The history of Flanders - Chapter 4
The origin of the county of Flanders: Arnulf the Great
Written by: Charles
Vanderhaegen - slightly modified and translated by Herman Boel - Edited
by David Baeckelandt July 2008
Published with kind permission of Charles Vanderhaegen.
Arnulf and Adalolf
As we saw in the previous chapter, the second count of Flanders, Boudewijn II, died on 11 September 918. He left a principality that was similar with most of the mighty French principalities of that time, at least as far as power and prestige were concerned. As usual, the principality was divided among his two sons Arnulf and Adalolf. Arnulf, the oldest son, got the area west of the Scheldt with the hills of Artois as southern border. Adalolf got the Boonsche area (le boulonnais) and the Terwaans area (Ternois).
War between Flanders and Normandy
In the first years of their rule, both sons remained very silent. It is 925 when they first appear on the political scene as they march against the Normans, descendents of the Norsemen. These Normans were loyal to their ancestor's habits and regularly raided far outside their borders.
The duchy of Normandy came about in 911 when the Norsemen, led by Rollo, also known as Robert I of Normandy, had advanced from Friesland to the south up to the estuary of the Seine. During that march, which was more of a raid, Rollo found a way to abduct the daughter of the count of Bayeux (890), to besiege Paris (892) and to permanently settle in Rouen and become ruler of the whole surrounding area. With the treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte in 911, the French king Charles III, also known as the simple (Charles le Simple), recognised Rollo as duke of the whole area left and right of the Seine estuary, the area that is since then known as Normandy. This brought peace to the country, but not for long.
In 922 the French nobility rose to Charles the simple, and put Robert I (not the one from Normandy) on the throne, succeeded in 923 by his brother-in-law Rudolf of Burgondy. Charles lost hit royal title and was held capture until his death in 929 in Péronne. He was guarded by count Herbert of Vermandois. Rollo took advantage of the situation to resume the raids, much to the displeasure of Rudolf who was up in arms with the plunderers. The two Flemish counts Arnulf and Adalolf hasted themselves to be part of the campaign against the dangerous neighbours. They took their army southwards, right through Ponthieu, crossed the Somme and besieged the Norman establishment at Eu, at the Bresle estuary. When Rollo heard about this, he sent an army of 1000 men to Eu to relieve the city. This was in vain. Before the army could reach the city, it had been conquered by the Flemish. The city castle was surrounded and assailed. The high ramparts were climbed and conquered at the cost of many lives.
Part of the Normans managed to escape and they pulled back on a small island in the Bresle estuary. It did not help them. The island was undefendable. The Flemish swam to the island or used rafts and slaughtered every single Norman. The castle at Eu was plundered and largely destroyed.
Why the Flemish counts withdrew their armies instead of taking possession of Ponthieu and the left bank of the Somme, we don't know. Yet, the time was ripe for such an expansion of the county because during the siege of Eu a struggle had begun for the rule in Northern France. The struggle was between count Hugo the Great, son of Robert I of France and ruler of the are between Paris and Orléans, count Herbert II of Vermandois who tried to establish a principality between Artesia and Champagne, and the king himself, Rudolf of Burgondy.
Arnulf could have benefited from that confusion. For unknown reasons he did not. It was not until six years after the battle at Eu that he realised what opportunities were ahead for him and for the county.
Arnulf the Great
In 931 he finally seized the opportunity. He conquered the castles of Mortagne and Dowaai as well as the abbey of Saint-Armand at the river Scarpe. As the struggling parties in Northern France did not feel like making another enemy, they did not interfere. The next year, in 932, he profited from the death of the count of Artois to lay hands on Atrecht with the St-Vaast abbey and to put the whole county under his rule. This way he recaptured the area his father, Boudewijn II, had had to cede in 899 to Charles the simple.
In 933 his power grew again. His brother Adalolf died and Arnulf appropriated his posession, Boulogne and Ternois. We need to add that this was a far from legal act as Adalolf had two underaged sons. In fact, count Arnulf has robbed his nephews of their inheritance.
