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Birth:          2 Jun 1202 of Valenciennes, Nord, France
Death:          10 Feb 1280 
Burial:         Fines-les-Mortagne, Nord, France

Notes
heiress of Hainault and Flanders
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_II,_Countess_of_Flanders
Margaret, often called Margaret of Constantinople (2 June 1202 – 10 February 1280), 
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.[1]

Called the Black (la Noire) due to her scandalous life, the children of both her 
marriages disputed the inheritance of her counties in the War of the Succession of 
Flanders and Hainault.
Life[edit]

Childhood[edit]

Her father left on the Fourth Crusade before she was born, and her mother left two 
years later, leaving Margaret and her older sister Joan in the guardianship of their 
uncle Philip of Namur.

After her mother died in 1204, and her father the next year,[1] the now-orphaned 
Margaret and her sister remained under Philip of Namur's guardianship until he gave 
their wardship to King Philip II of France. During her time in Paris, she and her sister 
became familiar with the Cisterian Order, probably under influence of Blanche of 
Castile, the future Queen consort of France.

In 1211 Enguerrand III of Coucy offers to the King the sum of 50,000 livres to marry 
Joan, while his brother Thomas would marry Margaret. However, the Flemish nobility 
was hostile to the project, which was finally dropped.

First Marriage[edit]

After her sister's marriage with Infante Ferdinand of Portugal, Margaret was placed 
under the care of Bouchard of Avesnes, Lord of Etroen and a prominent Hainaut 
nobleman, who was knighted by Baldwin IX before he parted to the Crusades. In the 
middle of the war against France for the possession of the Artois and the forced 
territorial concession made by the Treaty of Pont-à-Vendin, Joan and Ferdinand 
wanted to marry Margaret with William II Longespée, heir of the Earldom of Salisbury, 
in order to reinforce the bonds of Flanders with England; however Bouchard of 
Avesnes, with the consent of the King of France, prevented the union.[2]

Despite the considerable age difference between them, Bouchard gained Margaret's 
affection, and in presence of a significant number of bourgeois of Hainaut, she 
declared not want another husband than him, and before 23 July 1212 they were 
married.[3]

After the capture of Ferdinand of Portugal at the Battle of Bouvines (27 July 1214), 
Bouchard of Avesnes claimed to Joan in the name of his wife her share of their 
inheritance, which led Joan to attempt to get Margaret's marriage dissolved; in 
addition, the French King began to see Bouchard with suspicion because he fought in 
the Flemish army.

Philip II informed Pope Innocent III that before his wedding, Bouchard of Avesnes 
have already received holy orders as sub-deacon, so technically his union was illegal. 
In 1215, at the Fourth Council of the Lateran, the Pope annulled the marriage on this 
ground; however, Margaret and Bouchard refused to submit and they took refuge at 
the Castle of Houffalize in the Ardennes under the protection of Waleran, Count of 
Luxembourg.[4] In the following four years, they had three sons:
Baldwin of Avesnes (1217 – 1219), who died in infancy.
John of Avesnes (1 May 1218 – 24 December 1257).
Baldwin of Avesnes (September 1219 – 10 April 1295).

Second Marriage[edit]

In 1219, in a battle against Joan, Bouchard of Avesnes was captured and imprisoned 
for two years, until 1221, when he was released on the condition that he separate 
from his wife and made a trip to Rome to get the absolution from the Pope.[5] While he 
was in Rome in order to obtain not only the forgiveness but also the release of the 
holy orders to make his union legitimate, Joan took advantage of this to convinced 
Margaret (who after Bouchard's capture came to live at her court, leaving her two 
sons in France under custody[6]) to contracted a new wedding. Finally Margaret gave 
in to her sister's pressures, and between 18 August and 15 November 1223, she 
married with William II of Dampierre, Lord of Dampierre, a nobleman from Champagne. 
They had five children:
William III of Dampierre (1224 – 6 June 1251).
Joan of Dampierre (c. 1225 – 1245/1246), married in 1239 to Hugh III of Rethel,[7] 
then in 1243 to Theobald II of Bar.[7]
Guy of Dampierre (c. 1226 – 7 March 1305).
John of Dampierre (c. 1228 – 1258), Lord of Dampierre-sur-l'Aube, Sompuis and 
Saint-Dizier, Viscount of Troyes and Constable of Champagne.[8]
Marie of Dampierre (c. 1230 – 21 December 1302), Abbess of Flines, near Douai.

