Theobald I of Navarre

Theobald I "el Trovador" (Troyes, May 30, 1201-Pamplona, July 8, 1253) was King of Navarre (1234-1253) and IV Count of Champagne and Brie (1201-1253) was a French nobleman linked to the throne of Navarre.

Biography

He was the nephew of Sancho VII el Fuerte, son of his sister Blanca de Navarra, married in 1199 to Count Teobaldo III of Champagne. He was born at the end of May 1201, a week after his father died as a crusader from the Holy Land. He was also the nephew of Berenguela de Navarra married to Ricardo Corazón de León. His godfather was Philip II of France who educated him at the French court.

County Regency

During Teobaldo's minority as Count of Champagne and Brie, the regency was exercised by his mother Blanca de Navarra, who had to face the claims of her cousins Alicia and Filipa de Champagne, daughters of Henry II and nieces of Theobald III who had succeeded him in the title. Blanca turned to Pope Innocent III who, grateful for the many services rendered by Teobaldo's ancestors, welcomed her request.

On May 22, 1222, he was knighted by Philip Augustus, King of France, together with Philip, Count of Boulougne, and participated, already crowned King Louis VIII of France, in the French expeditions against the English, in 1224, and against the Albigensians, in 1226. However, that year he disappeared from the king's entourage, did not attend the coronation of Louis IX of France and "allied with his enemies" later.

Marriages

He was betrothed to Margaret of Scotland, daughter of William I of Scotland and sister of the then King Alexander II of Scotland, but he did not show up on the agreed date, so Teobaldo married Gertrude, Countess of Metz in May 1220 and Dagsburg against the wishes of Emperor Frederick II. In 1222 Teobaldo repudiated her either by consanguinity (following Alberico de Trois-Fontaines) or sterility (according to Richer de Senones).

Shortly after, he married Agnes de Beaujeu for the second time, cousin of King Louis VIII of France who gave him a daughter, Blanca, who would later be named heiress of Navarre and would become Duchess of Brittany (1236). Agnes died on July 11, 1231.

He became engaged in 1231, to Yolanda, daughter of Pierre I of Brittany and Alix de Thouars, hereditary duchess of Brittany but this engagement did not result in marriage either after the Archbishop of Bourges appeared at the Valsecret monastery on 2 September July and dissolve the assembly.

Teobaldo married thirdly Margarita de Borbón, daughter of Archimbald VIII de Borbón and Alicia Guigone de Forez. Teobaldo and Margarita would have six children.

King of Navarre

With the death of Sancho VII, the Navarrese forgot the will of the king, in which he made James I of Aragon his heir, and a commission of some nobles, headed by Pedro Ramírez de Piédrola, Bishop of Pamplona, appeared in «Provins y On behalf of the States, he invited Teobaldo, Count of Champagne, to take the Navarrese crown. Teobaldo made his entry into Pamplona on May 5, 1234 and three days later he was elevated on the pavés in the cathedral» where he swore the privileges of the kingdom, nourishing the crown of Navarre with a renowned dynasty of wealthy vassals of the King of France settled in in the north of the kingdom and establishing the so-called "House of Champagne".

He sealed pacts with Castile, Aragon and England, which allowed him to consolidate his position in the crown. He governed helped by Champagne nobles, who received important positions. He reduced the importance of holdings as a territorial division and established four large districts entrusted to merinos , to whom he attributed fiscal and public order functions. In his reign, the Fuero General de Navarra was drawn up, the set of rules and customs that had governed political life in the time of the Jimena dynasty; in this way the transition in the kingdom of Navarre from customary political law to positive law took place.

Approach to Castilla

To achieve the support of Castile, on October 31, 1234, the Treaty of Logroño was signed, committing the marriage of his daughter Blanca to Alfonso, the future Alfonso X the Wise, or failing that the second son and Blanca, at that time the only daughter of the Navarrese monarch and exclusive heiress of Navarre. If Teobaldo had more descendants, only the Champagne domains were reserved for them. Navarro lived, but not those of Álava, as Teobaldo also claimed;^{[citation required]} thus the kingdom of Navarre would have a natural outlet to the Cantabrian Sea. This treaty, which was never fulfilled, could have meant the incorporation of Navarre into Castile.It seems that the following year he promised his daughter Blanca to the Count of Brittany.

Crusader King

In August 1239, he set out at the head of a Crusader army to the Holy Land, in what is known as the Barons' Crusade. Despite being defeated, the disputes between Muslims allowed him to sign peace and obtain Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Ascalon for the Christians. He returned from the crusade in late 1240, spending much of his reign traveling continuously from Navarre to Champagne.

Break with the Bishop of Pamplona

Personal seal of Teobaldo the Trovador in a letter dated in 1234 with the weapons of Navarre and his personal shield as Count of Champagne.

