader city, but abandoned it to attack Nazareth.
*Siege of A ...
before Philip's arrival. He is said to have been a member of the group involved in the abduction of Queen
Isabella I of Jerusalem
Isabella I (1172 – 5 April 1205) was reigning Queen of Jerusalem from 1190 to her death. She was the daughter of Amalric I of Jerusalem and his second wife Maria Comnena, a Byzantine princess. Her half-brother, Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, engag ...
, to get her to consent to a divorce from
Humphrey IV of Toron
Humphrey IV of Toron ( 1166 – 1198) was a leading baron in the Kingdom of Jerusalem. He inherited the Lordship of Toron from his grandfather, Humphrey II, in 1179. He was also heir to the Lordship of Oultrejourdan through his mother, Step ...
so that she could be married to
Conrad of Montferrat
Conrad of Montferrat (Italian: ''Corrado del Monferrato''; Piedmontese: ''Conrà ëd Monfrà'') (died 28 April 1192) was a nobleman, one of the major participants in the Third Crusade. He was the ''de facto'' King of Jerusalem (as Conrad I) by vi ...
. Henry was related to Conrad through both his maternal grandparents. According to
Baha ad-Din ibn Shaddad
Bahāʾ al-Dīn Abū al-Maḥāsin Yūsuf ibn Rāfiʿ ibn Tamīm ( ar, بهاء الدين ابن شداد; the honorific title "Bahā' ad-Dīn" means "splendor of the faith"; sometimes known as Bohadin or Boha-Eddyn) (6 March 1145 – 8 Novem ...
, he was wounded at
Acre
The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial
Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism.
Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to:
Places
United States
* Imperial, California
* Imperial, Missouri
* Imp ...
on 15 November.
Later on in the campaign, Henry shifted his allegiance to Richard who, in April 1192, sent Henry as his representative from
Acre
The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial
Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism.
Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to:
Places
United States
* Imperial, California
* Imperial, Missouri
* Imp ...
to
Tyre, to inform Conrad of Montferrat of his election as king of Jerusalem. Henry then returned to Acre. A few days later, Conrad was murdered by two
Assassins
An assassin is a person who commits targeted murder.
Assassin may also refer to:
Origin of term
* Someone belonging to the medieval Persian Ismaili order of Assassins
Animals and insects
* Assassin bugs, a genus in the family ''Reduviida ...
. Henry came back to Tyre two days later, ostensibly to help organise Conrad's coronation, but found that a funeral was being prepared instead. He was immediately betrothed to the newly widowed—and pregnant—queen of Jerusalem. They were married just eight days after Conrad's death.
The marriage was glossed romantically by some of the chroniclers: that Isabella was so taken with Henry's physical attractions (he was 20 years younger than Conrad) that she asked him to marry her. Since she was already known to be pregnant with Conrad's child,
Maria of Montferrat
Maria of Montferrat (1192–1212) was the queen of Jerusalem from 1205 until her death. Her parents were Isabella I and her second husband, Conrad of Montferrat. Maria succeeded her mother under the regency of her half-uncle John of Ibelin. After ...
, the marriage was considered scandalous by some, but it was politically vital for her to acquire another husband to defend the kingdom. However, some consultation with the
High Court might have been expected. The couple went on to have two daughters,
Alice and
Philippa
Philippa is a feminine given name meaning "lover of horses" or "horses' friend". Common alternative spellings include ''Filippa'' and ''Phillipa''. Less common is ''Filipa'' and even ''Philippe'' (cf. the French spelling of ''Philippa of Guelders'' ...
.
Henry asked for permission from his uncle Richard, who gave it promptly: however, since Richard was suspected of Conrad's murder, this raises further questions about the whole episode. Indeed, Henry, who was known to the Arabs as "''al-kond Herri''", later sought an alliance with the Hashshashin, and was invited to visit their fortress stronghold, al-Kahf. To demonstrate his authority, the grand master of the Hashshashin beckoned to two adherents, who immediately flung themselves from the ramparts to their deaths. The Hashshashin then offered to commit a murder for Henry, as an honour to their guest. Henry demurred, concluded the treaty, and departed. Patrick A. Williams has suggested Henry himself as a suspect in Conrad's murder, although it would have been a risky undertaking without his uncle's support.
