The history of Flanders - Chapter 12
The Flemish county under Karel den Goede (Charles the Good) (1119-1127)
Written by: Charles
Vanderhaegen - slightly modified and translated by Herman Boel - Edited
by David Baeckelandt July 2008
Published with kind permission of Charles Vanderhaegen.
Karel de Goede (Charles the Good) succeeds Boudewijn Vll as thirteenth count of Flanders
Boudewijn VIl, also called Hapkin or sometimes met den Bijl (with the axe), died on 17 June 1119 due to a head wound he had suffered a few months before when he besieged the Norman settlement Eu together with the French king, Lodewijk de Dikke (Louis the fat) in the second Norman war.
Boudewijn had no offspring. His marriage in 1110 with Agnès, daughter of Alain, count of Nantes, had been annulled by pope Pascalis II because of the family relationship of the couple. Agnès descended in the sixth grade from Guillaume, count of Arles, of whom Boudewijn VII via Adelheid, mother to Robrecht de Fries, descended in the fifth grade.
Ever since the year 500, the church forbad every marriage between relatives up to the seventh grade. It is only in 1215, during the council of Lateran IV, that this limit was reduced from the seventh grade to the fourth grade.
As Boudewijn VII had remained an only child when his two brothers died prior to their father's death, a successor was to be sought one grade higher. The only person who qualified was Karel van Denemarken (Charles of Denmark), grandson to Robrecht de Fries via his mother Adela, who was married to Knut IV, king of Denmark. Knut was murdered in 1086 after which Adela married Roger I Borsa, count of Apulia in south Italy.
You will remember that Robrecht II had visited his sister Adela on his journey to Palestine during the first crusade. Karel, born between 1080 and 1086 (the right year is not known), from Adela's first marriage, was brought to Flanders shortly after the death of his father. He spent his whole youth at the court of Boudewijn VII. He accompanied Robrecht II to Palestine during the first crusade and became familiar with all kinds of public affairs. It went without saying that Boudewijn VII referred to him in 1117 or 1118 , shortly before his death, as his only successor.
His inauguration as count of Flanders took place in Brugge, a few days after the death of Boudewijn VII. In that period, Brugge could be considered the capital of the county of Flanders. The population of the city and surrounding area came in large numbers to attend the magnificent event and, as was and is still the habit, to cheer the new ruler.
The privileges that Robrecht II and Boudewijn VII had granted the city during their reign, were read out loud and Karel was sworn in on the fierters (relic shrines) of the saints to maintain and defend these city privileges. As customary, the most important citizens paid tribute to the count and swore loyalty "as they had done to his forefathers, the natural lords of the land".
The remainder of the day consisted of tributes from the liegemen to Karel, which confirmed him as first count of Flanders with that name, and, as we shall see later, also as last. After this recognition, the count returned all who had sworn him loyalty their fief goods which had gone back to the successor of the deceased count (Boudewijn VII) as stipulated by the fief laws of that time.
According to these fief laws, Karel himself as liegeman had to pay tribute to the king of France, but also to the German emperor as far as the castle of Gent and the land of Aalst was concerned.
The plot and war again
The inauguration of Karel as Count of Flanders occurred in a magnificent feast and with lots of cheering, but not everybody was cheering, on the contrary. Some were grinding their teeth while the throne they thought to be lawfully theirs was taken by someone else.
Something weird happened. One would expect that the count of Henegouwen would dispute Karel's right to the Flemish throne. Was it not his father who had been denied his rights to the Flemish county by Robrecht de Fries after all attempts by his mother to get him on the throne had failed? The count of Henegouwen's claim to the Flemish throne could be disputed, but he would have had a good argument to reclaim the throne. It was not the count of Henegouwen who took a stand against Karel, however, but Clementia, the wife of Robrecht II, so actually Karel's aunt.
It is not clear why so was so dead set against Karel. After all, he had done nothing wrong to her and she had no reason to hold a grudge against him. But whatever Clementia's reasons, she suggested Willem of Ieper to replace Karel. He was also known as Guilaume of Loo and was also a grandson to Robrecht de Fries and illegitimate son of his youngest son Filip. In order to have her proposal accepted, she needed a lot of support. The support was not so hard to get as Clementia's opposition to Karel was beneficial to some nobles who had seen their rights curtailed by Boudewijn Hapkin and suspected Karel to continue the same policy.
She got this support immediately from count Hugo Campdaveine of Saint-Pol and count Wouter of Hesdin, a mighty lord who was liegeman of Flanders for his domain south of Saint-Pol. Also supported her: the count of Boulogne and count Boudewijn IV of Henegouwen. These are in fact the same counts whose fathers had suffered a shameful defeat with Richildis in their war against Robrecht de Fries. To make this strong coalition even stronger, she married Godefroi-le-Barbu, the duke of Brabant who had set his mind on the county of Aalst.
A very powerful army marched against Karel. The first target was Oudenaarde which was taken without much effort and was set to fire while a large deal of the inhabitants was murdered. At the same time Hugo de Campdeveine, the count of Saint-Pol, began to attack. He wanted to satisfy his old hatred due to his losing his fortress of Ancre in 1117 to Karel, and marched to Brugge. He will not get that far, but reaches the Flemish coast instead which he plundered and where he killed many civilians and destroyed a large part of the houses.
