The history of Flanders - Chapter 10
The County Flanders after the first crusade
Written by: Charles
Vanderhaegen - slightly modified and translated by Herman Boel - Edited
by David Baeckelandt July 2008
Published with kind permission of Charles Vanderhaegen.
Robrecht ll: back from the first crusade
After an absence of more thatn three years during the first crusade to Jerusalem, Robrecht II, son of Robrecht the Fries, returns to Flanders in the spring of 1100. In the castles of the nobles and the huts of the poor there is a celebration for the return of the crusaders. The only ones not participating were the wifes who were looking for their husbands or sons in vain and understood, when they did not show up, that they would never see them again.
A great number of men but also women, who had gone with the count of Flanders to Jerusalem in September 1096, had died during the long voyage to the Middle East. One month before the fall of Jerusalem, the initial army had been reduced to one tenth. During the three and a half year crusade, a tentative estimate of 137000 people had died, of whom 76000 Christians and 61000 Turks and Arabs.
A just war, as the Catholic Church still called it in the middle of last century, or an unnecessary bloodbath? Perhaps both. Wars are always justified from the victor's point of view and always unnecessary according to the victims. In any case, wars are of all time; man never seems to get enough of them. This was also something Robrecht II experienced; barely did he return to his country or he got in trouble with German emperor Hendrik IV.
Shortly prior
to Robrecht's departure for the Middle East, the ambitious German
emperor had claimed the county of Aalst (see
image for scutcheon) for the German crown, as well as the
Four Shires and the Zeeland islands.
The towns and even villages in those areas were quite fortified and
there were a great number of soldiers which made a conquest by the
imperial troops not evident. Moreover, when the crusaders left, a large
number of imperial soldiers were caught by their hunger for adventure
and wealth. They left the imperial army and went into service with the
princes who prepared to do as pope Urbanus II
had asked them to do and to go to the country of pleasure, as the pope
had called it.
This flight of troops meant that the German emperor had to forget about his plans to conquer a part of the Flemish county for the duration of the crusade. Initially this was a good thing for Robrecht II, but once he got back he sought a means to back out of the imperial thirst for power. A few events were to his advantage. Having been excommunicated by the pope, the German emperor remained stubborn in his struggle against the church by violating its rights every time possible.
The battle for Kamerijk
It so happened that he wanted to keep one of his favourites, called Gaucher, on the bishop's chair of Kamerijk. That Gaucher had been elected by the canons of the town instead of Gérard, the successor of the deceased Liébert, but had also been excommunicated by Urbanus II. Furthermore the citizens of Kamerijk wanted to elect their bishop themselves and elected a certain Manassès. This confused situation caused so many problems that the citizens decided to rule their city themselves, so without episcopal power. This was a perfect situation for Robrecht II who did not hesitate to come to help the citizens in order to annoy the German emperor en even try to keep the city out of reach of the imperial rule.
Manassès, discouraged by the canons' opposition, withdrew and accepted the episcopacy of Soissons in 1101, which was given to him without any further problems. Gaucher, the emperor's man, was less fortunate. The archbishop of Reims refused to acknowledge him as bishop of Kamerijk, the citizens were hostile towards him and count Robrecht II was at the citizens' side who wanted to elect their bishop themselves.
Then Robrecht received a letter from pope Pascalis II who had succeeded pope Urbanus II after his death on 29 July 1099. In this letter the pope writes with a typical medieval combination of calculated politics and theology: "Blessed be our lord the God of Israel who has revealed himself in the strength of his power. After your return from Jerusalem in Syria (?) you aspire, by your righteous crusades, to enter heavenly Jerusalem. We therefore pay tribute to your wisdom, as you have executed our orders regarding the episcopacy of Kamerijk. We now order you to do the same against the false clergy who have been excommunicated from the episcopacy of Luik. Therefore fight Hendrik, head of the heretics, and his henchmen, with all your powers, not only in this area but everywhere you will find the opportunity to do so. We recommend this to you and your knights so that you may receive forgiveness for your sins and protecten of the apostolic seat. By those deads and successes you will, with God's help, obtain heavenly Jeruzalem". This personal apostolic letter coming directly from Rome and addressed to him, was an encouraging reason for Robrecht II to continue his anti-imperial policy.
But Hendrik thought otherwise. He was fed up with all that interference from the pope, and came to Flanders in 1102, determined to put an end to this unbearable situation that affected his authority for once and for all. The young count of Henegouwen, Boudewijn III, son of Boudwijn II who had died during the crusade, chose the emperor's side together with various Lorraine lords who had remained loyal to the emperor despite the anathema he carried. The imperial army succeeded in reaching the fortified town of Sluis in Zeeland via the mark Antwerpen. The town was taken by surprise and burnt down. Many soldiers of the count died.