This situation caused something of a scandal, for the marriage was possibly bigamous, 
and violated the church's strictures on consanguinity as well. The disputes regarding 
the validity of the two marriages and the legitimacy of Margaret's children by each 
husband continued for decades, becoming entangled in the politics of the Holy Roman 
Empire and resulting in the long War of the Succession of Flanders and Hainault.[9]

Countess of Flanders and Hainaut[edit]


 


 Margaret's Seal as Countess of Flanders and Hainaut.
At the death of her sister Joan in 1244, Margaret succeeded her as Countess of 
Flanders and Hainaut. Almost immediately, her sons from both marriages began the 
fight for the inheritance of the Counties, with the question of the validity of her first 
marriage to Bouchard of Avesnes was then raised, as if it was indeed illegitimate the 
inheritance of Flanders and Hainaut was passed only to the children from her second 
marriage, already favored by Margaret in 1245 when she paid homage to King Louis IX 
of France: at that point, she tried to obtain from the French King the recognition of 
William of Dampierre, the eldest son of her second marriage, as sole heir, arguing that 
Pope Gregory IX declared her first marriage invalid on 31 March 1237 and thus her 
sons from this union were illegitimate.[10]

In 1246 Louis IX, acting as an arbitrator, gave the right to inherit Flanders to the 
Dampierre children, and the rights to Hainaut to the Avesnes children.[11] This would 
seem to have settled the matter, but neither party accepted the solomonic decision of 
the French King, while responding to the spirit of fairness of the monarch, it had a 
political effect clearly advantageous for the interests of France, to dislocate the 
county, and served to avoid war.[12] However, in 1248 Juan of Avesnes took 
advantage of the departure of Louis IX to the Crusades accompanied by William of 
Dampierre, to started the war against his mother, taking Hainaut and Alost with other 
surrounding Flemish territories.[11]

Margaret, thinking that the inheritance disputes were finally over after her son William 
of Dampierre paid homage for Flanders as her co-ruler to both Louis IX (in October 
1246) and Emperor Frederick II (in 1248), made the political mistake to obtain from the 
Pope in 1251 the legitimation of both John and Baldwin of Avesnes, giving them rights 
of birth over the Counties.[6]

The unexpected death of William of Dampierre (6 June 1251) –who reportedly died 
from injuries received during a tournament, although his mother suspected that the 
allies of Avesnes were responsible–[13] caused the renewal of the hostilities when 
John of Avesnes, who was uneasy about his rights, convinced William II of Holland, 
the German King recognized by the pro-papal forces, to seize Hainaut and the parts of 
Flanders which were within the bounds of the Holy Roman Empire. William II was 
theoretically, as King, overlord for these territories, and also John's brother-in-law. A 
civil war followed, which ended when the Avesnes forces defeated and imprisoned 
Guy of Dampierre (who had succeeded his brother as co-ruler of Flanders) at 
Westkappel, on the island of Walcheren, in July 1253.

Margaret offered the County of Hainaut to Charles of Anjou (brother of Louis IX) in 
order to obtain his military intervention against William II.[12] Charles besieged 
Valenciennes, but a truce was negotiated between all parties on 26 July 1254, which 
included an agreement to submit the dispute to Louis IX for adjudication.[13] Guy of 
Dampierre was ransomed in 1256 and Louis IX confirmed his 1246 decision regarding 
the Hainaut-Flanders split between the Avesnes and Dampierre children, while Charles 
of Anjou renounced to all his claims over Hainaut.[14] The death of John of Avesnes 
in 1257 put a temporary halt over the already costly internecine quarrel.[6]