Arnulf agreed to anything that could help him extend his
power,
both military conquests as treachery and marriage politics. Let's
talk about the latter. Arnulf must have married sometime between
920 and 925 to a woman (we don't know her name) who gave him three
daughters. That first woman probably died before 934, because in
that year he married again, this time to Adela, the daughter of
Herbert II van Vermandois, son of Herbert I van Vermandois who had
Boudewijn II killed in 900 because Karel de Eenvoudige (Charles the
simple) had prevented him from seizing his county. People in that
time were not so fussy with murder and treason. Arnulf's marriage
proves that Herbert II did not object to his daughter marrying the
son of his father's murderer.
In that same year, 934, two of his daughter from his first marriage
were wed to count Isaac van Kamerijk and count Wicman van Hameland.
He will give away his daughter a few years later to marry count
Diederik van West-Friesland.
All of these marriages, his own included, were the result of cunning politics which led to a powerful ally in Northern France and peace with Lorraine.
Now the time had come to carry out his plans of conquest towards the south. Between the Canche and the Somme there was the desirable Ponthieu with Montreuil and south of that Normandy. A new war with this county was at hand, but an unexpected matter would confuse his plans. In 936 king Rudolf suddenly died. The rulers appealed to Lodewijk, called from Overseas (Louis d'Outremer) to replace him. This young prince was born in 920 and was the son of Eadgifu, daughter of the anglo-saxon king Eduard the Elder. He grew up in England at his grandfather's court.
When the rulers had offered Lodewijk the French crown, he went
to France the same year and disembarked in Boulogne. Arnulf, who could
use the support of the new French king to extend his county further
south 
at
Normandy's expense, made sure he was present when Lodewijk disembarked
and paid tribute to him as Lodewijk IV
(image), king of France. During that first meeting they lay the
foundation of a long friendship. The new king was also very keen on
this friendship. He could use Arnulf's support as to maintain his
authority in these difficult times he needed extra troops from England.
These troups could only disembark in the harbours of Boulogne and
Flanders. So it was clear to Lodewijk that Arnulf, who ruled the whole
coast between Boulogne and Walcheren, was also master of his fate as
king.
The fall of Montreuil
Because of the friendly relations with Lodewijk IV, Arnulf knew he had little to fear resuming his campaign of conquest. His first target was of course Montreuil which controlled the estuary of the Canche and belonged to the count of Ponthieu, Herwlin.
The ingenious Arnulf wanted to save his army and thought of a trick to obtain this important fortress. Hij made use of count Herwlin's absence and sent some of his most shrewd servants to the fortress' guard, one called Robert. Arnulf must have known him and knew that Robert was a superficial person who was easy to dupe. Arnulf's servants presented themselves to Robert and convinced him that the castle's continued existence was threatened by the Normans. However, his friend Arnulf could prevent this catastrofe if Robert were prepared to accept his generous offer. He was offered silver and gould, vast estates and armourbearers, all of this with the king's approval. However, the castle's take-over had to occur in secret so the Normans would not get suspicious. The guard, terrified for the Normans and blinded by the promises of richness and wealth, agreed and told the servants to inform Arnulf that he would be at his side to protect Montreuil from those evil Normans.
As soon as Arnulf was informed, he took some of his best armourbearers to Montreuil, hid in some bushes not far from the castle's entrance, and waited for the agreed signal to march into the fortress. By midnight Robert sent some of his men outside to, so to speak, explure the surroundings, climbed one of the castle's walls and waved with a torch to inform Arnulf of the open gates. Arnulf and his men immediately went inside through the open gate and took possession of the castle without any resistance. Herwlin's wife and children were captured and immediately sent to England under guard. There they were entrusted to Aethelstan, king of Wessex. After appropriating the contents of Herwlin's treasury, extra soldiers were sent to the fortress and Arnulf headed home triumphantly.
