Henry II of Champagne

Common card · No. 348656

Henry II (French: Henri; 29 July 1166 – 10 September 1197) was the count of Champagne from 1181 and the lord of the Kingdom of Jerusalem from his marriage to Isabella I of Jerusalem in 1192 until his death in 1197. He was an assertive ruler and was especially popular among his subjects in Palestine. Henry was the eldest child of Count Henry I of Champagne and Marie of France. His mother was the half-sister of Kings Philip II of France and Richard I of England. Henry was betrothed in 1171 to Isabella of Hainaut, but Philip married her himself in 1180, causing a family rift and revolt against Philip. When Henry's father died in 1181, his mother ruled Champagne in Henry's name. Shortly before assuming personal rule, Henry negotiated a betrothal to Ermesinde, the infant daughter of Count Henry the Blind of Luxembourg and Namur. The count of Namur declared that Henry should succeed him, disinheriting his nephew Count Baldwin V of Hainaut, Philip's father-in-law. Philip sided with Baldwin, and...

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