Marie de Champagne

Description: Marie de Champagne was one of the daughters of Eleanor of Aquitaine and King Louis VII of France. She married Henri le libéral, the Count of Champagne. Together, they had two sons, Henri II and Thibaut III, and two daughters, Marie and Scholastique. Marie ruled for her husband from 1179-1181 while he was on crusade until his death. She continued ruling for her son Henri II from 1181-1187 until he was old enough to reign as king and from 1190-1197 while he was on crusade. After Henri II’s death, Marie did not give up ruling until her death in 1198 even though her son Thibaut was officially the ruler (“Marie of France”).

Importance: Apart from being a strong female ruler in the Medieval Ages, Marie de Champagne played an essential role in the writing of Arthurian Romances by Chrétien de Troyes. She commissioned Chrétien to write a romance with a theme of the perfect courtly love relationship. This collection of stories about adventure and polished manners changed the previous view of Geoffrey’s narrative of King Arthur and his court. It has been said that “Chrétien fashioned a new form known today as courtly romance” (Chrétien, Kibler, and Carroll 1). There is also historical importance for Marie de Champagne’s order to write romances; her life places Chrétien’s works in history. Because she is referred to as “my lady of Champagne,” which indicates that she has already been married, historians know that Chrétien must have started writing the romance after at least 1159 (Chrétien, Kibler, and Carroll 5). In a sense, Marie de Champagne’s life as a public woman allows historians to accurately credit Chrétien with writing the Arthurian Romances. 

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