Hainaut

Who he is

Name

Baldwin VI of Hainaut, who is Baldwin IX of Flanders

Title

Count of Hainaut (imperial)

Since

17 December 1195, on the death of his father Baldwin V

Born

July 1172, Valenciennes

Family

House of Flanders (Hainaut line)

Confidence

high

English Wikipedia; Gislebert of Mons' chronicle ends with Baldwin V.

Overlord

The bishop of Liege, of whom the county has been held in fief since 1071, and the emperor (a disputed throne in 1200). The Ostrevant on the French side of the Scheldt is a separate tie.

What it holds

• Mons (castle, the count's lay abbacy of Sainte-Waudru)
• Valenciennes (the Salle-le-Comte, the town and the prevote)
• Binche (castle and town, traditionally a dower town of the countesses)
• Maubeuge (the town by the abbey of Sainte-Aldegonde)
• Le Quesnoy, Bavay, Beaumont, Ath, Braine-le-Comte, Halle
• The Ostrevant with Bouchain and Denain
• Overlordship of the peers of Hainaut (Avesnes, Chimay, Barbencon, Rumigny, Trazegnies and others) and of Namur

How it was acquired

Inheritance from Baldwin V (died 17 December 1195).

Allies and rivals

Ally: his brother Philip of Namur. Neighbours: Brabant to the north-east, the bishop of Liege (Thuin, Lobbes) to the east, the bishop of Cambrai to the west, the king's Vermandois and Thierache to the south.

How things stand that morning

Quiet. The war with Theobald of Bar over Namur ended at Dinant on 26 July 1199. The count is away in Flanders and Artois for the peace with the king; Hainaut is run by the bailiff Robert of Jemappes with the peers, among whom Walter of Avesnes and Alard of Chimay stand closest to the count.

Wealth

Rents, tolls on the Scheldt at Valenciennes and Conde, the cloth of Valenciennes and Maubeuge, forests (Mormal), the count's demesne farms; poorer in cash than Flanders.

Military

Knights of the peers and castellans; castles at Mons, Valenciennes, Binche, Le Quesnoy, Bouchain, Ath, Beaumont.

Threats

• The bishop of Liege's overlordship
• Brabant
• The count's absence on 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. 28 July 1200At the castle of Mons Baldwin issues the two general charters of Hainaut: the feudal charter (inheritance of fiefs and allods, wardship, majority) and the penal charter, 'the form of peace in the whole county of Hainaut' (feuds, abjuration, fines). The feudal charter gives the bailiff of Hainaut authority over inheritance disputes.Depends on: Peace and the count's presence. Stopped by: War or absence.

Places of note

• Castle of Mons: Count's castle above Sainte-Waudru
• Salle-le-Comte: Count's palace
• Bouchain: Castle of the Ostrevant

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Gislebert of Mons describes Hainaut in detail to 1195; for 1200 the outline is clear, the officers thin.

On the map: A rough outline; the Avesnes lands and the Namur march are drawn under their own records.

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.