Henry III of Champagne

Henry I of Navarre (c. 1210-1274), nicknamed le Gros (that is, the Fat), was the youngest son of Theobald I[?] king of Navarre by Margaret of Foix[?], and succeeded his eldest brother Theobald II[?] as king of Navarre and count of Champagne in December 1270.

His proclamation at Pamplona, however, did not take place till March of the following year, and his coronation was delayed until May 1273. After a brief reign, characterized, it is said, by dignity and talent, he died in July 1274, suffocated, according to the generally received accounts, by his own fat.

After his death with no male heir, the male line of the counts of Champagne and kings of Navarre became extinct.

He married in 1269 Blanche, daughter of Robert, count of Artois, and niece of King Louis IX and was succeeded by his only legitimate child, Jeanne or Joanna, by whose marriage to Philip IV afterwards king of France in 1284, the crown of Navarre became united to that of France.

This entry was originally from the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.