We can now also asks ourselves why Arnulf did not decide to move further south to grab the whole region between the Canche and Somme. We don't know either what happened with the guard Robert. He could probably kiss the promised money, estates and armourbearers goodbye.
What we do know is that Herwlin was furious when he heard about Arnulf's doing. He immediately sought support from the count of Normandy, Willem Lankzwaard (William with the Long Sword). The soldiers Arnulf did not use during the conquest of Montreuil were immediately sent there. But these soldiers did not dare attack the fortress with Norman soldiers and spend their time pillaging the surrounding area, killing the local inhabitants and set farms on fire. Herwlin was furious and took a group of soldiers to the fortress, captured it and inflicted a terrible defeat on the Flemish
Arnulf's army was seriously weakened. He tried to call king Lodewijk IV for help, but to no avail. The king had other worries: a formidable coalition had been formed against him, consisting of Willem Lankzwaard, Herbert II van Vermandois and Hugo the Great. The latter two had called for him in 936 to offer him the French throne. Arnulf, who could not count on the king in these circumstances, joined the coalition. In name of the coalition, Arnulf did not grant the right to disembark to the English fleet the king had called for. The English admiral did not want to do nothing and to avenge this treason he destroyed a large part of the Flemish coast.
Treason and disloyalty seemed to be everyday things in those days.
By joining the anti-royal coalition, Arnulf had hoped to get Montreuil back with the aid of Hugo the Great, who was supreme liege to count Herwlin. But Hugo the Great did not completely trust Arnulf since he had abandoned the king. With the support of Willem Lankzwaard, who still occupied the left bank of the Canche, he refused to return Montreuil to Arnulf. Arnulf never could get over this. After taking Montreuil from him, that fearsome Norman with the Long Sword also kept him from moving south. That man had to die and in the middle of his vindictive plans, Arnulf unexpectedly received support from Otto I, king of Germany.
The plot against Willem Lankzwaard
An opportunity to take revenge on Willem came in 942. Due to Pope Stefanus IX' intervention, peace was made between the coalition and the king. But the king had a hard time reconciling with Hugo because he had abandoned him a few years earlier by joining the coalition against him. German king Otto I, called the Great, with whom's sister Lodewijk IV was married, tried to solve the difference between Hugo and Lodewijk by convening all parties in a meeting that had to establish a permanent reconciliation.
On the agreed day, the guests arrived in the royal house of Attigny in the Ardennes. Hugo, Arnulf, Herbert and Willem led the group but when the guests were allowed to enter one by one, Willem was forgotten. The doors were closed right in front of him.
Willem suspected Otto of being the responsible, pushed the door open with both hands and came with determination to the throne where the two rulers, Lodewijk and Otto, were seated. On the highest throne was Otto, a bit lower Lodewijk and again somewhat lower and next to one another Hugo en Arnulf.
He addressed Otto directly and shouted: "Do I not have the
right
to be part of this meeting? Did I dishonour you in any way?" Het
was very angry to see the Frankish king at the feet of the German,
and addressed Otto with the insulting words: "In a house where the
French king is present, no person can take a higher place. So,
rise, Otto, and get off your throne."
Otto must have been extremely impressed by Willem's words, because
he indeed left his throne very blushed, stood at the side and did
not speak for the remainder of the meeting.
When everybody had left the meeting, the highly insulted Otto
called Hugo and Arnulf to a secret meeting. They quickly agreed,
especially Arnulf, that the insult to the German king had to be
avenged. It was agreed that Arnulf would send an envoy to Willem to
discuss matters important to the both of them. The meeting was
scheduled on 17 December 942 on a peninsula in the Somme, called
Péquigny. On that dat Arnulf came with a few followers to the
agreed place. Willem came by boat and set foot ashore. He was
barely on dry land when Arnulf's men assaulted him and killed him
with a thrust of their swords.
