Abbot Hugh: An Overlooked Brother of Henry I, Count of Champagne

Hugh (d. 1171), a natural son of Count Thibaut IV of Blois and II of Champagne (d.1152), was a half-brother of Count Henry I of Champagne (1127-1181) and Adèle (d. 1206), queen of France and mother of Philip Augustus. A knight wounded in battle, Hugh became a monk of Tiron Abbey near Chartres. Supported by his uncles King Stephen and Bishop Henry of Winchester, Hugh became abbot of St. Benet of Holme in Norfolk and of Chertsey outside London. Hugh returned to Champagne ca.1155 and became abbot of Lagny near Paris (1163-1171). A castrate, Hugh may have inspired Chrétien de Troyes' Fisher King.