Theobald III of Champagne

Theobald III (1179–1201), younger son of Count Henry I of Champagne and Marie of France, became count in 1197 after his brother Henry II died in the Holy Land. He worked closely with his suzerain Philip II of France. In 1199 he married Blanche of Navarre at Chartres.

At a tournament at Écry on 28 November 1199, Fulk of Neuilly preached the Fourth Crusade; the nobles present took the cross and elected Theobald their leader. He died on 24 May 1201 before the crusade sailed, succeeded by a posthumous son, Theobald IV, whose mother Blanche ruled Champagne as regent.