Margaret I | |
|---|---|
 Margaret's effigy on a seal | |
| Born | circa 1145 |
| Died | 15 November 1194 |
| Buried | St. Donatian's Cathedral in Bruges |
| Noble family | Metz |
| Spouse(s) | Ralph II, Count of Vermandois Baldwin V, Count of Hainaut |
| Father | Thierry, Count of Flanders |
| Mother | Sibylla of Anjou |
Margaret I (c. 1145 - died 15 November 1194) was the countess of Flanders suo jure from 1191 to her death.
Margaret was the daughter of Count Thierry of Flanders and Sibylla of Anjou. [1] In 1160 she married Count Ralph II of Vermandois [2] (son of Ralph I). Due to his leprosy, the marriage could not be consummated and remained childless. He died of leprosy in 1167 without issue. In 1169 she married Count Baldwin V of Hainaut, [1] a scion of the House of Flanders.
In 1191, Margaret's brother Count Philip I of Flanders died childless, and she as his heir claimed the county of Flanders with the support of her husband. Her claim was questioned by the king of France who, with support of Ghent, declared Flanders escheated to the crown due to the lack of male heirs, a problem that was not solved until the Treaty of Arras by the mediation of the archbishop of Reims. [3] They met some unrest among the nobility of the area, foremost by her brother's widow, Theresa of Portugal, who was given extensive dower lands in the coastal and southern Flanders where she provoked considerable unrest by high taxation. [3]
The right of Margaret and her husband to the County of Flanders was not finally acknowledged until 1 March 1192. [3] As countess, she objected to all foreign legal independence in her lands, and accordingly, she prevented the Hanse merchants living in Bruges from acquiring a separate quarter and rights for themselves in the port of Damme. [4]
Margaret died on 15 November 1194; as her husband had become count of Flanders only by marriage, he could not remain sole count, and Margaret was succeeded by their son Baldwin IX. [5]
Margaret and Baldwin had:
Baldwin I was the first Emperor of the Latin Empire of Constantinople; Count of Flanders from 1194 to 1205 and Count of Hainaut from 1195 to 1205. Baldwin was one of the most prominent leaders of the Fourth Crusade, which resulted in the sack of Constantinople in 1204, the conquest of large parts of the Byzantine Empire, and the foundation of the Latin Empire. He lost his final battle to Kaloyan, the emperor of Bulgaria, and spent his last days as his prisoner.
Peter, also Peter II of Courtenay, was emperor of the Latin Empire of Constantinople from 1216 to 1217.
Yolanda, often called Yolanda of Flanders, was Empress of the Latin Empire in Constantinople, first as the wife of Emperor Peter from 1216 to 1217 and thereafter as regent until her death in 1219. Peter was captured and imprisoned before he could reach Constantinople, so Yolanda assumed the duties of governing the Empire. She was ruling Marchioness of Namur from 1212 until 1217.
Joan, often called Joan of Constantinople, ruled as Countess of Flanders and Hainaut from 1205 until her death. She was the elder daughter of Baldwin IX, Count of Flanders and Hainaut, and Marie of Champagne.
Margaret, often called Margaret of Constantinople, ruled as Countess of Flanders during 1244–1278 and Countess of Hainaut during 1244–1253 and 1257–1280. She was the younger daughter of Baldwin IX, Count of Flanders and Hainaut, and Marie of Champagne.
Philip I, commonly known as Philip of Alsace, was count of Flanders from 1168 to 1191. During his rule Flanders prospered economically. He took part in two crusades and died of disease in the Holy Land.
Marie of Champagne was the first Latin Empress of Constantinople by marriage to Emperor Baldwin I. She acted as regent of Flanders during the absence of her spouse from 1202 until 1204.
Baldwin V of Hainaut was count of Hainaut (1171–1195), margrave of Namur as Baldwin I (1189–1195) and count of Flanders as Baldwin VIII (1191–1195).
Theresa of Portugal was Countess of Flanders by marriage to Philip I, Count of Flanders, and Duchess of Burgundy by marriage to Odo III, Duke of Burgundy. She was the daughter of the Portuguese king Afonso I and Matilda of Savoy. She served as co-regent of Portugal with her brother during the illness of their father Afonso I of Portugal from 1172 until 1173, and regent of Flanders in 1191 during the interim period after the death of her spouse and the accession of his heir.
The Avesnes family played an important role during the Middle Ages. The family has its roots in the small village Avesnes-sur-Helpe, in the north of France.
Ralph I of Vermandois was Count of Vermandois. He was a son of Hugh, Count of Vermandois and his wife, Adelaide, Countess of Vermandois. Ralph was a grandson of Henry I of France, while Ralph's mother had been the Carolingian heiress to Herbert IV, Count of Vermandois.
Richilde, Countess of Mons and Hainaut, was a ruling countess of Hainaut from c. 1050 until 1076, in co-regency with her husband Baldwin VI of Flanders and then her son Baldwin II of Hainaut. She was also countess of Flanders by marriage to Baldwin VI between from 1067 to 1070. She ruled Flanders as regent during the minority of her son Arnulf III in 1070–1071.
Gertrude of Saxony, also known as Gertrude Billung, was a countess of Holland by marriage to Floris I, Count of Holland, and countess of Flanders by marriage to Robert I, Count of Flanders. She was regent of Holland in 1061-1067 during the minority of her son Dirk V, and regent of Flanders during the absence of her spouse in 1086–1093.
The Count of Hainaut was the ruler of the county of Hainaut, a historical region in the Low Countries. In English-language historical sources, the title is often given the older spelling Hainault.
The House of Flanders, also called the Baldwins, was a medieval ruling family of Frankish origin that was founded by Baldwin Iron Arm, son-in-law of Charles the Bald. The House of Flanders was the first dynasty to transform a county function of the Carolingian Empire into a hereditary fiefdom, the County of Flanders, falling under West Francia, created by the Treaty of Verdun in 843.
The House of Dampierre played an important role during the Middle Ages. Named after Dampierre, in the Champagne region, where members first became prominent, members of the family were later Count of Flanders, Count of Nevers, Counts and Dukes of Rethel, Count of Artois and Count of Franche-Comté.
Margaret, Marchioness of Namur was ruling Marchioness of Namur, from 1229 to 1237. She was the daughter of Peter of Courtenay, Latin Emperor of Constantinople (1216-1219) and Yolanda of Flanders. By marriage to Henry I, Count of Vianden, she was Countess-consort of Vianden.
Elisabeth, also known as Isabelle Mabille, was ruling Countess of Vermandois from 1168 to 1183, and also Countess of Flanders by marriage to Philip I, Count of Flanders. She was the eldest daughter of Ralph I, Count of Vermandois and his second spouse, Petronilla of Aquitaine.
William II, Lord of Béthune, nicknamed William the Red was French nobleman. He was a ruling Lord of Béthune, Richebourg and Warneton, as well as hereditary advocatus of the Abbey of St. Vaast, near Arras.
Hugh IV of Saint-Pol from the House of Campdavaine, son of Anselm of Saint-Pol, was count of Saint-Pol from 1174 to his death, and lord of Demotika (Didymoteicho) in Thrace in 1204–05. He participated in the Third and Fourth Crusades.
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