While Bishop Pedro Ramírez de Piédrola led the delegation to Provins seeking the coronation of Teobaldo, the relationship with the ecclesiastical headquarters of Pamplona deteriorated. One of the first clashes occurred with the burial of the previous monarch, Sancho VII el Fuerte, which was disputed by Santa María de Tudela, the monastery of La Oliva and Roncesvalles.

He maintained great differences with the bishop of Pamplona, Pedro Jiménez de Gazólaz, elected in January 1242 after several years of vacancy after Ramírez de Piédrola died in 1238. The new bishop of Pamplona appeared before Pope Innocent IV, whom he exposed the grievances and outrages committed by the Navarrese monarch. Theobald I, convicted several times, refused to answer before the papal courts. The bishop had to take refuge in Navardún, the capital of Valdonsella which, even though it belonged ecclesiastically to the diocese of Pamplona, was the kingdom of Aragon whose protection he sought. A provincial council held on February 25, 1250 in Alcañiz, with the presence of the Archbishop of Tarragona and the bishops of Huesca, Pamplona, Vich, Lleida, Zaragoza and Valencia, came to excommunicate him throughout the ecclesiastical province of Tarragona for banishing and stripping the bishop and canons of Pamplona of all their property. Although the Pope had granted him a special privilege whereby, without the mandate of the Holy See, no one could excommunicate the Count of Champagne, this privilege extends neither to Navarre nor to his role as king. Teobaldo tried to assert this privilege without success.

Troubadour King

Teobaldo is known by the nickname "el Trovador" for his fame as a poet and musician, which he already had in his time and which history has confirmed.

He died in Pamplona on his return from one of his trips to Champagne, on July 8, 1253, and although he was finally buried in the Cathedral of Pamplona, he found the king «excommunicated by the pope, the provincial council and the diocesan bishop.»

Marriages and offspring

Teobaldo was married three times. First with Gertrude of Dagsburg in 1220, and he divorced her two years later when he came of age. They had no children.

For a second marriage, he married Inés de Beaujeu, daughter of Guicardo IV, Lord of Beaujeu, and his wife, Sibyl of Flanders, in 1222. The marriage had at least one daughter:

• White of Navarre (1226-1283), who married John I, Duke of Brittany and was the mother of John II, Duke of Brittany.

Agnes died in 1231.

Teobaldo married Margarita de Borbón in the third place. Teobaldo and Margarita had six children:

• Leonor (1233-?) died young;
• Pedro (?-1265);
• Margarita de Navarra, duchess de Lorena, married in 1255 with Duke Federico III de Lorena (1238-1303);
• Teobaldo II of Navarre (1238-1270), married in 1255 with Isabel de France;
• Beatriz de Navarra (1242-1295), married in 1258 with Hugo IV, Duke of Burgundy (1212-1272);
• Enrique I de Navarra, married to Blanca de Artois in 1269.

From his extramarital relationship with Marquesa López de Rada, daughter of Lope Díaz de Rada and Brunisen de Narbona, Marquesa Gil de Rada was born, wife of Pedro Fernández de Hijar, illegitimate son of Jaime I of Aragón.

He was also the father of Inés de Navarra, who married Álvar Pérez de Azagra, IV Lord of Albarracín, both are buried in the Monasterio de Piedra. A daughter of this marriage, Teresa Álvarez de Azagra, heiress to the lordship of Albarracín, was the wife of Juan Núñez I de Lara, and another daughter, Elfa Álvarez de Azagra, married Jaime I of Jérica.

It is also known that he was the father of Berenguela de Navarra, prioress of the monastery of San Pedro de Ribas in Pamplona.

The General Jurisdiction of Navarre

A relevant episode during this reign became a milestone within the Navarre foral law is the compilation of the Fuero General de Navarra in 1238. They are a «set of customary law norms that were collected by anonymous jurists close to the court» of the king that ended up being a ius commune Navarrae or General Charter. This text is fixed in twelve chapters and extends to all of Navarre. Later with Felipe III of Evreux, in 1330, and with Carlos III the Noble, in 1418, two separate "Amejoramientos o fueros nuevos" were approved.

Discography

The following albums include some pieces by this troubadour king:

• Three cultures. Eduardo Paniagua and Luis Delgado. Pneuma PN-100. Includes parts: «Amours me fait comencier» and «Phelipe» (information in medieval.org — in English)
• Spanish Medieval Dances. Eduardo Paniagua Group. M·A Recordings M034A. Includes parts: «Li Rosignox», «Phelipe, je vous demand» and «Give me.» (information in medieval.org — in English)

Ancestors

Predecessor: Treasure III	Count of Champagne and Brie 1201-1253	Successor: Teobaldo II de Navarra y V de Champaña
Predecessor: Sancho VII	King of Navarre 1234-1253

Sequences

Predecessor: Teobaldo III of Champagne	Conde palatino de Champaña 1201 - 1253 (52 years)	Successor: Teobaldo II of Navarra
Predecessor: Sancho VII de Navarra	King of Navarre 1234 - 1253 (19 years)	Successor: Teobaldo II of Navarra