Thibault I de Blois

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At first, Thibault was one of the vassals of Hugo the Great , Duke of Franks (France). In 945, the latter instructed him to guard the captive king Louis IV . In return for the freedom that Thibault was supposed to grant the king at the end of the year of captivity, Hugo the Great gave Thibault the city of Lan .

In 943 or 944, Thibault married the widow of Duke William I of Normandy , , daughter of Count Herbert II de Vermandois . The wife brought him a dowry of Provins , with his descendants becoming the center of the county of Champagne (the first to officially use the title of Count of Champagne was Hugo I Champagne ).

In 952, Duke Alain II of Breton , husband of Thibault's sister , died, and Thibault became guardian of the Duchy of Brittany during the minority of his nephew Drogon . Cleverly using this circumstance, he created a zone of his influence in the county of Rennes .

In 956 , taking advantage of the death of the Duke of Franks and the infancy of his son Hugo Capet , Thibault took the title of Count of Tours, and also captured Chartres and Chateauden.

Then he passed off his sister as Count Fulk of Anjou . Chronicles telling about the meeting of Thibaut with Count Fulk of Anjou, which occurred in 958 , call them "governors and rulers of the kingdom of Neustria " and "counts by the grace of God . "

In the 960s, Thibault sided with King Lothar , son of Louis IV of Zamorsky , against his overlord Hugo Capet , and also opposed Duke Richard I of Normandy . In 961, he made a trip to the county of Evreux . In response, the Normans attacked Dunois. In 962, Thibault organized a major military campaign against Rouen , however, failed. The Normans reached Chartres County and burned Chartres.

Thibault took control of the fortresses of Saint-Aignan and Vierzon, as well as, possibly, La Chapelle-d'Engillon in Berry . During the minority period of Hugo Capet, he strengthened Chartres and Châteaudin , and by 960 built a new fortress Saumur .

As a result, by the end of his life Thibault created a principality , which became one of the most powerful on the Loire . It dominated central France and threatened the power of the Robertins themselves. Hugo Capet , sensing this danger, entered into an alliance with the counts of Anjou .

Family and Children

Wife: (since 943/944 ^[1] ) , daughter of Herbert II de Vermandois , widow of William I , Duke of Normandy. Had 4 children:

• Thibault de Blois (d. 962);
• Hugo de Blois (d. 985), Archbishop of Bourges ;
• Ed I de Blois (d. 996), Count of Blois;
• Emma de Blois ; husband - Guillaume IV of Aquitaine , Count de Poitiers and Duke of Aquitaine .