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Birth:          Jul 1172 Valenciennes, France
Death:          11 Jun 1205 

Notes
Emperor of the East
leader of the Fourth Crusade
IX of Flanders, VI of Hainault
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baldwin_I,_Latin_Emperor
Baldwin I (Flemish: Boudewijn I, French: Baudouin I; July 1172 – c.?1205), the first 
emperor of the Latin Empire of Constantinople, as Baldwin IX Count of Flanders and as 
Baldwin VI Count of Hainaut, was one of the most prominent leaders of the Fourth 
Crusade, which resulted in the sack of Constantinople and 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.
Biography[edit]

Early life and family history[edit]

Baldwin was the son of Baldwin V of Hainaut and Margaret I, Countess of Flanders.[1] 
When the childless Philip of Alsace left on the last of his personal crusades in 1177, 
he designated his brother-in-law Baldwin V his heir. When Philip returned in 1179 after 
an unsuccessful siege of Harim during a joint campaign on behalf of the Principality of 
Antioch, he was designated as the chief adviser of prince Philip II Augustus by his 
sickly father Louis VII of France.[1] One year later, Philip of Alsace had his protégé 
married to his niece, Isabelle of Hainaut, offering the County of Artois and other 
Flemish territories as dowry, much to the dismay of Baldwin V.[2] In 1180, war broke 
out between Philip II and his mentor, resulting in the devastation of Picardy and Île-
de-France; King Philip refused to give open battle and gained the upper hand, and 
Baldwin V, at first allied with his brother-in-law (Philip of Alsace), intervened on behalf 
of his son-in-law in 1184, in support of his daughter's interests.[3]

Count Philip's wife Elisabeth died in 1183, and Philip Augustus seized the province of 
Vermandois on behalf of Elisabeth's sister, Eleonore. Philip then remarried, to Matilda 
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 the County 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 title Count 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 in Flanders 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, who ruled as Baldwin IX, Count of Flanders.[3]

In 1186, the younger Baldwin had married Marie of Champagne, daughter of Count 
Henry I of Champagne and Countess Marie of France.[4] The chronicler Gislebert 
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, at 
Château-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 at 
Valenciennes 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 brother Henry II of Champagne had been King of Jerusalem in 
the 1190s (leaving a widow and two daughters who needed help to keep and regain 
their territories in Palestine). Marie's uncles Richard I of England and Philip II of 
France had just been on the Third Crusade.

Baldwin's own family had also been involved in the defence of Jerusalem: his uncle 
Philip had died on Crusade. Baldwin's maternal grandmother was great-aunt of Queen 
Isabella 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 to Hainaut.

Count of Flanders and Hainaut[edit]
Baldwin took possession of a much-reduced Flanders, lessened by the large chunk, 
including Artois, given by Philip of Alsace as dowry to Baldwin's sister Isabelle 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 future Louis VIII of 
France. The eight years of Baldwin's rule in Flanders were dominated by his attempts 
to recover some of this land.[7] After Philip 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 the 
vassal of Philip II, and the king returned portions of Artois to Baldwin.[9][10]

In this fight against the French king, Baldwin allied with others who had quarrels with 
Philip, including kings Richard I and John of England, and the German King Otto IV. A 
month after the treaty, on Ash Wednesday (23 February) 1200 in the town of Bruges, 
Baldwin took the cross, meaning he committed to embark on a 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 for Hainaut. 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 brother Philip of Namur 
was regent in Flanders, with custody of the daughters. Baldwin's uncle William of Thy 
(an illegitimate son of Baldwin 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 to diverted to Constantinople in large 
part due to the exiled Byzantine prince Alexios (future Emperor Alexios IV Angelos) 
who promised them supplies and money in return for their help in ousting his uncle 
Emperor Alexios III Angelos, and freeing his father Isaac II Angelus. In April 1204, 
after numerous negotiations attempting to obtain the promised funds from the 
Byzantines, the Crusaders conquered 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 
the Latin Empire) and divided imperial lands into feudal counties.

