Count of Flanders#House of Flanders

{{Short description|Ruler or sub-ruler of the county of Flanders}}

{{Redirect|Countess of Flanders|the wife of a Count of Flanders|List of countesses of Flanders by marriage}}

File:Coat of Arms of the Count of Flanders (according to the Gelre Armorial).svg of the counts of Flanders.]]

The count of Flanders was the ruler or sub-ruler of the county of Flanders, beginning in the 9th century.{{cite book|last1=Gilliat-Smith|first1=Ernest|author-link=Ernest Gilliat-Smith|title=The story of Bruges|date=1909|publisher=J. M. Den & Co.|location=London|isbn=978-1-4446-6629-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/storyofbruges00gilluoft/page/5 5]|edition=4th|url=https://archive.org/details/storyofbruges00gilluoft|access-date=7 July 2016}} Later, the title would be held for a time, by the rulers of the Holy Roman Empire and Spain. During the French Revolution, in 1790, the county of Flanders was annexed to France and ceased to exist. In the 19th century, the title was appropriated by Belgium and granted twice to younger sons of Belgian kings. The most recent holder died in 1983.{{cite web |url=https://www.monarchie.be/en/royal-family/history/prince-regent-charles |title=Prince Regent Charles |newspaper= www.monarchie.be |access-date= July 7, 2016}}

In 862 Baldwin I was appointed as the first Margrave of Flanders by King Charles II. It was a military appointment, responsible for repelling the Viking raids from the coast of Francia. The title of margrave (or marquis) evolved into that of count. Arnulf I was the first to name himself as count, by the Grace of God. The title of margrave largely fell out of use by the 12th century. Since then, the rulers of Flanders have only been referred to as counts.

The counts of Flanders enlarged their estate through a series of diplomatic marriages. The counties of Hainaut, Namur, Béthune, Nevers, Auxerre, Rethel, Burgundy, and Artois were all acquired in this manner. However, the County of Flanders suffered the same fate in turn. As a result of the marriage of Countess Margaret III with Philip II, Duke of Burgundy, the county and the subsidiary counties entered a personal union with the Duchy of Burgundy in 1405.{{cite book|author1=Wim Blockmans|author2=Walter Prevenier|title=The Promised Lands: The Low Countries Under Burgundian Rule, 1369–1530|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0Foy9GGgdcgC|date=3 August 2010|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|isbn=978-0-8122-0070-6}}

The counts of Flanders were also associated with the Duchy of Brittany prior to its union with France. In {{circa|1323}}, Joan, the daughter of Arthur II, Duke of Brittany, married the second son of Count Robert III. Joanna of Flanders, the granddaughter of Count Robert III and daughter of his son, Count Louis I, married John Montfort.{{cite book|title=History of England, by F.Y. Powell and (T.F. Tout).|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AYADAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA228|year=1885|pages=228–| last1=Powell | first1=Frederick York | last2=Tout | first2=Thomas Frederick }} During Montfort's imprisonment, she fought on his behalf, alongside English allies, during the Breton War of Succession for the ducal crown, which was won definitively by her son John V, Duke of Brittany. It was through this alliance that the Duchy of Brittany was eventually joined to the throne of France.{{cite book|author=John A. Wagner|title=Encyclopedia of the Hundred Years War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uVZ893wOWgoC&pg=PA182|year=2006|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-32736-0|pages=182–}}

