Louis I, Count of Blois
Louis I of Blois was Count of Blois from 1191 to 1205. He was the son of Theobald V and Alix of France. His maternal grandparents were Louis VII of France and his first wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine. Whilst in his teens, Louis joined his father on the Third Crusade.
Louis promulgated a charter in 1196 abolishing serfdom in his domains.At the Tournament at Écry-sur-Aisne on 28 November 1199, count Louis and his cousin Theobald III of Champagne were the first major nobles to respond to Pope Innocent III's call for a Fourth Crusade. He left France in 1202, along with a gift of 1,000 marks from his uncle, King John of England. During the July 1203 siege of Constantinople, Louis was one of eight division commanders, the others including Boniface of Montferrat, Doge Enrico Dandolo, Baldwin of Flanders, and Baldwin's brother Henry.
Louis was later afflicted with a severe fever for months, and missed participating in the capture of Constantinople in 1204. He was too ill to take part in the subsequent forays of his men into Asia Minor, where he had been created Duke of Nicaea, a title he never vindicated as the city was captured by Theodore I Laskaris, founder of the Empire of Nicaea.
He had just recuperated when he participated in the Battle of Adrianople, where he was slain by a force of Cumans led by Kaloyan of Bulgaria.Family
He married Catherine, Countess of Clermont-en-Beauvaisis, they had:
- Raoul, who died young
- Jeanne, who died young
- Theobald VI, Count of Blois