Latin Emperor[edit]
The imperial crown was at first offered to Enrico 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 the Hagia Sophia at a ceremony which 
closely followed Byzantine practices. During his coronation, Baldwin wore a very rich 
jewel that had been bought by Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos for 62,000 
silver marks. Baldwin's wife Marie, unaware of these events, had sailed to Acre. 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 on feudal principles; the emperor was feudal superior 
of the princes who received portions of the conquered territory. His own special 
portion consisted of the city of Constantinople, the adjacent regions both on the 
European and the Asiatic side, along with some outlying districts, and several islands 
including Lemnos, Lesbos, Chios and Tenos. The territories still had to be conquered; 
first of all it was necessary to break the resistance of the Greeks in Thrace and 
secure Thessalonica. 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 in Macedonia with the title of King of Thessalonica.

Boniface hoped to make himself quite independent of the empire, to do no homage for 
his kingdom, and he opposed Baldwin's proposal to march to Thessalonica. The 
antagonism between Flemings and Lombards aggravated the quarrel. Baldwin insisted 
on going to Thessalonica; Boniface laid siege to Adrianople, where Baldwin had 
established a governor; civil war seemed inevitable. An agreement was effected by 
the efforts of Dandolo and the count of Blois. Boniface received Thessalonica as a 
fief from the emperor, and was appointed commander of the forces which were to 
march to the conquest of Greece.

During the following winter (1204–1205) the Franks prosecuted conquests in Bithynia, 
in which Henry, Baldwin's brother, took part. But in February the Greeks revolted in 
Thrace, relying on the assistance of Kaloyan, tsar of Bulgaria, whose overtures of 
alliance had been rejected by the emperor. The garrison of Adrianople was expelled. 
Baldwin along with Dandolo, the count of Blois, and Marshal Villehardouin, the 
historian, marched to besiege that city. The Frankish knights were defeated (14 April 
1205); the count of Blois was slain, and the emperor captured by the Bulgarians (see 
Battle of Adrianople).

For some time his 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. The circumstances of Baldwin's death are not exactly known. It 
seems that he was at first treated well as a valuable hostage, but was sacrificed by 
the Bulgarian monarch in a sudden outburst of rage, perhaps in consequence of the 
revolt of Philippopolis, which passed into the hands of the Franks. According to a 
Bulgarian legend, Baldwin had caused his own downfall by trying to seduce Kaloyan's 
wife. The historian George Acropolites reports that the Tsar had Baldwin's skull made 
into a drinking cup, just as had happened to Nicephorus I almost four hundred years 
before.

Tsar Kaloyan wrote to Pope Innocent III, reporting that Baldwin had died in prison. A 
tower of the Tsarevets fortress of the medieval Bulgarian capital, Veliko Tarnovo, is 
still called Baldwin's Tower; supposedly, it was the tower where he was interned.

Family[edit]

It was not until July 1206 that the Latins in Constantinople had reliable information 
that Baldwin was dead. His brother Henry 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 and Margaret II, were to rule as 
countesses of Flanders.

The false Baldwin[edit]

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 the crusade rejected his claim, but he nonetheless attracted 
many followers from the ranks of the peasantry. Eventually unmasked as a Burgundian 
serf named Bertrand of Ray, the false Baldwin was executed in 1226.[14]

Parents
____ Baldwin VIII (V) (ABT 1150 - 17 Dec 1195)
DE LORRAINE Margaret (Marguerite) (ABT 1135 - 15 Nov 1194)

Siblings
DE HAINAUT ET FLANDRES Isabelle (5 Apr 1170 - 15 Mar 1190)
____ Baldwin IX (VI) (Jul 1172 - 11 Jun 1205)
OF FLANDERS Yolanda (1175 - 26 Aug 1219)

Marriage To DE CHAMPAGNE Marie (ABT 1174 - 9 Aug 1204)
    m. 6 Jan 1186 

Notes

Parents
____ Henry (Henri) I "the Generous" (1127 - 16 Mar 1181)
OF FRANCE Marie (1145 - 11 Mar 1198)

Children by DE CHAMPAGNE Marie ABT 1174 - 9 Aug 1204
____ Margaret (Marguerite) (2 Jun 1202 - 10 Feb 1280)

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