The history of Flanders - Chapter 5
The origin of the county of Flanders: Arnulf II and Boudewijn I
Written by: Charles
Vanderhaegen - slightly modified and translated by Herman Boel - Edited
by David Baeckelandt July 2008
Published with kind permission of Charles Vanderhaegen.
Flanders between Arnulf I and Arnulf II
When Flemish count Arnulf I died on 27 March 964, he left a vast realm that was subject to the count's authority in every way and of which the ruler possessed huge amounts of land. The count's area comprised the whole area between the river Scheldt and North Sea in the north and extended beyond the river Somme in the south.
As the only heir to the throne, Arnulf's grandson and also called Arnulf, was only three years old, the formidable realm was threatened to perish. The early death of Boudewijn III, who was supposed to succeed his father Arnulf I, had given many noblemen the hope to appropriate at least a part of Arnulf's rich inheritance.
Arnulf had foreseen this and in order to safeguard the county for his grandson, he had made a secret agreement in 962 with his supreme liege lord, the French king Lotharius, son of Lodewijk IV. This agreement stipulated that after Arnulf's death the king would get all the possessions Arnulf had conquered during life: Amiens, Ponthieu, Artois and Ostrevant (the area between the Scheldt and the Scarpe). In exchange the king would have to be young Arnulf's guardian and make sure he would become count when reaching adulthood.
What old Arnulf had foreseen, happened. As soon as the noblemen heard about Arnulf's death, they immediately started to consider the areas they 'loaned' from the count as their own. They also enforced the seigniorial rights that were normally the count's privilige. The churches, which had been strongly protected by Arnulf, were largely robbed of their possessions. The close relatives of young Arnulf behaved like vultures. Baldzo, old Arnulf's nephew who was appointed to guard young Arnulf, appropriated Kortrijk and made it into a county. Dirk, count of West Friesland and son-in-law of old Arnulf, made himself count of Gent and Waasland.
Lotharius had heard about these unlawful appropriations and taking into account the agreement of 962 with old Arnulf, he marched with his army to Flanders in 965. He succeeded to get as far as Gent. The Flemish noblemen had tried to stop him, but without success. As soon as their resistance had been broken, they were forced into negotiations. Rorico, bishop of Laon, was appointed mediator. Baldzo lost his right of protection of young Arnulf and the noblemen had to submit themselves to the king's authority.
Shortly after, Lotharius returned to France. Mathildis, young Arnulf's mother, took Baldzo's place and got custody of the future count in the king's absence. The king also left his mother, queen Gerberga, and his young brother Karel behind to help Mathildis guarding young Arnulf. Karel was his playmate. This was not a bad idea as an early friendship like this could be useful to the French royal authority later on.
Queen Gerberga was an exceptionally intelligent woman. She was very competent in administrative affairs and in solving political problems. Lotharius could easily count on her to maintain order in the county and to make sure that the defeated rebellious noblemen kept quiet.
In any case, Lotharius remained loyal to the agreement he made with old Arnulf in 962. He of course appropriated the southern areas, as the agreement stipulated, but he also recognised young Arnulf as the count of Flanders.
Arnulf II
All remained calm until 976. In that year the foreign policy of the French king changed drastically. Lorraine dukes had tried to benefit from the death of German king Otto I in 973 and dispose of the imperial authority of his son and successor Otto II. Lorraine sought France's support. As early as 925 the then duke Giselbert of Lorraine had recognised the liege of German king Hendrik I so that Lorraine was part of the German empire. The fact that France, by helping the Lorraine rebellions, would get authority over this German liege, did not find favour with the German emperor. He was not prepared to cede even the smallest part of his empire to anyone.
During his minority, Lotharius had been under guardianshup of the archbishop Bruno of Cologne, brother of German emperor Otto I, and had married his stepdaughter Emma. He had always maintained his friendship with her father and brother, the later Otto II. This friendship had now turned into enmity because Lotharius had publicly shown sympathy for Lorraine's strive for independency. Otto II understood that France's support to the rebellious Lorraine dukes could mean the end of his liege over the duchy.
