He later assisted Louis IX in the battles of Taillebourg and Saintes against the English, and was defeated in Gascony in 1244 by the English King’s seneschal. Some years later, in 1249-50, he embarked on a pilgrimage of penance to Rome, which some historians put down to his differences with the clergy of Navarre. Thibaut died in Pamplona on 8 July 1253, leaving his son Thibaut V, fruit of his third marriage and just a few years old, as heir to the throne and the counties of Champagne y Brie.

The manuscripts

There are a total of 32 manuscripts containing the poetic and musical output of Thibaut, Count of Champagne and Brie and King of Navarre, of which only 14 contain music. The most important of these is the well-known Chansonnier du roi de Navarre, which forms part of the Manuscrit du Roi (París. Bibl. Nationale, fonds fr. 844 fols. 13 and 59-78), which pertained to Charles of Anjou, King of Sicily (1266-82). Of Thibaut’s 60 extant musical-poetical compositions, this songbook, the copy considered closest to a hypothetical original, contains 56 compositions with music and another two without; thus, only two of his works are missing.

There are a total of 32 manuscripts containing the poetic and musical output of Thibaut, Count of Champagne and Brie and King of Navarre, of which only 14 contain music. The most important of these is the well-known Chansonnier du roi de Navarre

This source is followed in importance by a set of four manuscripts that seem to derive from the same source: Paris. Bibl. del Arsenal, 5198, containing 56 compositions by Thibaut, all with music; Paris. Bibl. Nationale, fonds fr. 845, with 28 compositions, of which 26 contain music; Paris. Bibl. Nationale, fonds fr. 847, with 5 compositions set to music, and Paris. Bibl. Nationale, 1050 (Chansonnier Clairambault), with 56 compositions, all with music. In contrast to the Chansonnier du roi de Navarre, in which the repertory is given as anonymous, in these four manuscripts all the pieces are headed by the composer’s name or ‘Li rois de Navarre’. Another feature of these manuscripts, which is also characteristic of most manuscripts containing Thibaut’s repertory, is that his works are copied at the beginning of them. This is not surprising considering the fact that manuscripts containing pieces from the trouvère repertory usually group them by composer. These are then ordered from the highest to the lowest ranking composer. Given that the only French trouvère to attain the rank of royalty was Thibaut, there is nothing special about his compositions normally being copied first.

Other manuscripts to transmit Thibaut’s works with music include the Chansonnier Cangé (Paris. Bibl. Nationale, fonds fr. 846), one of the last trouvère songbooks -now in mensural notation which is thought to derive from various sources. Ordered alphabetically, Thibaut’s compositions, which number 59 in total, 57 of which contain music, are always the first compositions of every new letter. As with the four manuscripts mentioned above, all the pieces are attributed to the ‘Roy de Navarre’.