county · France and the Low Countries

County of Blois

940 CE – 1397 CE (approx.) · capital Blois

The Loire county of the Thibaudian counts, rivals of the early Capetians, whose family gave England King Stephen and later united with Champagne.

Origins

Theobald the Trickster, a vassal of Hugh the Great, held Blois, Chartres and Tours by around 940 and founded a dynasty. His grandson Odo II added Troyes and Meaux around 1022, encircling the Capetian royal domain and contending with Anjou for Touraine, which was lost in 1044.

Rule and society

The counts ruled a rich farming land of the Loire and the Beauce, with Chartres and its cathedral school a major centre of learning. Count Stephen-Henry, husband of Adela of Normandy, was a leader of the First Crusade, and their son Stephen became king of England in 1135. The family's Champagne branch, ruling the County of Champagne, became the more powerful line.

Decline and legacy

From the 1230s the house of Châtillon held Blois. The last count, Guy II, sold it to Louis of Orléans in 1391, with possession at his death in 1397. When Louis's grandson, born at Blois, became Louis XII in 1498, it joined the Kingdom of France.

Lineage

County of BloisKingdom of France 987 CE – 1792 CE

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). County of Blois. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/county-of-blois
MLA
“County of Blois.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/county-of-blois. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “County of Blois.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/county-of-blois.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘County of Blois’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/county-of-blois (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