Lotharius feared that the Flemish would choose the side of the emperor in order to get rid of the French guardianship. As he knew that the emperor's liegemen, the counts of West Friesland, were settled on the left bank of the Scheldt, he decided to renounce his exceptional authority over Flanders. This way Arnulf II became an independent ruler and supporter of Lotharius.
Lotharius could now use the full force of his army for the battle against Otto II that started around 978 when he tried to capture Otto II in Aachen. Otto managed to escape from the French troops and took his revenge one year later. He marched with an army against Lotharius and reached the suburbs of Paris. Lotharius had been defeated. With the peace treaty of 980 he had to promise to forever cease his attempts to add Lorraine to his realm.
In order to safeguard himself from possible future attacks from the French king, the emperor started to reorganise the Lorraine bank. Three reinforced border zones were established. One had Valenciennes as centre, the second Antwerp, and the third the castle of Ename which consisted of the area between the rivers Scheldt, Dender and Hene. This area later became a county when Godfried of Verdun from the House of Ardens was appointed count.
This was a sly move by Otto II, who just like Lotharius, wanted to confirm his friendship with Arnulf. Godfried of Verdun was married to Mathildis, widow of Boudewijn III and mother of Arnulf II. Godfried of Verdun so became Arnulf's stepfather. The emperor counted on the fact that in case the French king interfered with Lorraine again, Arnulf would be an ally as he would rather choose the side of the county where his mother was countess, than to assist the French king.
Arnulf II found himself in an exceptionally favourable position: the power of the French king had been restrained for now and he benefited from the German emperor's friendship. Arnulf II could have made use of this to gain back the areas his grandfather had ceded to Lotharius in 962, just as the domain west of the Scheldt which had been appropriated by Dirk of West Friesland. But Arnulf had neither the power nor the courage or ambition his grandfather had. He seemed pleased with what was left of the county, a county in which his authority was limited and where he was controlled by noblemen who were the real rulers of their land.
Arnulf married in the year 982 or 983 (the exact date is not known) with ruler Suzanna-Rosala, daughter of the Italian king Béranger. From this marriage was born a son who was named after his grandfather Boudewijn. Arnulf died shortly thereafter, in 987, barely 26 years old, and left litlle Boudewijn as the sole heir. This way the Flemish county went from one minority to the other.
When Arnulf II died, the Flemish country was in a state of clear decline. When Baldzo, who had appropriated the southern part around Kortrijk, died, this region became property of a certain Eilbodo, governor of Kortrijk. The northern part of the county had been added to the county of Gent and the Land of Waas which Dirk, the count of West Friesland, also known as Dirk II, count of Holland, had seized in 964. Meanwhile a Scandinavian colony had settled in the Boonen (Boulogne-sur-Mer) area. The area would soon be transformed to the county of Guines under the authority of count Artold. This way the county of Boonen-Terwaan (Boulogne-Ternois) fell apart and Terwaan got his own ruler.
The Flemish power was quite weak and was even further threatened by count Dirk of West Friesland who tried to get his hands on Arnulf II's inheritance that had been foreseen for his son, the minor Boudewijn IV. Documents from that time tell us that Dirk of West Friesland has tried to appropriate at least a part of that inheritance of the French king, but to no avail.
King Lotharius had died in 986 and had been succeeded by his son Lodewijk V (Louis V), who himself died shortly after in in 987. He was the last king of the Carolingian house. After him it was Hugues Capet who ascended the throne. Hugues, or Hugo, was the son of duke Hugo de Grote, the same one Arnulf I had conspired with in 942 against Willem Lankzwaard. Dirk of West Friesland had hoped to benefit from the succession by asking the French king not only to liege the counties of Gent and Waas but also to extend them so that the whole eastern part of Flanders would no longer be part of Boudewijn IV's inheritance. But Dirk had not taken into account Hugo Capet's plans.