After this first success, the emperor wanted to penetrate deeper into the county. The coming winter with its rainshowers and snow forced him to retreat towards Lorraine. During this retreat he could not help making a detour via Kamerijk, to show the citizens of Kamerijk that it was still the emperor who decided on the bishop's chair. Afterwards he went to Luik.
Although the emperor was to retreat to Lorraine, Robrecht was not fully confident in the future. He was probably afraid that his land would be destroyed even further by the imperial troops in the coming spring. That is why he went to visit the German emperor in Luik opzoeken to try to find an agreement to end the hostilities. The emperor was not too sure either on the further development of the battle, as he immediately agreed to meet Robrecht and had a good talk with him. Kamerijk had barely been a topic in the conversation, it was agreed to that Dowaai (Douai), which the count of Henegouwen considered to be part of his county, was an inseparable part of the Flemish county. Robrecht in turn promised to pay the count of Henegouwen an amount in gold and/or silver that would correspond to the value of the lost area. Whether Robrecht kept his promise is not known.
In any case, after the agreement with Robrecht, had Hendrik barely returned to Germany or the citizens of Kamerijk removed Gaucher, Hendrik's man, and elected one of Robrecht's friends instead: Eudes, abbot of van Saint Maarten in Doornik. Gaucher felt very wronged and hurried to the emperor to complain. In the meantime, in 1105, Hendrik IV had been betrayed by his son, imprisoned and forced to abdicate. In 1106 he succeeded in escaping and fleeing to Luik where he found refuge with the support of the citizens. After the earlier betrayal in 1097 by his oldest son Koenraad, this new betrayal by his second son must have hit him hard. He died shortly after on 7 August 1106. His youngest son succeeded him as Hendrik V.
Robrecht ll versus Hendrik V
The wronged Gaucher applied to the new emperor and luckily found the same support he had enjoyed from Hendrik IV. Just like his father Hendrik V refused to obey the papal prohibition of layman investiture. Gaucher made handy use of the new emperor's opinion by arousing the emperor's irritation towards the citizens of Kamerijk and their patron Robrecht II.
Meanwhile he had also convinced Boudewijn III, count of Henegouwen, to send his ambassaor to Hendrik V to inform him that he could no longer tolerate the teasing from Robrecht II. He claimed Robrecht had conquered all domains east of the river Scheldt as well as the diocese Kamerijk. Hendrik V believed him all too well and send a letter to his princely liegemen asking them to come with their soldiers to Luik in order to march aganist Robrecht II. Apparently the liegemen reacted positively without any effort and the joint army marched from Luik via Henegouwen to Flanders. It crossed the Scheldt near Valenciennes and layed siege to the castle of Dowaai, on the right bank of the river Scarpe.
The castle of Dowaai was one of the most fortified castles west of the Scheldt and Hendrik's siege was pointless. After three days the imperial troops attacked but met such a hard resistance from Robrecht's soldiers that many imperial knights were killed and the emperor was forced to retreat. He summoned the most important knight for consultation. In view of the losses the knights did not feel like continuing the battle and urged the emperor to make peace with Robrecht. Hendrik must himself have been tired of battle as he agreed to their proposition. He informed Robrecht that he wanted to meet him, which happened. In a chronicle of that time we can read: "alors 1'empereur regut le comte de Flandre à homme et furent bons amis ensemble" (*).
(*) Translation: "then the emperor received the count of Flanders personally and they became good friends".
The new friendship did not last long. Shortly after raising the siege of Dowaai, he took his army to Kamerijk. The city had little or no defense and Hendrik could therefore easily conquer it. Eudes, Robrecht's friend, named bishop by the citizens of Kamerijk, managed to escape together with a large part of the clergy. The girls and women that remained sought protection ni the church, realising what would happen when the armed and harnassed German, Slavic, Lorraine and Saxon knights would march into the city. In the end it did not come to that, due to the part that had remained loyal to Gaucher and who welcomed Hendrik with the utmost repsect. Gaucher himself asked the emperor not to be too harsh against the citizens of Kamerijk but to try to get them on his by treating them reasonably.
