The history of Flanders - Chapter 3
The origin of the county of Flanders: the first two years
Written by: Charles
Vanderhaegen - slightly modified and translated by Herman Boel - Edited
by David Baeckelandt July 2008
Published with kind permission of Charles Vanderhaegen.
The
Treaty of Verdun in 843 assigned the northern part of the
Carolinian empire to Lotharius I, oldest
son of
Lodewijk De Vrome (Louis the Pious) and was called Lorraine. It was
now divided between Lodewijk de Duitser
(Louis the
German), third son of Lodewijk de Vrome and king of East Francia
(Francia orientalis) and Karel De
Kale
(image) , fourth son of Lodewijk De Vrome and king of West Francia
(Francia occidentalis).
In 876, Karel De Kale tried to expand the boundaries of his empire eastwards, but was defeated in Andernach by Lodewijk De Jonge (Louis the younger), second son of the meantime deceased Lodewijk De Duitser, te Andernach verslagen.
When Karel De Kale died in 877, Lodewijk De Jonge reinstated the original French-Lorraine frontier with the Treary of in 880. Lorraine was now fully part of Germany and the old frontier of the Treaty of Verdun once again divided Francia orientalis and Francia occidentalis.
The border between Lorraine, under German rule, and Flanders, under French rule, was formed by the river Scheldt. Our regions not only had a linguistic border from east to west, it now also had a political border from south to north. That frontier will exist until the 15th century, when the dukes of Burgondy will unite both parts (Flanders and Lorraine).
As name for the region between the Scheldt and the North Sea, Flanders (Vlaanderen) would originally mean 'flooded area' and was known in the 8th century as the pagus Flandrensis. This corresponds to the region around Brugge (Bruges), one of the many Carolinian districts into which the future county of Flanders was divided in the second half of the 9th century.
The inhabitants of this pagus Flandriensis were called Vlamingen (Flemish). This words could come from Vlame, a word of Frysian origin that means 'refugee'. We can assume that this name was given by the Frysians, who had settled in the Land of Waas, to the inhabitants of the coastal areas because they had to flee inland time after time due to the numerous floods.
The coast of the area Flanders came about in the 9th century was cut strongly out and water flooded a lot further inland than is the case now. This was the result of the great flood of the 4th century and of the subsequent floods. The tideway of the Zwin (nature reservation) reached to Bruges while the river IJzer reached the North Sea via a large estuary (which has now disappeared).
According to the chroniclers of that time, the whole Flemish area was nothing more than an infertile piece of land of little value, filled with swamps, heath and salt marshes and therefore unsuitable for farming or for breeding cattle. Sheep, however, dwelled well on those grounds. There was always plenty of wool available. And if there is a lot of wool, there is a textile industry. This industry will play an important role thoughout the history of Flanders.
This whole area, infertile but with a flourishing industry, was given in loan by Karel De Grote to a certain Liederik, lord of Harelbeke. This Liederik died in 836 and was succeeded by his son Ingelram who in his turn died in 868 and was succeeded by his son Odakar. The latter was earl and at the same time the wordly abbot of the abbey of Saint Peter in Gent. This was a kind of public office that was called honores. The holder was allowed to appropriate an substantial part of the domain (containing the patrimony of abbeys) revenues, much to the disadvantage and anger of the monks.
Boudewijn I
Flanders only starts to play a role in European history with Boudewijn I (later called Baldwinus Ferreus).
Boudewijn I was the son of the forementioned Audacer; at least that is what we assume because there is not much accurate information from that time. Much is based on legends and concoctions. If we are to believe the various historians from that time, there are as many stories as there are historians.
What we do know with certainty is that Boudewijn was part of the retinue of the young king Lodewijk van Neustrië (Louis of Neustria), that he visited Senlis in northern France in 861 or 862 and that he met a certain Judith there, who was being held prisoner in the castle by her father Karel de Kale. Boudewijn fell in love with this young lady, she was barely twenty years old, and gained her love without much effort.
It seems that Judith was a passionate widow. Se had had a lousy life so far. At the age of 12, she was married off to the Anglo-Saxon king Ethelwolf, who was over 50 years old. 18 months later she became a widow and was married off again, this time to Ethelbald, a son to Ethelwolf from a previous marriage. He also died a few years later and Judith was promptly accused of incestuous relations to her stepson and expelled from England. Just like all kings from that time, Karel de Kale sacrificed everything, including his daughter, for his political plans. So he locked her up in the castle only to free her for a future beneficial marriage.