Hugo may have come from a mighty and rich house, this was not sufficient. In order to extend his land, he was looking for a principality he could add to his realm without much effort or cost and thus add lustre to his dynasty. The death of Arnulf II seemed to give him an opportunity. Hugo thought of a cunning plan to annex the whole or part of the county of Flanders. The plan consisted of marrying of his son Robert (or Robrecht), the future king Robert II, to Arnulf II's widow, Suzanna-Rosala. This way and as long as Boudewijn was a minor, Robert would have authority of the county of Flanders and accumulate such an influence that Boudewijn, as soon as he became of age, would no longer be able to prevent the annexation of the county to the French throne.
In order to propitiate the Flemish for this marriage, he secured the areas he ceded to Lotharius for Suzanna, namely Artois, Ostrevant and Ponthieu. The marriage was celebrated in 990. Thus the new couple reinstated the county of Arnulf I and Dirk of West Friesland's ambitious plan failed.
Hugo Capet's cunning plan also failed. Robrecht seemed to have been a very loose and sensual ruler who quickly became bored with his much older wife, whom he repudiated in 995 in order to marry his mistress Berthe, countess of Blois. This marriage did not last long either. In 999 Berthe was also repudiated.
Hugo saw his plan fail due to his son's divorce, and tried to save matters by unlawfully appropriating all three areas he had fixed for Suzanna prior to his son's wedding. The Flemish were afraid of a new guardianship like they had known under Lotharius, and came to Suzanna's help by demanding the return of the three areas. They asked Odo, count of Chartres, for help. Odo was at war with Hugo at the time.
Hugo lost the small war that followed. This led to an agreement between both parties. Artois and Ostrevant were permanently returned to Flanders but Ponthieu and Montrueil continued to be in French hands.
Flanders between Arnulf Il and Boudewijn IV
This is a remarkable historical fact: the unity and existence of the county of Flanders was saved by the marriage of the widow of a Flemish count to the son of the king of France, who had anticipated the opposite.
After the agreement between the king of France and the Flemish, Suzanna moved back in with her son in Gent where she died on 15 December 1003. She was buried in the Sint-Pieters abbey, next to her first husband Arnulf II.
Boudewijn IV
Boudewijn must have been about 18 years old when he lost his mother. He became aware of the terrible state of not only his county but also of his count's authority. Boudewijn had clearly inherited his great grandfather's character (Arnulf the Great): the typical impetuous unceasing hunger for power, but at the same time shrewd and bold and not allowing for any opposition in any way.
As soon as he was old enough to carry weapons, he wanted to make an end to the situation of his county and restore the count's authority.
His first target was to retake the county of Kortrijk which Baldzo had unlawfully appropriated in 965. After Baldzo's death, the authority had gone to Eilbodo. He had now also died and the various barons ruled the domain. In order for his plan to succeed, Boudewijn appealed to Harelbeke. Its inhabitants had stayed loyal to the count and had therefore suffered harassments from the people of Kortrijk. Again, Harelbeke had to pay for its decision. When the people of Kortrijk heard that Boudewijn was on its way to reclaim his authority over the city, they invaded Harelbeke and burnt it to the ground. This was a serious mistake because they now received opposition from the people of other surrounding villages. Boudewijn could now easily retake Kortrijk.
Boudewijn's next target was to reconquer the area that Dirk II of West Friesland had appropriated in 965. Coincidence was at his side. In 993 count Arnulf of Gent, son of Dirk II, fell in battle at the Maas estuary in his battle against the Frisians. He only left two minors, Dirk, the future Dirk III, and Sifridus. Boudewijn benefitted immediately from the weak position of the county of Gent and Waas and conquered the area to add it to Flanders.
This recapture had an unexpected consequence: the origin of the county Holland. In 985 the counties of Texel, Kennemerland and Maasland had already come under rule of the counts of West Friesland. Due to their forced departure from Flanders, they shifted their balance of power to the Holland areas. From then onwards they kept aloof from Flanders and extended their rule in the are of the lower Rhine and lower Maas.
