467 



BALDWIN If. 



BALDWIN I. 



493 



in 840, Baldwin, having taken the part of Lothariua against his 

 brothers, was severely wounded in the battle of Fontenai. Shortly 

 after, Judith, daughter of Charles the Bald, King of Aquitania and 

 of Neustria, having become a widow, by the death of her husband 

 Ethelwolf, king of England, was returning to her father in France, 

 when Baldwin, who had heard of her great beauty, went to meet her 

 at her landing. He prevailed on her to accompany him to the castle 

 of Haerlebeck, where they were privately married, as they had no 

 expectation of obtaining her father's consent. Charles incensed at 

 the news, sent his son, Louis the Stammerer, to make war upon 

 Baldwin, who defeated him near Arras. After the battle, Baldwin 

 caused several of Charles's barons, whom he had taken prisoners, to 

 be hanged, as the instigators of the war. The pope, Nicholas I., 

 having excommunicated him, at the request of Charles the Bald, 

 Baldwin made a journey to Rome with his wife Judith, and not only 

 obtained absolution, but succeeded in engaging the good offices of 

 Pope Nicholas I., who sent a legate to Charles of Franco, aud effected 

 a reconciliation. Baldwin aud his wife repaired to the court of Charles, 

 who received them kindly, and enlarged the limits of Flanders, erect- 

 ing it into a county, in 862. Baldwin built castles at Bruges and 

 Ghent, to defend the country against the Normans, who, under their 

 chief Hastings, had lauded on the coast. Baldwin died at Arras 

 in 877. 



BALDWIN II., Count of Flanders, son of the above, married 

 Alfrith, daughter of Alfred of England. He made war against Eudes, 

 count of Paris, who had usurped the French crown, aud defeated 

 him. He had also disputes with Charles the Simple, the rightful heir, 

 after the latter had ascended the throne. Baldwin died in 919, and 

 was succeeded by his son Aruoul. 



BALDWIN III., styled 'of the handsome beard,' succeeded Count 

 Arnoul the younger in 988, and died in 1034. He married a daughter 

 of the Count of Luxemburg. During the troubles that followed the 

 death of the Emperor Otho III., the Count of Flanders seized upon 

 several places in the neighbourhood of his territories : among others, 

 upon Valenciennes, which he afterwards defended against the united 

 forces of the Emperor Henry, King Robert of France, and the Duke 

 of Normandy. It was 6nally agreed at last that he should retain 

 Valenciennes, as an imperial feud, as well as the island of Walcheren 

 and other parts of Zealand. Baldwin then obtained the hand of 

 Adele, daughter of Robert of France, for his son Baldwin. An 

 assembly of the prelates and nobles of Flanders, held at Oudenarde, 

 by Count lialdwin III., appears to be the first mention made of the 

 states of Flanders. 



BALDWIN IV., called by some 'of Lisle,' and by others ' le D(5bon- 

 naire,' was the son and successor of Count Baldwin III. He conquered 

 from the German territory several districts on the right bank of the 

 Scheldt, which he retained on condition of doing homage to the 

 emperor for the same ; and thus the counts of Flanders WITS vassals 

 of both the crowns of France and Germany. Baldwin gave his 

 daughter Mathilda to William of Normandy, afterwards king of Eng- 

 land. Henry I. of France, at his death, appointed Count Baldwin 

 guardian to his son Philip, then a minor. Baldwin fulfilled his trust 

 with great honour ; and defeated the Gascons, who had revolted. He 

 then accompanied his son-in-law, William, to the conquest of England ; 

 and for his services on that occasion William assigned him and his 

 successors a yearly pension of 300 marks of silver out of the English 

 treasury. Bald A in died in 1067, and was buried at Lisle. 



BALDWIN V., called ' the Good,' and also ' of Mons,' from his 

 having married the Countess Richilda, of Haiuault, who brought him 

 the lordship of Mons before he became Count of Flanders, succeeded 

 his father, Baldwin IV. He died in 1070, leaving two sons, Arnoul 

 and Baldwin. After his death, his brother Robert, called the Fries- 

 lander, from having conquered the principality of Friesland, invaded 

 Flanders, and defeated his nephews and Philip of France, who had 

 come to their assistance, in a battle near St. Omer. Arnoul was killed ; 

 and Baldwin, after a time, renounced his claims on the county of 

 Flanders in favour of his uncle and his descendants, and kept for 

 himself the county of Hainault, which he had inherited from his 

 mother. This Baldwin has been reckoned in the series of the princes 

 of his family as Baldwin VI. 



BALDWIN VII., grandson of Robert the Frieslander, succeeded 

 hi father, Robert the younger, as Count of Flanders, in the year 1111. 

 He was called Baldwin Hapkin, from the name of a kind of axe used 

 during his reign in the numerous public executions of the outlaws 

 who infested the country, among whom were many turbulent feudal 

 lords. Baldwin made war in Normandy in favour of William, son of 

 Robert Curthoae, against Henry I. of England ; and being severely 

 wounded at the siege of Rouen, died soon after, in 1119. He 

 was succeeded in the county of Flanders by his cousin Charles of 

 Denmark. 



BALDWIN VIII., Count of Hainault, was descended from Bald- 

 win VI., and became Count of Flanders after the death of Count 

 Philip, in 1194. Thus the line of Baldwin of Mons was restored, 

 and the two counties of Hainault and Flanders were re-united. Philip 

 of France, afterwards Philippe Auguste, married Isabella, Baldwin's 

 daughter. Baldwin died in 1195, leaving his dominions to Baldwin 

 IX., afterwards Emperor of Constantinople. (Oudegherst, Cltroniqucs 

 et Annala de Flandrt.) 



BIOO. DIV. VOL. I. 



