Flanders (count)

Who he is

Name

Baldwin IX (Baudouin, Boudewijn)

Title

Count of Flanders

Since

November 1194, on the death of his mother Countess Margaret I

Born

July 1172, Valenciennes

Family

House of Flanders (Hainaut line); see the realm record Flanders

Confidence

high

English and French Wikipedia; French Wikipedia (Comte d'Artois) for the 1191 and 1200 treaties.

Overlord

Philip II of France for crown Flanders west of the Scheldt; the emperor (a disputed throne) for imperial Flanders east of it.

What it holds

• Castellany of Bruges and the Franc of Bruges (Brugse Vrije), with Bruges, Damme, Ostend and the coast to the Zwin
• Castellanies of Ghent (the Oudburg), Ypres, Kortrijk, Dixmude, Bergues and Bourbourg (Bourbourg's castellan is Arnold of Guines by marriage)
• The baronial lordships held of him: Oudenaarde, Dendermonde (William of Bethune), Gavere, Wavrin, Nevele and others
• Imperial Flanders: the Land of Aalst (Aalst, Geraardsbergen, Ninove), the Land of Waas, the Four Ambachten (Hulst, Axel, Assenede, Bouchaute), the overlordship of Zeeland west of the Scheldt shared with the count of Holland
• Saint-Omer and Aire with the fiefs of Lillers, Richebourg and La Gorgue: occupied since 1198
• The count's fairs of Ypres, Messines, Torhout, Bruges and Lille; the tolls of the Zwin, the Lys and the Scheldt; mints; the forests and the wastes

How it was acquired

Inheritance from his mother Margaret I (died November 1194), who inherited from her brother Philip of Alsace (died at Acre, 1 June 1191). Saint-Omer and Aire by conquest in 1198.

Allies and rivals

Allies: John (sworn alliance renewed in 1199) and the Welf king Otto IV, John's nephew (en.wikipedia names Richard I, John and Otto IV among the allies Baldwin made against Philip), his brothers, the Flemish barons and towns. Rival: Philip Augustus over Artois. Neighbours: Brabant and Holland in the Empire, the counts of Boulogne, Guines and Saint-Pol on the Artois side.

How things stand that morning

Baldwin governs all of crown and imperial Flanders except the dower lands, which the dowager governs for life. Saint-Omer and Aire are in his hands by conquest. Across the southern border the king's officers hold Arras, Bapaume, Lens and Hesdin for Prince Louis; across the Boulonnais border Renaud of Dammartin holds Boulogne; across the Scheldt below Tournai lies the king's commune of Tournai.

Wealth

Cloth, wool imports from England, the fair cycle, the tolls on the rivers and the coast, the herring and salt of the coast, the new polders, and the count's revenue accounts (the Grote Brief) kept by his bailiffs and notaries.

Military

The count's host, the castellans' garrisons (Bruges, Ghent, Ypres, Kortrijk, Dixmude, Bergues), the town militias, Brabancon mercenaries; the defence of the low country by water, as in 1197.

Threats

• The king's claims in Artois
• The dower holds a third of the land
• The towns' independence
• The coming crusade

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

1. 2 January 1200Treaty of Peronne: Saint-Omer, Aire and the northern fiefs are confirmed to Baldwin; he does homage to Philip.Depends on: Both sides keeping to the agreed terms. Stopped by: A rupture at Peronne.
2. 23 February 1200Baldwin takes the cross at Bruges.Depends on: Peace. Stopped by: War.

Places of note

• Gravensteen: Count's castle
• The Burg and Saint-Donatian: Count's residence and chancery
• Damme: Outport of Bruges on the Zwin, founded about 1180

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The count's lands and the 1198-1200 changes are well recorded; the exact limits of the dower and of the occupied strip are fair to thin.

On the map: The outer border follows the coast, the Scheldt and the Dender closely enough; the line along the Lys with the dower castellanies is approximate; Zeeland is not drawn.

Primary sources for Flanders

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• Chronicle of Alberic of Trois-Fontaines, Alberic of Trois-Fontaines (about 1227 to 1241, at the Cistercian abbey of Trois-Fontaines in Champagne). The widest net of any Latin chronicle for 1200, compiled from dozens of sources, many now lost. Read online
• Chronicle of Andres, William of Andres (about 1220 to 1234). The chronicle and cartulary of a small abbey between Guines and Ardres, near the border of Flanders and Boulogne. Read online
• Chronicle of Hainaut, Gislebert of Mons (about 1195 to 1196). Ends in 1195, so it has no 1200 entries, but it is the indispensable background for Flanders and Hainaut: the career of Count Baldwin V of Hainaut (VIII of Flanders), his union of the two counties, the settlement with Philip over Artois, the rights, castles, fiefs and vassals of Hainaut listed by a man who ran its chancery, and the youth of Baldwin IX, who held both counties in 1200. Read online
• Chronicle of Robert of Auxerre, Robert of Auxerre (Robert of Saint-Marien) (about 1190 to 1211; continued at Saint-Marien to 1227). A universal chronicle whose last twenty years are contemporary and well informed from Burgundy and the Auxerrois. Read online
• Universal Chronicle of the Anonymous of Laon, Anonymous (an English-born canon of Laon) (about 1219). A Picard chronicle whose author had lived in England and keeps an eye on both kingdoms. Read online
• Annals of Egmond (12th century to about 1205). The house annals of Egmond, the counts of Holland's abbey, and the main native source for Holland around 1200. Read online
• Chronicle of Roger of Howden, Roger of Howden (about 1192 to 1201). The fullest single narrative for the year. Read online
• Deeds of Philip Augustus, Rigord (about 1186 to 1206, in stages). The French court's own chronicle for the year, from the monk of Saint-Denis who called himself the king's chronographer. Read online

8 more in the sources library for France and Iberia.