Count of Blois

During the Middle Ages, the counts of Blois were among the most powerful vassals of the King of France.
This title of nobility seems to have been created in 832 by Emperor Louis the Pious for William, the youngest son of Adrian, Count of Orléans. Over a few decades, the county was gathered to the royal lands of France until the end of the 9th century, before being relegated to the status of viscount.
From its autonomy around 940 to the definitive integration to the Duchy of Orleans in 1397, the county was directed by the son of the last viscount's descendants, Theobald I. His descendants, called House of Blois ended up related to a large number of European noble families.
In 1397, the title was ceded by Count Guy II in the favor of Duke Louis I of Orléans, who was the second son of King Charles V. The very last hereditary count of Blois was his grandson, Duke Louis II, who annexed the county to the Crown lands of France when he was crowned King of France in 1498 under the name of Louis XII.
The title reappeared in 1626 when a County of Blois was again made independent of Orléans and granted to Duke Gaston of Orléans. However, King Louis XIV refused this favor to his brother, Duke Philippe, when he received the traditional apanage in 1660.

Carolingian county (832–c.900)

It is likely, but not certain, that the title of count of Blois was granted before the year 832.

Portrait	Name	Reign	Other titles	Description
	William of Orléans	832–834	None	Son of Count Adrian of Orléans, he was invested with the title of first Count of Blois by King Louis the Pious, being his father's vassal. By 834, he allied with King Pepin I of Aquitaine so that the latter could recover his kingdom, which had been given to his half–brother, King Charles II. The mission was successful, but William died, with no descendants. His brother Odo was appointed as his heir but died the same day.
	Robert the Strong	834–866	Margrave of Neustria Count of Orléans Count of Tours Count of Anjou Count of Auxerre Count of Nevers	Supposed son of Count Robert III of Worms and Waldrade, the last daughter of Count Adrian, who would have inherited the county as a dowry following the death of her two brothers and her husband in the war against King Charles II. He inherited the county of Orléans around 860 following the fall of Count William of Orléans, uncle of the previous one.
	Hugh the Abbot	866–886	Margrave of Neustria Count of Paris Count of Orléans Count of Tours Count of Anjou Count of Auxerre Count of Nevers	Son of Count Conrad I of Auxerre and Adelaide of Tours, he was Robert the Strong's sworn enemy before his death, but he inherited his possessions and raised Robert's two orphaned sons, Odo and Robert I.
	Odo	886–888	King of the Franks Margrave of Neustria Count of Paris Count of Orléans Count of Tours Count of Anjou	Eldest son of Robert the Strong, elected King of the Franks by 888, he decided to pass on his other titles to his brother Robert I.
	Robert I	888 – c. 900	Margrave of Neustria Count of Paris Count of Orléans Count of Tours	Younger brother of the previous one, he was not elected King when his brother died in 898. He focused on the counties of Paris and Orléans, and he decided to gradually delegate the management of Blésois, Touraine and Anjou to viscounts.

Viscounts during the Robertian era (before 900–940)

House of Blois (956–1230)