Boudewijn did not really count on getting Karel De Kale's approval to marry his daughter as he was a mere subordinate. He therefore decided to free Judith from her prison by abducting her. He was aided by her younger brother prince Lodewijk, later to become Louis II of France, nicknamed the Stutterer. For some unknown reason he favoured a marriage between his sister with Boudewijn. Louis informed Judith of Boudewijn's marriage plans en in a specific night, sometime in 860, Judith disguised herself and escaped her guards. She left the castle and met Boudewijn outside the gates. Together they returned to Boudewijn's home.
The loving couple now had to leave Karel de Kale's realm as soon as possible as he was staying in Soissons, not far from Senlis. They therefore went to the court of Judith's cousin Lotharius II, who was king of Lorraine at the time and with whom they were safe there.
Lotharius, who was at odds with Karel de Kale because of his interference in his own family matters and because of his continuous harassment, derived much pleasure from what was happening to his uncle Karel. He allowed the couple to be married by his priest. When Karel de Kale heard about this, he was in rage and demanded the couple to be extradited. This demand was legally justified as in that year, 860, Karel and Lotharius had signed an agreement to extradite criminals who had fled from one realm to the other to escape the local judicial authorities.
When Lotharius had thought of all kinds of excuses to stall the extradition as much as possible, Karel had all of Boudewijn's properties confiscated and had the clergy excommunicate him. But Boudewijn did not become disturbed by all of this. He communicated to Karel that if he was not reinstated and if Karel did not acknowledge his marriage, he would make a treaty with the Norsemen who had invaded the Frankish empire around 800 and who pillaged northwards and took power over that area.
When Hincmar, archbishop of Reims, heard about this, he was filled with fear for the vikings were waren wild warriors who seriously threatened the future of the christian world of the 9th century. He therefore contacted the powerful pope Nikolaas I and succeeded in convincing him to take this very unpleasant matter at heart. When Boudewijn heard this, he hurried with his wife to Rome where he was received by the pope. He convinced the pope of his innocence. Pope Nikolaas took the matter very seriously and started negotiations with Karel to have hil forfeit his threats. He argumented that Judith had not been abducted with force, but had willingly followed Boudewijn. Of course he also mentioned the danger of Boudewijn allying with the heathen Norsemen.
After long and difficult talks, Karel finally gave in. His position in the realm was far too weak to defy the pope's will. In October 862 the anathema was revoked and in December Karel acknowledged the marriage. On top of this he returned the confiscated properties to Boudewijn, loaned him the shires of Gent, Waas and Ternois (the area around St-Omaars) and appointed Boudewijn count of the Flemish coast. In 863 Judith gave birth to their first son (probably in Gent) who was named Boudewijn after his father. They later had a second son who was called Rudolf.
Boudewijn's nickname (the iron man) was probably due to his iron will and incredible boldness. Indeed, to abduct the king's daughter and defy the mightiest man of the realm even after having received an anathema, one has to be very audacious.
His second nickname, with the iron arm, was earned when the Norsemen invaded the Flemish land in 864 after they had burnt down the whole Scheldt valley ten years before. As count of the Flemish coast he took an army and attacked the Norsemen so harshly that they agreed on leaving the country in exchange for some money. Karel de Kale agreed to this and made a pact with the invaders in 866. After payment of the sum of money, they left the country.
This brought pease and Boudewijn and Judith had a relatively quiet life until Boudewijn's death in in 879. We don't know what happened to Judith. We don't even know when she died as none of our abbeys have a gravestone with her name, while there are gravestones for all other countesses.
Boudewijn II
Boudewijn I had barely died or the Norsemen invaded again. There was a difference with previous invasions though. In the years 850 and 852 it were relatively small gangs of robbers that came ashore, pillaged the area and withdrew. In 879 it was a powerful and well organised army that occupied and pillaged the land. The Norse invasion of 879 was the largest and most violent of all.
They arrived in July 879 between Boonen (Boulogne) and Kales (Calais) and immediately moved to the episcopal cities of Terwaan and Sint-Omaars which both went up in flames. From there they went north to the area west of the river Leie up to Gent, which was completely looted and almost completely destroyed. It was a horrible time. The murdering, pillaging, destroying and raping by the Norsemen verged on the incredible. Everyone who was the least bit mobile fled: the rich, the poor, the clergy and the farmers. In 880 the Norsemen went south and looted Kortrijk, Doornik and Atrecht and went even as far as Reims.
They were momentarily halted by the French king Lodewijk III (Louis III) at Saucourt near the river Somme. But this young victor died shortly afterwards in 882 and was succeeded by his brother Karloman. He understood that it was impossible for his army to defend the flat land of Flanders with all of its rivers against the Norsemen. He therefore decided to move the borders of his realm further south, up to the hills of Artesia.