Having expelled the counts of West Friesland, Boudewijn thought it to be time to think about the most beneficial way to extend the borders of his county. Contrary to his forefathers, Boudewijn aimed east. The time seemed favourable to extend in that direction. The main counts from that area, esp. Leuven and Henegouwen, were weary of the rising power of the bishops, who had the actual power in name of the German emperor Hendrik II and made use of this to behave themselves as a count in these areas.
Boudewijn took advantage of the tension in Lower Lorraine
between the counts and bishops and in 1006 he crossed the natural
border between Flanders and Henegouwen, the river Scheldt, to
conquer Valenciennes. This was the first of the fortified border
zones that the German emperor Otto II had established after 980
along the eastern bank of the Scheldt against a possible march of
the French king. From there onwards, Boudewijn took his army to
Ename, the second fortified border zone, and conquered it as well.
Immediately thereafter he went to Kamerijk but did not manage to
conquer the city. He therefore restricted himself to pillaging the
whole surrounding area.
The emperor was irritated by Boudewijn's audacity and summoned him
to the imperial court to account for his deads in front of the
imperial liegemen. But Boudewijn send a message to the emperor
declaring he had nothing to do with the emperor and only recognised
the king of France as his supreme liege.
The emperor could not let this affront go unpunished. Het raised a formidable army around Aachen and marched to Flanders in 1007. He arrived at the river Scheldt where the Flemish troops were positioning themselves for battle. But the German troops went upstream where there hardly was any defense, crossed the Scheldt and attacked the Flemish with surprise. The emperor then moved on and caused death and destruction. On 19 August of that same year he arrived at Gent, where Boudewijn had taken cover in his castle with the maximum amount of soldiers possible.
The imperial troops assailed the stronghold but without success. Boudewijn held out and when winter came, the emperor had to break the siege and return to Germany. Boudewijn had the satisfaction of witnessing the fact that one of the mightiest princes of his time failed in breaking the Flemish power.
Boudewijn was intelligent enough to understand that he could not stick to his enmity towards the German empire for long. In the east, the county remained too much under threat of the different German fiefs. When the emperor had his hands full with another rebellion of the Lorraine nobles, Boudewijn took the opportunity to make peace with the emperor. He went to Aachen, where he was greeted by the emperor. Boudewijn assured him that he would renounce Valenciennes and would help him to fight the Lorraine rebellions. Hendrik II much appreciated this offer. In order to please the Flemish count, he refused the city of Valenciennes and assured Boudewijn that he could consider it a gift from the German empire.
Boudewijn kept his word. He supported the emperor, who due to the Flemish support succeeded in suppressing the Lorraine rebellion. By way of gratitude for the military support, the emperor gave him Walcheren and the islands of Zeeland as well as the so-called Vier Ambachten (Four Shires), the area between the Land of Waas and the Westerly Scheldt, consisting mainly of islands. Boudewijn had now finally gotten hold of the east bank of the Scheldt. This area will later, in 1033, be extended with Chièvres and Basècles in the south west of the old Brabant. Koenraad II, who had succeeded Henrik II as German emperor in 1024, reconciled himself with that fact and regulated those Flemish conquests with a fief. The whole area will later be called Rijksvlaanderen (Flemish State).
The frontiers in the east were now secured, so Boudewijn made an agreement with the French king. His wife Otgiva or Ogive, daughter to Fréderik, duke of Luxembourg, gave him a son who was also named Boudewijn, the later Boudewijn V, also called Boudewijn of Rijsel. When Boudewijn V was still a child, Boudewijn IV asked the daughter of French king Robert II, Adèle, as future wife for his son. The French king agreed without any demands. Little Adèle, still in the cradle, was now taken to Flanders by her future father-in-law where she was raised. This union between the County of Flanders and France will assure peace between the two countries for hundred years.
Boudewijn IV, called with the Beard, died on 30 May 1035 and was buried in the Saint Pieter Abbey in Gent. He was succeeded by his son, Boudewijn V.
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