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| Baldwin I | |
|---|---|
| Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans | |
 | |
| Latin Emperor of Constantinople ClaimantByzantine Emperor | |
| Reign | 1204–1205 |
| Coronation | 16 May 1204 (Hagia Sophia) |
| Successor | Henry of Flanders |
| Count of Flanders | |
| Reign | 1194–1205 |
| Predecessor | Margaret I andBaldwin VIII |
| Successor | Joan |
| Count of Hainaut | |
| Reign | 1195–1205 |
| Predecessor | Baldwin V |
| Successor | Joan |
| Born | July 1172 Valenciennes,Hainaut,Kingdom of France |
| Died | c. 1205 (aged about 32–33) Tarnovo,Bulgaria (now Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria) |
| Spouse | |
| Issue | |
| House | House of Flanders |
| Father | Baldwin V, Count of Hainaut |
| Mother | Margaret I, Countess of Flanders |
| Religion | Latin Catholic |
Baldwin I (Dutch:Boudewijn;French:Baudouin; July 1172 –c. 1205) was the firstEmperor of the Latin Empire ofConstantinople;Count of Flanders (asBaldwin IX) from 1194 to 1205 andCount of Hainaut (asBaldwin VI) from 1195 to 1205. Baldwin was one of the most prominent leaders of theFourth Crusade, which resulted in thesack of Constantinople in 1204, the conquest of theByzantine Empire, and the foundation of theLatin Empire. The following year he was defeated at theBattle of Adrianople byKaloyan, the emperor ofBulgaria, and spent his last days as a prisoner.
Baldwin was the son of CountBaldwin V of Hainaut and CountessMargaret I of Flanders.[1] When the childless CountPhilip I of Flanders left on the last of his personal crusades in 1177, he designated Baldwin, his brother-in-law, as his heir. When Philip returned in 1179 after an unsuccessful siege of Harim during a joint campaign on behalf of thePrincipality of Antioch, he was designated as the chief adviser ofPhilip Augustus by his sickly father, KingLouis VII of France.[1] One year later, Philip of Flanders had his protégé married to his niece,Isabelle of Hainaut, offering theCounty of Artois and other Flemish territories as dowry, much to the dismay of Baldwin V.[2] In 1180, war broke out between King Philip and his mentorPhilip I of Flanders, resulting in the devastation ofPicardy andÎle-de-France; King Philip refused to give open battle and gained the upper hand, andBaldwin V of Hainaut, at first allied with his brother-in-lawPhilip I of Flanders, intervened on behalf of his son-in-law, King Philip, in 1184, in support of his daughter's interests.[3]
Count Philip's wifeElisabeth died in 1183, and Philip Augustus seized the province ofVermandois on behalf of Elisabeth's sister,Eleonore. Philip then remarried, toMatilda of Portugal. Philip gave Matilda a dower of a number of major Flemish towns, in an apparent slight to Baldwin V. Fearing that he would be surrounded by the royal domain of France and theCounty of Hainaut, Count Philip signed a peace treaty with Philip Augustus and Count Baldwin V on 10 March 1186, recognizing the cession of Vermandois to the king, although he was allowed to retain the titleCount of Vermandois for the remainder of his life. Philip died without further issue of disease on the Third Crusade at the siege of Acre in 1191, he was succeeded inFlanders by Baldwin V of Hainaut, although the two had been on seemingly uncordial terms since the 1186 treaty.[3] Baldwin V thereupon ruled as Baldwin VIII of Flanders by right of marriage.[3] When Countess Margaret I died in 1194, Flanders descended to her eldest son, Baldwin IX.[3]
In 1186, the younger Baldwin had marriedMarie, daughter of CountHenry I of Champagne, andMarie of France.[4] The chroniclerGislebert describes Baldwin as being infatuated with his young bride, who nevertheless preferred prayer to the marital bed.
Immediately after this arrangement, the count of Hainaut's son Baldwin, thirteen years old,[5] received as wife Marie, the count of Champagne's sister, twelve years old, atChâteau-Thierry. This Marie began sufficiently young to devote herself to divine obedience in prayers, vigils, fasts and alms. Her husband Baldwin, a young knight, by chaste living, scorning all other women, began to love her alone with a fervent love, which is rarely found in any man, so that he devoted himself to his sole wife only and was content with her alone. The solemn rejoicing of the wedding was celebrated atValenciennes with an abundance of knights and ladies and men of whatever status.[6]
Through Marie, Baldwin had additional connections and obligations to the defenders of the Holy Land: her brotherHenry II of Champagne had beenKing of Jerusalem in the 1190s (leaving a widow and two daughters who needed help to keep and regain their territories in Palestine). Marie's unclesRichard I of England andPhilip II of France had just been on theThird Crusade.