Young Boudewijn II, barely twenty years old, understood dat it now sufficed to reach out his hand to become master of the whole area without any opposition. He can therefore be regarded as the factual founder of the county of Flanders in 883. The county stretched from the Norts Sea to the hills of Artesia.
To take control over this vast land was quite easy, to remain in control was another matter. The Norsemen who were currently settled in Lorraine, east of the Scheldt, were a threat to the young county. But new ideas are very common in the science of warfare. As it became clear that the Norsemen had no knowledge of siege material, Met de vaststelling dat de Noormannen geen kennis schenen te hebben van zwaar belegeringstuig, castles were being built as of 884. They were large enough to offer protection to the inhabitants of the surrounding area with their cattle and other scarce properties. The Norsemen never succeeded in conquering these fortified castles and none of their raids gained them any profit anymore. They therefore left our lands and never came back. They did attack France and England later on but as of 885 Flanders was spared from their invasions.
Boudewijn could now get involved with real politics. He had two goals: to have his authority recognised by the king and to expand his realm even further. Flanders had been so thoroughly pillaged by the Norsemen that agriculture and trade had to start again from scratch. Boudewijn therefore looked south, to the rich Artesia that could become the cornloft of Flanders, and to Boonen that had the best harbour for seagoing to England.Karel de Kale
The opportunity to reach these goals was presented in 888 when there was a succession problem in France after the death of Karel de Dikke (Karel the fat). The fight for the throne was between Odo (Eudes), earl of Paris and count of Neustria, and the legal successorKarel de Eenvoudige (Karel the simple), youngest son to Lodewijk II, nicknamed the Stutterer, who had given protection to Boudewijn I and Judith.
A group of Franse counts believed this to be a great opportunity to become independent from the king. They therefore chose Odo over Karel de Eenvoudige, who at the time was ten years old. Boudewijn, who had first chosen the side of Karel, changed his position the same year and made peace with Odo who recognised Boudewijn's authority. This concluded a first phase of expansion.
There was also a second phase. In 892 the abbot and count Rudolf died. He was a nephew of Boudewijn and ruled over the county Sint-Vaast and the abbey of Sint-Bertijns. Even though power was not hereditary through branches, Boudewijn claimed all possessions and confiscated them without waiting for the king's approval.
That did not sit well with Odo who first had the rebellious count excommunicated, and then took an army towards Brugge (Bruges) where Boudewijn had entrenched himself. The campaign was no success. Brugge held out and Odo had to return to France urgently because Karel de Eenvoudige was claiming the throne.
Like his father, Boudewijn was without scruples and never
doubted the means to reach his goals. As only Odo could acknowledge
him as possessor of Rudolf's inheritance, he joined the Karolinian
support, not to support Odo in his battle but to find allies who
could convince Odo of Boudenwijn's honour. The plan worked. In 895
the king besiegde Atrecht and Boudewijn offer him his submission.
The king was happy no longer to have Boudewijn as a fierce advisary
and, as a reward, acknowledged his possession of Rudolf's
inheritance.
Karel de Eenvoudige regarded this as treason. He marched in his turn to Atrecht in 899, conquered the city and made Boudewijn renounce Artois and the abbey of Sint-Vaas. Boudewijn could not deal with this loss and therefore, out of spite, had the archbisshop Fulco of Reims murdered, who was the king's most influential advisor. He also had count Herbert of Vermandois killed because the king had not let Boudewijn conquer his county.
So, in fifteen years' time Boudewijn II succeeded to create an unparalleled realm with violence, cunning, determination, courage and diplomatic ingenuity. This is also made clear by the fact that the English king Alfred the Great (image) gave him his daughter Elftrudis for marriage. She gave him four children, two daughters and two sons of which the oldest was called Arnulf and the youngest Adalolf.
Boudewijn II died on 11 September 918. His realm was then divided among his two sons.
Flanders during the first two counts
(click the image for a larger version)
Bibliography:
1. DHONDT, Dr. J. "Korte
geschiedenis van het ontstaan van het graafschap Vlaanderen", Brussel
1943.
2. GANSHOF F.L. "Vlaanderen
onder de eerste graven", Antwerpen 1944.
3. ROOSBROECK, Dr. R. Van.
"Geschiedenis van Vlaanderen", 1936-38
4. DESPRIET, Ph. "Atlas van
Frans-Vlaanderen", Kortrijk 1998.
5. PIRENNE, Henri.
"Geschiedenis van België", Brussel 1928.