Theobald I of Blois
Encyclopedia
Count of Blois
The County of Blois was originally centred on Blois, south of Paris, France. One of the chief cities, along with Blois itself, was Chartres. Blois was associated with Champagne, Châtillon , and later with the French royal family, to whom the county passed in 1391...
, Chartres
Duke of Chartres
Originally, the Duchy of Chartres was the comté de Chartres, an Earldom. The title of comte de Chartres thus became duc de Chartres. This duchy–peerage was given by Louis XIV of France to his nephew, Philippe II d'Orléans, at his birth in 1674...
, and Châteaudun
Châteaudun
Châteaudun is a commune in the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of Eure-et-Loir.-Geography:Châteaudun is located about 45 km northwest of Orléans, and about 50 km south-southwest of Chartres, on the river Loir, a tributary of the...
from 960, and Tours
Tours
Tours is a city in central France, the capital of the Indre-et-Loire department.It is located on the lower reaches of the river Loire, between Orléans and the Atlantic coast. Touraine, the region around Tours, is known for its wines, the alleged perfection of its local spoken French, and for the...
from 945.
Theobald was initially a vassal of Hugh the Great
Hugh the Great
Hugh the Great or Hugues le Grand was duke of the Franks and count of Paris, son of King Robert I of France and nephew of King Odo. He was born in Paris, Île-de-France, France. His eldest son was Hugh Capet who became King of France in 987...
, Duke of France
Duke of France
Duke of France equivalent to the title dux Franciae, is a title of nobility that refers to the rulers of the Île de France, informally Francia...
. Around 945, he captured King Louis IV
Louis IV of France
Louis IV , called d'Outremer or Transmarinus , reigned as King of Western Francia from 936 to 954...
to the benefit of Hugh. In return for freedom, the king granted him the city of Laon
Laon
Laon is the capital city of the Aisne department in Picardy in northern France.-History:The hilly district of Laon, which rises a hundred metres above the otherwise flat Picardy plain, has always held strategic importance...
. He took the title of "count" in Tours. He seized Chartres and Châteaudun and remarried his sister to Fulk II of Anjou
Fulk II of Anjou
Fulk II of Anjou , son of Fulk the Red, was count of Anjou from 942 to his death.He was often at war with the Bretons. He seems to have been a man of culture, a poet and an artist. He was succeeded by his son Geoffrey Greymantle....
. In 958, he met Fulk in Verron and the two described themselves as "governor and administrator [of the] kingdom [of Neustria]" and comites Dei gratia ("counts by the grace of God").
Theobald's sister married Alan II of Brittany
Alan II, Duke of Brittany
Alan II , nicknamed Wrybeard and also known as Le Renard "The Fox", was Count of Vannes, Poher, and Nantes, and Duke of Brittany from 938 to his death...
and Theobald governed the duchy during the minority of her son Drogo
Drogo, Duke of Brittany
Drogo was the count of Vannes and Nantes and duke of Brittany from 952, when he succeeded his father, Alan Wrybeard, as a minor, until his death in 958...
. Thus, Theobald extended his influence all the way to Rennes
Rennes
Rennes is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France. Rennes is the capital of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department.-History:...
.
In 960, he began opposing Richard I of Normandy
Richard I of Normandy
Richard I of Normandy , also known as Richard the Fearless , was the Duke of Normandy from 942 to 996; he is considered the first to have held that title.-Birth:He was born to William I of Normandy, ruler of Normandy, and Sprota...
and entered into a long war with the Normans
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
. In 961, he attacked Évreux
Évreux
Évreux is a commune in the Eure department, of which it is the capital, in Haute Normandie in northern France.-History:In late Antiquity, the town, attested in the fourth century CE, was named Mediolanum Aulercorum, "the central town of the Aulerci", the Gallic tribe then inhabiting the area...
. The Normans responded by attacking Dunois. In 962, he launched an assault on Rouen
Rouen
Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...
which failed. The Normans burned Chartres in response. He took control of the fortresses of Saint-Aignan
Saint-Aignan, Loir-et-Cher
Saint-Aignan is a commune in the Loir-et-Cher department of central France.-Geography:Saint-Aignan is situated on the Cher River. The nearest town of more than 40,000 inhabitants is Blois.-Features:...
in the Loir-et-Cher
Loir-et-Cher
Loir-et-Cher is a département in north-central France named after the rivers Loir and Cher.-History:Loir-et-Cher is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Orléanais and...
, Vierzon
Vierzon
Vierzon is a commune in the Cher department in the Centre region of France.-Geography:A medium-sized town by the banks of the Cher River with some light industry and an area of forestry and farming to the north...
, and Anguillon in Berry
Berry
The botanical definition of a berry is a fleshy fruit produced from a single ovary. Grapes are an example. The berry is the most common type of fleshy fruit in which the entire ovary wall ripens into an edible pericarp. They may have one or more carpels with a thin covering and fleshy interiors....
.
During the minority of Hugh Capet, he reinforced Chartres and Châteaudun. Around 960, he built Saumur
Saumur
Saumur is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France.The historic town is located between the Loire and Thouet rivers, and is surrounded by the vineyards of Saumur itself, Chinon, Bourgueil, Coteaux du Layon, etc...
. By his death, he had built a vast power on the Loire
Loire
Loire is an administrative department in the east-central part of France occupying the River Loire's upper reaches.-History:Loire was created in 1793 when after just 3½ years the young Rhône-et-Loire department was split into two. This was a response to counter-Revolutionary activities in Lyon...
, dominating central France.
His daughter Emma
Emma of Blois
Emma of Blois became Duchess of Aquitaine through marriage. She was the daughter of Theobald I, Count of Blois and Luitgarde of Vermandois....
brought him the county of Provins
Provins
Provins is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France.Provins, a town of medieval fairs, became a UNESCOWorld Heritage Site in 2001.-Administration:...
, nucleus of the later county of Champagne.
Family
His wife, Luitgarde of VermandoisLuitgarde of Vermandois
Luitgarde of Vermandois was a daughter of Herbert II of Vermandois. She first married William I of Normandy, and following his death in 942, married Theobald I of Blois in 943.-Children:They had four children:*Theobald...
, was the widow of William I of Normandy
William I of Normandy
William I Longsword was the second Duke of Normandy from his father's death until his own assassination. The title dux was not in use at the time and has been applied to early Norman rulers retroactively. William actually used the title comes .-Biography:Little is known about his early years...
. She married Theobald between 942 and 945 and bore him four children:
- Theobald (d. 962)
- Hugh, Archbishop of Bourges (d. 985)
- OdoOdo I, Count of BloisOdo I , Count of Blois, Chartres, Reims, Provins, Châteaudun, and Omois, was the son of Theobald I of Blois and Luitgard, daughter of Herbert II of Vermandois...
(d. 996), count of BloisCount of BloisThe County of Blois was originally centred on Blois, south of Paris, France. One of the chief cities, along with Blois itself, was Chartres. Blois was associated with Champagne, Châtillon , and later with the French royal family, to whom the county passed in 1391... - EmmaEmma of BloisEmma of Blois became Duchess of Aquitaine through marriage. She was the daughter of Theobald I, Count of Blois and Luitgarde of Vermandois....
(d. 1003), married William IV of AquitaineWilliam IV of AquitaineWilliam IV , called Fierebras or Fierebrace , was the Duke of Aquitaine and Count of Poitou from 963 to his retirement in 990.William's father, William III, abdicated to the abbey of Saint-Cyprien in Poitiers and left the government to...