List of counts

= [[House of Flanders]] =

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Baldwin I

|{{Circa|830s}} – 879

|862 – 879

|Judith of Flanders
{{circa|861}}
4 children

|Married Judith, daughter of Charles the Bald

Baldwin II

|{{circa|865}} – 10 September 918

|879 – 10 September 918

|Ælfthryth
{{circa|893}}
4 children

|Son of Baldwin I and Judith

Arnulf I

|{{circa|893}}/899 – 27 March 964

|10 September 918 – 27 March 964

|Adele of Vermandois
934
5 children

|Son of Baldwin II

Baldwin III

|{{circa|940|962}}

|958-962

|Matilda of Saxony
{{circa|961}}
1 son

|Ruled jointly with his father Arnulf I

Arnulf II

|{{circa|961}} – 30 March 987

|965 – 30 March 987

|Rozala of Italy
976
2 children

|Son of Baldwin III

Baldwin IV

|980 – 30 May 1035

|988 – 30 May 1035

|(1) Ogive of Luxembourg
1012
1 son
(2) Eleanor of Normandy
1031
1 daughter

|Son of Arnulf II

Baldwin V

|19 August 1012 – 1 September 1067

|30 May 1035 – 1 September 1067

|Adela of France
1028
3 children

|Son of Baldwin IV

Baldwin VI

|{{circa|1030}} – 17 July 1070

|1 September 1067 – 17 July 1070

|Richilde, Countess of Hainaut
{{circa|1050}}
2 sons

|Son of Baldwin V; also Count of Hainaut

Arnulf III

|{{circa|1055}} – 22 February 1071

|17 July 1070 – 22 February 1071

|Never married

|Son of Baldwin VI; also Count of Hainaut

Robert I

|{{circa|1035}} – 13 October 1093

|22 February 1071 – 13 October 1093

|Gertrude of Saxony
1063
5 children

|Son of Baldwin V

Robert II

|{{circa|1065}} – 5 October 1111

|13 October 1093 – 5 October 1111

|Clementia of Burgundy
1097
1 son

|Son of Robert I

Baldwin VII

|1093 – 17 July 1119

|5 October 1111 – 17 July 1119

|Hawise of Brittany
1105
no issue

|Son of Robert II

= [[House of Estridsen]] =

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Charles I

|1084 – 2 March 1127

|1119 – 2 March 1127

|Margaret of Clermont
{{circa|1118}}
no issue

|Son of Canute IV of Denmark and Adela of Flanders, cousin of Baldwin VII and designated by him. Also grandson of Robert I.

= [[House of Normandy]] =

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William I

|25 October 1102 – 28 July 1128

|2 March 1127 – 28 July 1128

|(1) Sibylla of Anjou
{{circa|1123}}
no issue
(2) Joanna of Montferrat
{{circa|1127}}
no issue

|Great-grandson of Baldwin V, designated by Louis VI of France

= [[House of Lorraine|House of Alsace or House of Metz]] =

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Theoderic

|{{circa|1099}} – 17 January 1168

|28 July 1128 – 17 January 1168

|(1) Margaret of Clermont (or Swanhilde)
before 1132
1 daughter
(2) Sibylla of Anjou
{{circa|1134}}
6 children

|Grandson of Robert I, recognised by Louis VI of France

Philip I

|1143 – 1 August 1191

|17 January 1168 – 1 August 1191

|(1) Elisabeth of Vermandois
1159
no issue
(2) Theresa of Portugal
{{circa|1183}}
no issue

|Son of Thierry; also Count of Vermandois

Margaret I

|{{circa|1145}} - 15 November 1194

|1 August 1191 - 15 November 1194

|(1) Ralph II of Vermandois
1160
no issue
(2) Baldwin V, Count of Hainaut
{{circa|1169}}
8 children

|Daughter of Thierry

= [[House of Flanders]] =

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Count of Flanders#House of Flanders

List of counts

= [[House of Flanders]] =

= [[House of Estridsen]] =

= [[House of Normandy]] =

= [[House of Lorraine|House of Alsace or House of Metz]] =

= [[House of Flanders]] =

= [[House of Dampierre]] =

= [[House of Valois-Burgundy|House of Burgundy]] =

= [[House of Habsburg]] =

= [[House of Bourbon]] =

= [[House of Habsburg]] =

Modern usage

=[[Monarchy of Belgium|House of Belgium]] (formerly [[House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha]]) =

= [[House of Bourbon]] =

Sources

External links