Matthew Paris, who in his writings showed a complete dislike to Margaret, calling her 
"...a new Medea guilty of the death of many honest knights", related that after the 
capture of Guy and John of Dampierre at Westkappel, John of Avesnes tried to use 
them as hostages to force his mother to negotiate peace; however, the alleged 
response of the Countess was shockingly categorical:


Sacrifice them, you truculent meat eater and devours one of them cooked with pepper 
sauce and other roasted with garlic.[15]

Because the Avesnes heir, her grandson John II was still underage, Margaret 
managed to recovered the government of Hainaut, while in Flanders she kept her son 
Guy of Dampierre as her co-ruler until 29 December 1278, when she abdicated in his 
favor, retaining Hainaut as sole ruler until May 1279, when she appointed John II as 
her co-ruler in Hainaut until her death nine months later, in February 1280.[16] John II 
of Avesnes then succeeded her as sole Count of Hainaut, and through his marriage, 
he became Count of Holland and Zeeland in 1299.

Margaret's death ended the personal union between Flanders and Hainaut, who lasted 
for almost one century. Both Counties were only reunited again in 1432 when 
Jacqueline of Bavaria, the Avesnes heiress, surrender her domains to Philip III, Duke 
of Burgundy, the Dampierre heir.

Political role[edit]

Economy[edit]

Like her sister, Margaret conducted an economic policy designed to encourage 
international commerce. She removed restrictions on foreigner traders, despite 
pressures from local traders, who wanted to maintain monopolies. She also issued a 
new coinage. The huge debts that she contracted due to the War of Succession, 
however, forced Margaret to make concessions to the main Flemish cities, who gained 
political independence.[17]

Her policies also helped to turn Bruges into an international port, granting privileges to 
the merchants of Poitou, Gascony and Castile, in addition to improvements in the 
water gates.[18] During 1270-1275 she became involved in a trade war with England, 
probably the first time that the economy was openly used as a weapon in a conflict 
between states with unfavorable outcome. Margaret demanded from England payments 
for her support during the revolt of Simon de Montfort. Because King Henry III claimed 
that because he recruit mercenary soldiers, he did not see any reason to make 
payments.[16]

In retaliation, Margaret seized the possessions of English merchants in Flanders while 
Henry III and later her son and successor Edward I seized those of Flemish merchants 
in England and also stopped the exports of wool to Flanders and townspeole who 
depended on the textile trade pressured the Countess and her son Guy to entered in 
negotiations with the English; henceforth the Flemish no longer dominated the 
transport of goods between the continent and England.[16]

Religion[edit]

Like her sister, Margaret supported and founded religious houses.[1] In 1245, she 
founded the Béguinage in Bruges. She also had an interest in architecture and 
patronized writers and poets. In 1260 she founded the Abbey of Saint Elizabeth du 
Quesnoy, now destroyed.[19]

Closely related to the Dominican Order during her stay in Valenciennes after her 
marital separation, Margaret founded convents of this order in Ypres and Douai. She is 
thought to be the Dutchess who sought advice from Thomas Aquinas in matters of 
government, by asking moral questions about usury and the treatment of Jews who 
practiced, and on the sale of offices, if she was the recipient of the Letter to the 
Duchess of Brabant as was thought.[20]

Parents
____ Baldwin IX (VI) (Jul 1172 - 11 Jun 1205)
DE CHAMPAGNE Marie (ABT 1174 - 9 Aug 1204)

Siblings
____ Margaret (Marguerite) (2 Jun 1202 - 10 Feb 1280)

Marriage To D'AVESNES Bouchard (ABT 1182 - 1244)
    m. BEF 23 Jul 1212 

Notes

Parents
D'AVESNES Jacques (James) (ABT 1155 - 7 Sep 1191)
DE GUISE Adele (Adelphie) (ABT 1159 - )

Children by D'AVESNES Bouchard ABT 1182 - 1244
D'AVESNES Jean I (John I) (1 May 1218 - 24 Dec 1257)

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