Baldwin's own family had also been involved in the defence of Jerusalem: his uncle Philip had died onCrusade. Baldwin's maternal grandmother was a great-aunt of QueenIsabella I of Jerusalem and the Counts of Flanders had tried to help Jerusalem relatives in their struggle. Baldwin wanted to continue the tradition. Margaret died in 1194, and the younger Baldwin became Count of Flanders. His father died the next year, and he succeeded toHainaut.
Baldwin took possession of a much-reducedFlanders, lessened by the large chunk, includingArtois, given by Philip of Alsace as dowry to Baldwin's sisterIsabelle of Hainaut, and another significant piece to his own wife. Isabelle had died in 1190, but King Philip still retained her dowry, on behalf of Isabelle's son, the futureLouis VIII of France. The eight years of Baldwin's rule in Flanders were dominated by his attempts to recover some of this land.[7] AfterPhilip II of France took Baldwin's brother, Philippe of Namur, prisoner, Baldwin was forced to agree to a truce to ensure his safety. The Treaty of Péronne was signed in January 1200 on the condition that Baldwin receive the territories he had won during the war.[8] Baldwin was made thevassal of Philip II, and the king returned portions ofArtois to Baldwin.[9][10]
In this fight against the French king, Baldwin allied with others who had quarrels with Philip, including kingsRichard I andJohn of England, and theGerman KingOtto IV. A month after the treaty, onAsh Wednesday (23 February) 1200 in the town ofBruges, Baldwin 'took the cross', meaning he committed to embark on acrusade, namely theFourth Crusade.[11] He spent the next two years preparing, finally leaving on 14 April 1202.
As part of his effort to leave his domains in good order, Baldwin issued two notable charters forHainaut. One detailed an extensive criminal code and appears to be based on a now-lost charter of his father. The other laid down specific rules for inheritance. These are an important part of the legal tradition in Belgium.[12]
Baldwin left behind his two-year-old daughter and his pregnant wife, Countess Marie. Marie was regent for Baldwin for the two years she remained in Flanders and Hainaut, but by early 1204, she had left both her children behind to join him in the East. They expected to return in a couple of years, but in the end, neither would see their children or their homeland again. In their absence, Baldwin's younger brotherPhilip of Namur was regent in Flanders, with custody of the daughters. Baldwin's uncle William of Thy (an illegitimate son ofBaldwin IV of Hainaut) was regent for Hainaut.[13]
Meanwhile, desperate for funds to support themselves and pay for their expenses, the leaders of the Fourth Crusade were persuaded by theVenetians (who had built the crusaders' fleet) to divert toConstantinople. The Venetians had had designs on the Byzantine capital for some time, and also wished to revenge themselves for theMassacre of the Latins in 1182. The political excuse for this excursion was in large part due to the exiled Byzantine prince Alexios (the future EmperorAlexios IV Angelos), who promised the crusaders supplies, money, and the island ofCrete in return for their help in ousting his uncle EmperorAlexios III Angelos and freeing his imprisoned fatherIsaac II Angelus. In April 1204, after numerous failed negotiations attempting to obtain the promised funds from the Byzantines, the Crusadersconquered the most powerfully protected city in the world. Stunned at their own success and unsure of what to do next, the leaders adopted a similar track as their forefathers had during the First Crusade. They elected one of their own, Count Baldwin of Flanders as emperor (of what modern historians refer to as theLatin Empire) and divided imperial lands into feudal counties.
The imperial crown was at first offered toEnrico Dandolo,Doge of Venice, who refused it. The choice then lay between Baldwin and the nominal leader of the crusade,Boniface of Montferrat. While Boniface was considered the most probable choice, due to his connections with the Byzantine court, Baldwin was young, gallant, pious, and virtuous, one of the few who interpreted and observed his crusading vows strictly, and the most popular leader in the host. With Venetian support, he was elected on 9 May 1204 and crowned on 16 May in theHagia Sophia at a ceremony which closely followed Byzantine practices.[14] During his coronation, Baldwin wore a very rich jewel that had been bought by Byzantine EmperorManuel I Komnenos for 62,000 silver marks. Baldwin's wife Marie, unaware of these events, had sailed toAcre. There she learned of her husband's election as emperor, but died in August 1204 before she could join him.
