Erard II of Chacenay

Erard II (died 16 June 1236) was the Sire de Chacenay (Chassenay) from 1190/1.^[a] He was the eldest son of Erard I of Chacenay and Mathilde de Donzy.^[1]

In 1209 Erard, with the consent of his unnamed wife, confirmed a donation to Basse-Fontaine by a certain Agnete, specified as domina of Chacenay, probably his grandmother Agnes de Brienne.

During the succession crisis of Champagne, Erard was the strongest support of Erard of Brienne-Ramerupt and was the last to reconcile with Blanche of Navarre.^[2]

Uneasy with the result in Champagne, Erard took part in the Fifth Crusade (1217),^[3] but was back in Europe by 1220. In July 1219 Erard's cousin, Hervé, Count of Nevers, confirmed a donation Erard had made to the Teutonic Knights, while Erard was at the siege of Damietta.^[4] Upon his return, Erard paid homage to Theobald, Count of Champagne and made a donation to the convent of Argensolles, which had been founded by Blanche of Navarre.^[2]

He was a patron of the trouvère Guiot de Dijon. He was buried in the Abbey of Clairvaux, 16 June 1236.^[2]

Erard was the second husband of Emmeline (Emelina) de Broyes (died 1249, before April), widow of Odo II of Champlitte.^[3] They were married in 1205. In 1218 she made a joint donation with her husband to the Abbey of Moutier-la-Celle. Erard was faced with a possible divorce when he sold his step-daughter, Oda's, inheritance to the Knights Templar.^[5] Erard and Emeline had:

• Huet, died on Crusade in 1247, no issue^[2]
• Erard III, succeeded Erard^[2]
• Matilda, who married Guy d'Arcis-sur-Aube
• Alix,
• Joanna, who is only known from the donation of 1218

• Evergates, Theodore (2007). The Aristocracy in the County of Champagne, 1100-1300. University of Pennsylvania Press.
• Schenk, Jochen (2012). Templar Families, Landowning Families and the Order of the Temple in France, c.1120-1307. Cambridge University Press.