Marie's birth was hailed as a "miracle" by Bernard of Clairvaux,[1] an answer to his prayer to bless the marriage between Eleanor of Aquitaine and Louis VII.

He confiscated his mother's dower lands and married Isabelle of Hainaut, who was previously betrothed to Marie's eldest son.

This prompted Marie to join a party of disgruntled nobles—including the queen mother Adela of Champagne and the archbishop of Reims—in plotting unsuccessfully against Philip.

Marie, who had retired to the nunnery of Château de Fontaines-les-Nonnes near Meaux (1187–1190), served again as regent for Champagne as her son Henry II joined the Third Crusade from 1190 to 1197.

[3] Marie's half-brother King Richard, mentions her in a stanza from his celebrated poem J'a nuns hons pris, lamenting his captivity in Austria, was addressed to her.

On 25 June 1562, rioting Huguenots devastated many edifices, including the Cathedral of Meaux; it was on this occasion that the tomb of Marie of Champagne, located in the choir, was destroyed.