This murder did not only put out Arnulf's wish for revenge, it was also convenient to the French king. Under the pretext of avenging the murder of Willem, he took his army to Rouen where he embraced Richard, Willem's young son, took him under his protection and swore that he would never conclude peace with his father's murderer. But this was nothing more than a sham. Lodewijk's real goald was to retake possession of the whole area that had been called Normandy in 911 and that had been given by Karel de Eenvoudige (Charles the simple) to Rollo (image), the head of the Norsemen who had settled in the Rouen area.
Another war with Normandy
Lodewijk did exactly the opposite of what he had promised the Normen. Barely a year later, in 943, he not only concluded peace with Arnulf, but he also discharged Arnulf's arch-enemy Herwlin from the command of Normandy. The Normen now understood that they had been deceived by the king and revolted. Without much success. Arnulf came to Lodewijk's help and defeated them in Dieppe, so that Lodewijk could once again retake posession of the kingdom. But in those days the wars never seemed to end.
In 945 Harald Blaatand (= Blue tooth), king of Denmark, came to the aid of his Scandinavian brothers. United they succeeded to drive away Lodewijk's soldiers and to capture him. Hugo the Great took advantage of this and chose the Normens' side. They entrusted him with the captured king. In order to regain his freedom, Lodewijk had to renounce his claim to Normandy and hand over the city of Laon to Hugo.
Arnulf took advantage of this catastrofe to side with the king. He tried to convince him of marching to Montreuil, but this did not happen. Hugo had given up hope ever to defeat Arnulf by force of arms, and now tried to turn this enemy into an ally by offering the much desired Montreuil to Arnulf. Arnulf refused to be mollified. He did accept the gift, but remained loyal to the king and shortly after, in 949, he took possession of Amiens that also belonged to Hugo.
Arnulf's last years of government
Lodewijk died in 945. His death was followed by some years of peace and rest. The County of Flanders also enjoyed this peace and Arnulf, now sixty years old, left the rule of his land mostly to his only son Boudewijn III. He had married a German princess, Mathildis, daughter of the Saxon duke Herman Billing, in in 959. In 960 their son was born who was named after his grandfather Arnulf.
Arnulf was now very hopeful for the future of the county his father had founded and he had extended and fortified. But the old man had not taken fate into consideration.
In December 961 his beloved son Boudewijn III caught the
smallpox and died a few years later, on 1 January 962n at
Sint-Bertijn.
The old Arnulf almost died of grief, but his ordeal was far from
over. His grandson, the later latere Arnulf II, was barely a few
months old and he was getting very old. He was called Arnulf
Contractus, what means 'contracted' or 'wrinkled'.
When his brother Adalolf's two sons, whose inheritance Arnulf had wrongfully taken in 933, heard of Boudewijn's death, they thought it was time to reclaim their stolen inheritance, Boulogne and Ternois. The old Arnulf feared that his two nephews would treat his grandson the same way he had treated them in 933. He therefore had one of the boys killed. Then the French king Lotharius, son of the deceased Lodewijk IV, intervened in the difference between Arnulf and the remaining nephew. An agreement was made that determined that the disputed area of Boulogne and Artois would be given to his nephew when Arnulf would come to die.
The same year the old count appointed his nephew Boudewijn Baldzo, a son of his uncle Rudolf, to guard over his grandson.
On 27 March 964, after having made some arrangements regarding the execution of his will, Arnulf I died after 46 jaar of government. His government took place in a century filled with war, treachery and murder. It was a century that had no civilisation, but which was useful to know and to realise that the apocalyptic horsemen (war, treachery and murder) are no phenomenons from now but from all time.
Bibliography:
1. DHONT, J. Dr. "Korte geschiedenis van het ontstaan van het
graafschap Vlaanderen", Brussel 1943.
2. GANSHOF, L. "Vlaanderen onder de eerste graven", Standaard,
Brussel 1944.
3. LE GLAY, Edward. "Histoire des comtes de Flandre", Brussel
1853.
4. ROOSBROECK, R. Dr. "Geschiedenis van Vlaanderen",
Standaard, Brussel 1936.