However, there are many signs of the two dynasties co-operating, above
all in the religious sphere.^57 All of this suggests that Henry was not simply
indulging in empty formalities when he expressed his sorrow at Walter’s
death in 1158, and established an anniversary mass for him.^58
This kind of approach was maintained by Walter’s successor, Erard II.
Although Erard himself issued more than thirty charters, he does not
seem to have witnessed a single one for Henry the Liberal (although it
is worth noting that he did witnessalongside him once, in 1178).^59
Furthermore, after Henry’s death, Erard witnessed only once for Henry’s
effective successor, his widow Mary.^60 Nevertheless, it was becoming
much harder to hold oneself aloof from the counts of Champagne, as the
latter became more bureaucratically assertive. The county of Brienne is
listed as thefirst‘fief’of the Troyes and Isle castellany in the document
known as theFeoda Campanie(‘Fiefs of Champagne’), no. 1, which was
drawn up for Henry the Liberal in the late 1170s.^61 Although the docu-
ment repositioned Brienne within an overarching, Champagne-wide
castellany framework, it lists no specific services that the count was
required to perform. Moreover, Erard was recognized in theFeoda,as
he would have wished, as the lord of twofiefs,‘namely Brienne and
Ramerupt, with their appurtenances’.^62 In other words, his suzerainty
over Ramerupt was being acknowledged and formalized.
The attitude of the Briennes toward the counts of Champagne perhaps
finds its best expression right at the century’s end, in 1189–91. Much like
their suzerain, Count Henry II of Champagne, Erard of Brienne and his
brother, Andrew of Ramerupt, took the cross following the news of
the battle of Hattin before heading east as a part of the Third Crusade.
However, they led their own contingent, travelling well ahead of Henry,
who did not arrive in the Holy Land until after Andrew’sheroicdeath.
Nevertheless, it is reasonable to suppose that, following Henry’s
landing at Acre, the remnants of the Brienne contingent joined with
their fellow Champenois, and surely fought under Henry’sbanneras
well as their own.^63
(^57) See below, 25 – 7.
(^58) See Roserot,Dictionnaire, i, 243;Recueil des actes de Henri le Libéral, comte de Champagne
(1152–1181), compiled by M. Buret al., 2 vols. (Paris, 2009–13), i, no. 115; and
T. Evergates,Henry the Liberal: Count of Champagne, 1127– 1181 (Philadelphia, 2016),
- I would like to thank Dr James Doherty for drawing this to my attention.
(^59) See‘Catalogue’, no. 78, although d’Arbois de Jubainville’s summary does not mention
Henry at all.
(^60) Ibid., no. 82. (^61) Evergates,The Aristocracy in Champagne,17–21.
(^62) Feoda Campaniei, no. 1884, inDocuments relatifs au comté de Champagne et de Brie,
631172 –^1361 , compiled by A. Longnon, 3 vols. (Paris, 1901–14).
For more on the crusade,see below, 30 – 1.
The Shadow of Troyes 23