Hendrik agreed, but he said that all citizens were to gather before him so that he could address them. Nobody dared to refuse out of fear of being killed. Hendrik spoke harshly to them and reproached them with violating the emperor's laws, with creating a free village and with appointing a bishop against God's and the emperor's will. The charter of the free village was torn and he had all citizens swear, with his knights as witnesses, that they would never again undertake something against the imperial will. In order to safeguard the proper execution of this oath, the oldest sons of the most important citizens were taken hostage. They were not imprisoned but Hendrik appointed them to his most important princes to make sure they did not escape.
After the subjection of Kamerijk the war continued, but Hendrik was so swamped with demands of his subjects that he no longer exactly knew what to do. Boudewijn III of Henegouwen wanted Dowaai back, but Hendrik felt nothing for marching again to that fortified city. The Dutch counts wanted Zeeland back and the duke of Lorraine also wanted to have his piece of defeated Flanders. But Hendruk had had it and discouraged by a fruitless campaign, he decided to return to Germany.
Peace
Hendrik was not the only one who had had enough of the war that had lasted for eight years (we are in 1108), also Robrecht thought it would be better to end the pointless campaigns which only resulted in destroyed farms and the subsequent impoverishment of the farmer population who could barely survive under normal conditions. That is why Robrecht decided to visit the emperor and conclude peace with him.
That meeting was held in Mainz on Christmas Day 1108. The emperor was so pleased with the visit that he organised a special Reichstag (session of parliament) for the occasion. The old enmity had been replaced by peace between both rulers, which was very favourable to Robrecht. The agreement that was made between Hendrik IV and Robrecht II was which stipulated that Dowaai was an inseperable part of the Flemish county, was now confirmed by Hendrik V. Robrecht also became the castellan of Kamerijk. This was some kind of protectorate, until a peaceful prelate had been appointed for the episcopal seat. They did no longer talk about the Vier Ambachten (Four Shires), which Hendrik IV had claimed in 1093 from Robrecht.
In this respect we should mention that Robrecht, shortly after his return from the Near East, had tried to extract the Vier Ambachten from the diocese of Utrect, of which the prelates were appointed by the emperor. He had therefore sent a certain Tanchelinus, a fanatic advocate of the Gregorian reformation idea (*) to Rome to convince the pope of adding the Vier Ambachten to the diocese of Doornik. Tanchelinus failed in his mission and the diocese of Utrecht remained untouched. That Tanchelinus will be accused of heresy a few years later and will be murdered in Antwerp in 1115.
(*) The Gregorian reformation idea came from pope Gregorius VIl, who had stipulated the following in 1074: "He who has received an ecclesiastical consecration for money, is not entitled to it. From now on nobody -under penalty of excommunication- may buy or sell an ecclesiastical function. Clergymen living in iniquity, may no longer hold an office at the altar". It is this papal reformation idea that caused the Investiture Controversy.
The fact that Hendrik V was compassionate regarding Kamerijk and that he ignored the problem with the Vier Ambachten (Four Shires), is probably due to the fact that he was busy raising an army to march to Italy and to try to end the Investiture Controversy with pope Pascalis. Hendrik V also knew that Robrecht II had an excellent relationship with Pascalis II and could always count on the French king's help. It was better to have him for a friend than foe. Robrecht was now free to deal with other matters, but will get involved in a new war, this time between England and France.
Robrecht II, Lodewijk de Dikke and Hendrik I
Shortly before Robrecht's departure for Palestine, the king of England, William the Conqueror, had died (in 1087). He left three sons: Robert also called Corthose or Courtheuse; Willem also called Rufus or the Redhead, dan Hendrik also called Beauclerc. Robert inherited Normandy as duke Robert III, William inherited England as king William II, and Hendrik inherited only the city Avranches and the county Coutances in Basse Normandie.
William, who had inherited England, was a brute who had appropriated Normandy while his brother Robert was on crusade. But shortly after, in 1100, he was fatally injured during a hunt. Whether this was an accident or murder, is unknown, but we can assume the latter. William was a real tiran who had made a large number of enemies with both the nobility and the church. In any case, Hendrik made used this to take the English throne as Henry I. He was not satisfied with this and used Robert's absence to also appropriate Normandy. When Robert returned from Palestine in 1106, Hendrik had him captured and imprisoned in the castle of Cardiff where he died in 1134 after 28 years of imprisonment.
Robert left a son who
was also called William just like his grandfather. Henry had tried to
imprison him as well, but this failed as he was offered refuge by the
French king Lodewijk VI (image), also
called the Fat one. It is said William was even adopted by the king.
Lodewijk hoped to use the boy as pressure to keep the abitions of the
Normandy duke under control.