BALDWIN I., Emperor of Constantinople, was the son of Baldwin 

 of Hainault, aud of Margaret countess of Flanders. He became 

 count of Flanders by the death of his mother in 1194, and the 

 following year succeeded his father as count of Hainault. Soon after 

 his accession he made war upon Philip II. of France for the recovery 

 of the province of Artois, which had been detached from Flanders 

 under count Philip his uncle, aud with the help of Richard of 

 England succeeded in recovering a portion of the Artois, which he 

 retained by the treaty of Peronne in 1199. In 1200, Baldwin having 

 resolved to join the fourth crusade, appointed his brother Philip, 

 count of Namur, with other persons, to the regency of Flanders and 

 Hainault. Baldwin's wife, Mary of Champagne, followed him to 

 Venice, the appointed rendezvous of the Crusaders. As the sum for 

 which the Venetians engaged to furnish ships and provisions was more 

 than the Crusaders could pay, Baldwin exhorted his brethren in arms 

 to part with their private money, their jewels, and ornaments, and he 

 set them the example himself. Still a large sum being wanting, 

 Dandolo, the doge of Venice, proposed that, on their way to the East, 

 the Crusaders should stop before Zara in Dalmatia, and assist the 

 Venetians in reconquering that place, which had revolted, and gtveu 

 itself up to the king of Hungary. Many of the Crusaders refused 

 and left Venice : others, of whom Baldwin was one, agreed to the 

 proposal. The fleet sailed in October 1202, aud having stopped at 

 Zara, the Crusaders and the Veuetians took the town, where they 

 wintered. At Zara the Crusaders were applied to by messengers 

 from Alexius, Bon of Isaac Angelus, emperor of Constantinople, who 

 had been deposed, had his eyes seared out, and been thrown into a 

 dungeon by his brother Alexius III. The young Alexius implored 

 the Crusaders to deliver his father, and restore him to the throne, 

 engaging, on his part, to give them afterwards every assistance for 

 the recovery of Palestine, to pay them a large sum of money, aud 

 to make the Greek Church acknowledge the supremacy of the Roman 

 See. At a great consultation, held by the chiefs of the Crusaders, 

 Boniface, marquis of Montferrat, Baldwin of Flanders, aud the old 

 Doge Dandolo, supported the entreaties of Alexius, and the expedi- 

 tion to Constantinople was resolved upon. They then proceeded to 

 Corfu, where they were joined by young Alexius himself. In May 

 1203 the fleet, consisting of nearly 500 sail, left Corfu, and steered 

 for the Hellespont ; they entered the Propoutis without meeting any 

 opposition, and cast anchor at Chrysopolis, opposite to Constantinople. 

 The plan of attack being formed, Baldwin, who had with him the 

 best archers and a numerous body of brave knights, was appointed 

 to lead the van. A rapid succession of events occurred ; the Greek 

 forces were defeated near Galata ; Alexius the usurper fled, and Isaac 

 was restored to the throne. Young Alexius finding some difficulty 

 in fulfilling all the promises he had made, the Crusaders became 

 impatient, and hostilities broke out between them in January 1204. 

 At the same time a revolution took place in the city. Young Alexius 

 Angulus was murdered, and his father, the Emperor Isaac, died, it was 

 said, of terror and grief. The throne was usurped by Alexius Ducas, 

 called Murtzuflos. The city was now invested by the Crusaders, who, 

 after a siege of three mouths, made a general assault, the city being 

 stormed from the harbour side. A dreadful slaughter ensued, nmcli 

 of which was perpetrated by the depraved part of the town popula- 

 tion. The booty was divided between the Crusaders and the Vene- 

 tians ; the share of the former, after deducting their debt to thfl 

 republic, amounted to 400,000 marks of silver. The Latin conquerors 

 appointed twelve electors, six Venetians, and six Crusaders, to choose 

 a now emperor of the East The Crusaders proposed at first the 

 gallant old Doge Dandolo, but the Venetians objected to his nomina- 

 tion, on the ground that the imperial dignity was incompatible with 

 that of first magistrate of their republic. The choice then fell upon 

 Baldwin of Flanders, the most distinguished as well as the most power- 

 ful of th-j Crusaders. The authority of Baldwin however was much 

 circumscribed : not more than one-fourth part of the provinces of 

 the empire was appropriated to him, part of the remainder being 

 allotted to the Venetians, whose doge was proclaimed Despot of 

 Romania ; and part was distributed among the adventurers of France 

 aud Lombardy, while several provinces remained in the possession of 

 Greek princes, the relatives of the former emperors. Baldwin was 

 therefore rather a titular than a real emperor, and all his abilities 

 and good intentions, for which historians have generally giveu him 

 credit, could not prevent the disorders inherent to such a state of 

 things. Many of the Greeks were of course dissatisfied with the new 

 arrangements, and their discontent being abetted by John, or Joan- 

 nices, king of the Bulgarians and Wallachians, a vast conspiracy was 

 formed, and as soon a Henry, Baldwin's brother, had crossed over 

 to Asia on an expedition, t iking with him the flower of his troops, 

 the Greeks of the .towns of Thrace rose and massacred the Latins 

 who were scattered among them. Baldwin went out to meet Joan- 

 uices, who had crossed the Balkan, but he was defeated and taken 

 prisoner on the 15th of April 1205. Villehardomn, the marshal of 

 Romania, who has left a history of the whole expedition, aud the old 

 Doge Dandolo, effected a gallant retreat with the scanty remainder 

 of their troops. Baldwin died a prisoner of the Bulgarians in the 

 following year. Innocent III. having written to Joannices, requesting 

 him to give up the emperor, was answered that " Baldwin had paid 

 the debt of nature." The manner of his death is unknown. Various 



2ic 