The Latin Empire was organized onfeudal principles; the emperor was feudal superior of the princes who received portions of the conquered territory: in October 1204 he enfeoffed 600 knights who occupied lands formerly held by Greek nobles.[15] His own special portion consisted of the city of Constantinople, the adjacent regions both on theEuropean and theAsiatic side, along with some outlying districts, and several islands includingLemnos,Lesbos,Chios andTenos. The territories still had to be conquered; first of all, it was necessary to break the resistance of the Greeks inThrace and secureThessalonica. In this enterprise in the summer of 1204, Baldwin came into collision with Boniface of Montferrat, the rival candidate for the empire, who received a large territory inMacedonia with the title ofking of Thessalonica.
Boniface hoped to make himself quite independent of the empire and do no homage to his kingdom, and he opposed Baldwin's proposal to march toThessalonica. The antagonism between Flemings andLombards aggravated the quarrel. Baldwin insisted on going to Thessalonica; Boniface laid siege toAdrianople, where Baldwin had established a governor; civil war seemed inevitable. An agreement was effected by the efforts of Dandolo and CountLouis I of Blois. Boniface received Thessalonica as afief from the emperor and was appointed commander of the forces which were to march to the conquest ofGreece.
During the following winter (1204–1205) the Franks prosecuted conquests inBithynia, in whichHenry, Baldwin's brother, took part. But in February the Greeks revolted inThrace, relying on the assistance ofKaloyan, tsar ofBulgaria, whose overtures of alliance had been rejected by the emperor. The garrison of Adrianople was expelled. Baldwin along with Dandolo, the count of Blois, andMarshal Villehardouin, thehistorian, marched to besiege that city. The Frankish knights were defeated (14 April 1205); the count of Blois was slain, and the emperor was captured by the Bulgarians (seeBattle of Adrianople).
For some time Baldwin's fate was uncertain, and in the meanwhile Henry, his brother, assumed the regency. Not until the middle of July the following year was it ascertained that he was dead.[citation needed]
The circumstances of Baldwin's death are not exactly known.[16] There are several accounts of his fate; one being that he was at first treated well as a prisoner by Kaloyan despite refusing to release him at the request of the Pope—another says Kaloyan had Baldwin's hands and feet cut off and thrown in a ditch to die,[17] while a third account says he refused the advances of the Bulgarian queen who then accused him of rape and had him executed.[18] The historianGeorge Acropolites reports that the Tsar had Baldwin'sskull made into a drinking cup, just as had happened toNicephorus I almost four hundred years before.[citation needed]
Kaloyan wrote toPope Innocent III, reporting that Baldwin had died in prison. A tower of theTsarevets fortress of the medieval Bulgarian capital,Veliko Tarnovo, is still calledBaldwin's Tower; supposedly, it was the tower where he was interned.
It was not until July 1206 that the Latins in Constantinople had reliable information that Baldwin was dead. His brotherHenry was crowned emperor in August.
Back in Flanders, however, there seemed to be doubt whether Baldwin was truly dead. In any case, Baldwin's other brother Philip of Namur remained as regent, and eventually, both of Baldwin's daughters,Joan andMargaret II, were to rule as countesses of Flanders.
Twenty years later, in 1225, a man appeared in Flanders claiming to be the presumed dead Baldwin. His claim soon became entangled in a series of rebellions and revolts in Flanders against the rule of Baldwin's daughter Jeanne. A number of people who had known Baldwin before thecrusade rejected his claim, but he nonetheless attracted many followers from the ranks of the peasantry. Eventually unmasked as aBurgundian serf named Bertrand of Ray, the false Baldwin was executed in 1226.[19]
Treaty of Péronne 1200.
Baldwin I, Latin Emperor Born: July 1172 Died: c.1205 | ||
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded byasByzantine Emperor | Latin Emperor of Constantinople 1204–1205 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Count of Flanders 1194–1205 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Count of Hainaut 1195–1205 | |
| Reigning monarchs (1204–1261) |
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| Titular monarchs (1261–1383) | |
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