The County of Champagne (Latin: Comitatus Campaniensis; Old French: Conté de Champaigne)[1] was a medieval territory and feudal principality in the Kingdom of France.

The name of the county, Champagne, comes from the vast open lands (campi) between the rivers Aisne, Meuse, and Yonne east of the city of Paris.

[6] Nevertheless, Champagne remained a collection of lordships rather than a single entity during Theobald's rule and only gained a fixed capital, accounts administration, a chancery, and a dynastic necropolis later in the 12th century.

[12] He further expanded northwards by agreement with his brother Archbishop William White Hands of Reims, while the southern border shifted when several lords transferred their primary allegiance from the bishops of Auxerre and Langres to the count of Champagne.

[21] They principally attracted merchants and travelers from the neighboring County of Flanders and the Rhine Valley as well as from the states of Italy and England,[22] but they also came from as far as the Mediterranean and the Baltic.

[17] The intellectual and literary interests of Count Henry and Countess Marie transformed the county's capital, Troyes, into a cultural center as well.

[25] Peter of Celle, who came from a Champenois noble family, is described the historian John F. Benton considers him "one of the finest spiritual writers of the twelfth century".

[27] Further authors, such as Chrétien de Troyes, Evrat, Gace Brulé, Gautier d'Arras, and Simon Chèvre d'Or acknowledged the influence of the count and countess of Champagne.

[28] Guy of Bazoches (a scion of a Champenois noble family whom Benton describes as "one of the foremost Latin authors of Champagne"), John of Salisbury, Herbert of Bosham, and Philip of Harveng, addressed letters to the count.

[29] Walter Map, Petrus Riga, Guiot of Provins, Hugh III of Oisy (one of the great lords in the county), and Conon of Béthune are among the authors who wrote about the court of Champagne.

The counts, barons, and knights of Champagne contributed heavily to the efforts in the Latin East and the Peloponnese, the latter of which was settled by the Champenois noblemen.

[33] Henry III's death left the counties of Champagne and Brie and the Kingdom of Navarre in the hands of his minor daughter, Joan I.

While the comital government continued to function and Philip III respected the county's customs and the prerogatives of its High Court, but the gradual loss of autonomy began.

[35] The historian Joseph Strayer argues that Philip desired Joan for his heir not because of her kingdom but because of her counties, which were more strategically important and far wealthier than Navarre.

[34] In 1285 he informed the bishop of Langres and the archbishops of Reims and Sens that the homage which the count of Champagne owed them would lapse upon his accession to the royal throne,[38] and the same year he succeeded his father as king.