Lodewijk did not trust Henry. He considered the states of Normandy and England as a kind of personal union, forming a threat to France. But Henry was worried about Lodewijk's intentions as well. In order to propitiaet him, he promised him the castle of Gisors, a formidable stronghold on the border of Normandy and France, to be demolished if Lodewijk, who saw this castle as a threat, would wish it so. But when Lodewijk asked Henry to redeem his promise and to take down the castle, Henry refused. Following this, Lodewijk declared war to Henry, in name of his son Robert. Lodewijk counted on the sympathy and support of the Normandy people who had remained loyal to the legal successor to Robert and who considered Henry to be an usurper.
At the same time Lodewijk appealed to the count of Flanders to assist him in his struggle against Henry. Robrecht agreed immediately, because after the death of Filips I, the French king and father of Lodewijk the Fat one, he had become aware of the fact that an English power in Normandy would not only be a threat to France but to Flanders as well. He felt discharged of his fief to Henry I of England.
You will remember that William the Conqueror had consented to a fief during Boudewijn V's reign of a yearly interest of silver marks in exchange for his neutrality in his war against England. However, the payment was stopped in 1075, shortly after the treaty between Robrecht de Fries and the Danish king Knut IV.
When Robrecht had returned from Palestine he remembered this fief and contacted Henry to resume the interest payment, but quasi pro imperio, e.g. without anything in exchange. Henry refused because English kings were not customed to pay interests to the counts of Flanders. Should Robrecht change his mind, and agree to something in exchange, he would be prepared to pay an interest if the circumstances allowed for it.
Robrecht I was cut down in the
siege of Meaux in the French-English war of 1111.
Robrecht subsequently changed his politics towards Henry. In 1103 he had a meeting with the English king in Dover. They reached an agreement which stated that Henry would pay a yearly interest of 400 silver marks in exchange for the count of Flanders' assistance in case of war, with a reservation for the loyalty he had towards his liege, the French king Filips I. Should Filips intend to invade England, the count would do everything possible to have him abandon his plans, however, without using non-loyal means.
This strange treaty shows us one of the many aspects of the feudal systems. A liegeman could serve several liege lords and fiefs were not always expressed in immovable property. There were also fiefs expressed in money, such as the one between Robrecht II and Henry I.
War again, the last one for Robrecht ll
In the summer of 1111 Lodewijk the Fat one marshes with his allies against Normandy and invades the country in different places. Henry had a very hard time. He lost villages and castles and had to fight both against the invaders and the followers of Robert, his brother who was still imprisoned in the castle of Cardiff. However, he had the financial support ot England, which allowed him to bribe an ally of Lodewijk's. The ally in question was Thibault IV, count of Blois and Chartres, who was also count of Meaux and Troyes with the name Thibault II. His brother Stefanus of Blois will later (in 1135) be crowned king of England.
Lodewijk was furious with Thibault's treason and, in order to take revenge, he marched with his army to Meaux and set the land around in on fire. Robrecht had followed the French king to Meaux, and together they laid siege to the heavily fortified city. The citizens tried several times to break the siege but were repelled over and over again by the royal army.
During the last attack, on 5 October 1111, holding his sword, Robrecht and his knights pursued the repelled Meldois onto the let down drawbridge. The bridge collapsed under the weight of the harnassed knight and Robrecht fell into the moat. He was crushed by the falling parts of the collapsed bridge. His broken body was later retrieved by his soldiers and brought to Arras where he was buried in the convent of Saint Vaast.
His only surviving son Boudewijn, succeeded him as Boudewijn VII, later also called Hapkin or also with the Axe.
Something about Clementia, the widow
We have seen that Robrecht II was married to Clementia, daughter of count Willem I of Burgundy. We also saw that Clementia was an exceptionally gifted woman who was also very bold, according to the chronicles of Herman of Doornik. He tells us that she applied so-called women's tricks to avoid pregnancy. This explicit mention of contraception is unique for the 12th century.
She applied those women's tricks out of fear that multiple sons would lead to wars for the inheritance of their father. Her fear was pointless as her three sons died early. According to the chronicler this was a punishment from God, because eventually the county went to a cousin of her husband's, the later Karel de Goede, in whose succession as the count of Flanders she will play an important role.
Bibliography:
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cultuurdienst 1949 blz. 50.
2. LEHMAN, Johannes. "De kruisvaarders", Forum boekerij, Baarn 1976.
3.
BONENFANT, P. Prof. "Historische lectuur", vertaling van de Latijnse
tekst door Sigebertus van Gemblours. Uitgave A. De Boeck, Brussel 1948
blz. 57.
4. LE GLAY, Edward. "Histoir de comtes de Flandre", Brussel 1843 blz.
246
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