Portrait	Name	Reign	Other titles	Description
	Theobald I, aka Theobald the Trickster	940–977	Count of Tours Count of Chartres Count of Châteaudun Lord of Provins Lord of Chinon Lord of Saumur	Son of Theobald the Elder and Richilde. He was a faithful vassal of Hugh the Great which entrusted him with a vast county around 940 including Tours, Blois, Chartres and Châteaudun. He married Countess Luitgarde of Vermandois. During the infancy of Hugh Capet, Theobald became autonomous and get close to the Carolingian King Lothair II. Theobald enforced many territories or build many fortresses like Vierzon, Sancerre, Chinon, Saumur, Beaugency, and Provins.
80px	Odo I	977–996	Count of Tours Count of Chartres Count of Châteaudun Count of Provins Count of Reims Count of Beauvais Count of Dreux	Second son of Count Theobald I and Luitgarde, he succeeded to his father after his brother's death in Normandy. He attacked Count Bouchard I of Vendôme, a King Hugh Capet's ally, and conquered Melun. He bought his alleagence to the King by giving the county of Dreux to him. He married the Carolingian Bertha of Burgundy.
80px	Theobald II	996–1004	Count of Tours Count of Chartres Count of Châteaudun Count of Provins Count of Reims Count of Beauvais	Elder son of Count Odo I, her reign was mainly supervized by his mother, who remarried King Robert II. The King took back Tours from Count Fulk III of Anjou, but Theobald died due to exhaustion on the way back from Rome in 1004, when he was 19.
80px	Odo II	1004–1037	Count of Tours Count of Chartres Count of Châteaudun Count of Provins Count of Reims Count of Beauvais Count of Sancerre Count of Meaux Count of Troyes	Younger brother of Count Theobald II, he declared war to all his neighbors, and refused to give back his dowry to Duke Richard II of Normandy. He continued to fight against Count Fulk III of Anjou, and finally won against him, but he was defeated in his turn in Pontlevoy by Count Herbert I of Maine. By 1022, he inherited the county of Troyes and Meaux from his cousin, and gathered the Blois-Champagne territory. Since he was also son of Bertha of Burgundy, he claimed his succession rights over the Kingdom of Arles from 1032 onwards, but he was killed next to Bar-le-Duc 5 years later.
80px	Theobald III	1037–1089	Count of Tours Count of Chartres Count of Châteaudun Count of Provins Count of Reims Count of Beauvais Count of Sancerre Count of Meaux Count of Troyes Lord of Château-Thierry	Elder son of Odo II, who transmitted him the county, but Theobald refused to recognize King Henry I's legitimacy. As a result, the king took the county of Tours back to give it to his ally, Count Geoffrey IV of Anjou, after the battle of Nouy of 1044. He gathered again his father's territories of Blois and Champagne by getting rid of his cousin, Odo, and established Champagne as a proper county. He married Gersent of Le Mans, the daughter of his father's foe.
80px	Stephen	1089–1102	Count of Chartres Count of Châteaudun Count of Provins Count of Sancerre Count of Meaux Count of Reims	Elder son of Theobald III, he married Adela, daughter of William the Conqueror. Under his wife's influence, he was among the first noblemen in responding to Pope Urban II's call for the First Crusade. With other counts, he fell out of favor when they left the Siege of Antioch, but Count Stephen found a more honorable death at the second battle of Ramla of 1102. His second son was King Stephen of England.
80px	Theobald IV aka Theobald the Great	1102–1152	Count of Chartres Count of Châteaudun Count of Troyes Count of Champagne Lord of Sancerre	First son of Stephen and Adela of Normandy, his reign was managed by his mother until his majority. He faced upheavals from his vassal Hugh III of Le Puiset. When his uncle went to the Holy Land, he inherited the County of Champagne. He was approached by the Norman barons to become king of England, who also called on him to become their duke but, in the end, his brother Stephen was chosen in 1135. Instead, he turned the Champagne into a powerful county, and founded the Champagne fairs.
80px	Theobald V aka Theobald the Good	1152–1191	Count of Chartres Count of Châteaudun	When his father Theobald IV died, his territories were split between his sons, among which Theobald received the county of Blois and the Champagne was offered to Henry. Theobald tried to conquer Vendôme and took part of Henry the Young King's rebellion to reconquer Tours. He married Alice of France and, as a consequence, entered into the royal family. With his nephew Count Henry II of Champagne, he joined the Third Crusade, but was killed during the Siege of Acre in 1191.
80px	Louis I	1191–1205	Count of Chartres Count of Châteaudun Duke of Nicaea	Son of Theobald V, whom he beneathed the county from. He married Catherine of Clermont, who was the heiress of the county of Clermont. He was also part of the Fourth Crusade, and was made in 1204 duke of Nicaea, Anatolia. He was killed the following year, during the Battle of Adrianople, on April 14.
80px	Theobald VI	1205–1218	Count of Chartres Count of Châteaudun Count of Clermont	Unique son of Count Louis, he inherited both counties of Blois and Clermont. He got leprosy when he travelled to Spain, and died in 1218 while being recluse and having no descendant. The counties of Blois, Chartres, and Châteaudun were split between his aunts, Margaret of Blois and Isabelle of Chartres.
80px	Margaret	1218–1230	Countess of Châteaudun	Third daughter of Theobald V and Alice of France, she inherited the counties of Blois and Châteaudun when her nephew died. Her husband, Walter II of Avesnes, was the jure uxoris count during her life.