Henry died in 1197, falling from a window, one floor off the ground, at his palace in Acre. There are varying accounts in different manuscripts of the ''Old French Continuation of William of Tyre'', also known as ''The Chronicle of
Ernoul Ernoul was a squire of Balian of Ibelin who wrote an eyewitness account of the fall of Jerusalem in 1187. This was later incorporated into an Old French history of Crusader Palestine now known as the ''Chronicle of Ernoul and Bernard the Treasurer ...
''. The majority suggest that a window-lattice or balcony gave way as he leaned against it. A servant, possibly a dwarf named Scarlet, also fell, after trying to save him by catching hold of his hanging sleeve - he weighed too little to pull the king (who was tall and strongly built) back. Another version suggests that Henry had been watching a parade from the window, when a party of
Pisa
Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...
n envoys entered the room. Turning to greet them, he stepped backwards and overbalanced. Whatever the exact circumstances, Henry was killed outright; the servant, who suffered a fractured femur, raised the alarm, but later died of his injury. Some accounts suggest that Henry might have survived if his servant had not landed on top of him.
Legacy
His widow Queen Isabella remarried soon after his death. Her fourth (and last) husband was
Aimery of Lusignan,
king of Cyprus
The Kingdom of Cyprus (french: Royaume de Chypre, la, Regnum Cypri) was a state that existed between 1192 and 1489. It was ruled by the French House of Lusignan. It comprised not only the island of Cyprus, but it also had a foothold on the Anat ...
. Henry's heir-general was his elder daughter Alice who was soon married to her stepbrother King
Hugh I of Cyprus
Hugh I (french: Hugues; gr, Ούγος; 1194/1195 – 10 January 1218) succeeded to the throne of Cyprus on 1 April 1205 underage upon the death of his elderly father Aimery, King of Cyprus and Jerusalem. His mother was Eschiva of Ibelin, heir ...
and whose heirs represent the senior line of counts of Champagne.
Henry left behind several difficulties for Champagne. He had borrowed a great deal of money to finance his expedition to Jerusalem, and for his marriage; and the succession to the county of Champagne would later be contested by his daughters. In 1213, supporters of his nephew
Theobald IV of Champagne
Theobald I (french: Thibaut, es, Teobaldo; 30 May 1201 – 8 July 1253), also called the Troubadour and the Posthumous, was Count of Champagne (as Theobald IV) from birth and King of Navarre from 1234. He initiated the Barons' Crusade, was famous ...
alleged to a
papal legate
300px, A woodcut showing Henry II of England greeting the pope's legate.
A papal legate or apostolic legate (from the ancient Roman title ''legatus'') is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic ...
that the annulment of Isabella's marriage to Humphrey of Toron (who was still alive during her marriage to Henry) was invalid, and therefore the girls were illegitimate. However, this was questionable: the legitimacy of Isabella's daughter by Conrad, Maria, and the right of her descendants to the throne of Jerusalem was never challenged, and if Maria was legitimate, so too were Isabella's daughters by Henry. Theobald eventually had to buy off both Alice and Philippa at considerable cost.
Genealogical table
Notes
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Runciman, Steven
Sir James Cochran Stevenson Runciman ( – ), known as Steven Runciman, was an English historian best known for his three-volume ''A History of the Crusades'' (1951–54).
He was a strong admirer of the Byzantine Empire. His history's negative ...
. (1951), ''A History of the Crusades, Volume Three: The Kingdom of Acre and the Later Crusades'', Cambridge University Press, London
* Williams, Patrick A. "The Assassination of Conrad of Montferrat: Another Suspect?", ''Traditio'', vol. XXVI, 1970.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henry Ii Of Champagne
1166 births
1197 deaths
12th-century kings of Jerusalem
Accidental deaths from falls
Counts of Champagne
Kings of Jerusalem
Jure uxoris kings
House of Blois
Christians of the Third Crusade