In great hurry Karel convened with his nobles to consider how to suppress the revolt of Clementia and her allies. The meeting took place in the church of Saint Omaars. All of Flemish knighthood was present, swore loyalty to Karel and offered their weapons to the count.
Without hesitation Karel launched a counterattack. While Hugo was striking the Flemish coastal area, Karel besieged Saint-Pol which was taken without much battle and which was burnt down. Hugo's castle was demolished and the rampart around it was filled up. Hugo had no choice but to cease his fight.
Leaving Saint-Pol Karel headed for Hesdin, drove count Wouter from his castle and his domain and donated it to a certain Anshelm, of whom we know little to nothing. This counted out one more of the rebellions. The count of Boulogne was of no further bother to Karel. He had simlpy remained at home. Karel apparently had not had any further problems with Boudewijn of Henegouwen.
Clementia had now lost all of her allies and was all alone with her husband Godefroi-le-Barbu who had not really offered her any support. The only thing left to do was to implore Karel for peace. Karel agreed to this but obliged her to disclaim the four domains she possessed (Diksmuide, Sint Winoksbergen, Aire, and Sint Venant).
This happened in 1122 and ended a useless war that had lasted for three years.
Karel's kindness
Karel could relatively easily defeat Clementia's mighty coalition especially thanks to the support he got from the cities. In the 12th century we are on a crossroad between the power of the nobles and the power of the cities. Karel, just as his predecessor Boudewijn Hapkin, had chosen the side of the cities while the enemosity among the nobles of the knighthood continued to grow and their power steadily diminished.
It is probably that support to the cities which gave him the nickname The Good. This is proven by some events that occurred in 1126. The winters of 1124 and 1125 had been very bad and the winter of 1126 was so extremely severe that many people, children and animals froze to death or died of hunger. It was not until May before the first leaves sprung. On the Wednesday after Whitsun, already begin June, a new frost came and destroyed all hope to an already meager harvest. Around mid-June a new frost and continuous rain destroyed the little the land still had to offer. Many peasants, probably the poorest among them, left their farm and went to the cities to look for bread. Most and especially the elderly and children died before they reached the city gates.
This was a very bad situation and Karel, who needed the cities' support to maintain his authority in the county, did all what was in his power to change this miserable situation.
He gave the order to kill all dogs and oxes so that their owners could survive with what they used to support the animals. He also forbad the brewing of heavy beer to save corn and he confiscated all the available grain in the sheds of the rich farmers wich was only being sold for an extortionate price while the city inhabitants were dying of hunger. Part of the grain was sold publicly at a fair price. Another part was used to bake breads, which he ordered his chaplain Van der Straeten to distribute in the cities worst hit. In Brugge alone he had daily bread handed out to a hundred needy and he ordered to have this also done in each of his strongholds of Veurne, Atrecht and Gent. Only Gent refused to comply and the city left a lot of people to die of exhaustion at its gates. Karel informed the city that he was very displeased but he did not take any action against the city.
In was only in the summer of 1127 that the famine had fully disappeared. Karel will not live to see this as he was murdered on 2 March 1127, as we will see further on. In any case, it is without doubt (there is enough documentation from that time to confirm this) that thanks to Karel's measures and real help to the population, a large part of it was able to survive. By his deeds and orders, Karel strenghtened the ties between the count and the cities.
Karel's enemies
During Karel De Goede's rule, there was a family in Brugge that had worked their way up from the class of civil servants, subordinates to the count, to become a rich and powerful family. As the family descended from subordinates of the count, they could not join the knighthood. This knighthood closing off towards the bottom was quite new, because until then anyone could work himself up to knighthood. The head of this family, a certain Bertulphe or Berthulf, held a prominent position as chaplain to Saint Donaas in Brugge. At the same time he was arch-chaplain to the count, chancellor of Flanders and collector of the count to levy tithes (the tithe was a tax that corresponded to a tenth of the proceedings of a piece of land). In principle, the position of chaplain was hereditary, but as Berthulf descended from an impure and outrageous line, as we will see later, he was denied this right.
In the time of Boudewijn of Rijsel there was in Brugge a viscount named Boldran, who was married to a certain Dedda or Duva. This Dedda, who did not take her conjugal duties seriously, was in a relationship with a certain Erembout, armourbearer of her husband and born in Veurne. This Dedda had promised her lover to marry him and to exalt him to viscount as soon as Boldran would die. Encouraged by this promise, Erembout looked for an opportunity to kill his master. He succeeded during a boat trip on the river Scheldt. One night Boldran stood fully harnassed on the edge of the ship staring to the shore. Erembout sneaked up to him and forcefully pushed him into the water. Boldran was heavily loaded due to his weaponry, sank immediately and did not come up again. No one on the ship had heard anything and except for the murderer no one knew exactly what had happened with Boldran.
Shortly thereafter Erembout married to Dedda and with the mony Boldran had left them he bought the rights to the viscouncy that had become available by Boldran's death - his marriage with Dedda was a childless one. This was not the case with Dedda's second marriage. From this marriage four sons were born: the aforesaid Berthulf who became chaplain of Saint Donaas and chancellor; Haket, who inherited the viscouncy of Brugge; Wilfied Cnop and Lambert Nappin, subordinates as their father. Despite the high positions of Berthulf and Hakin, they did not succeed in getting acknowledged as knights.
Berthulf, who had no children, conceived a plan to marry off his brothers' daughters to marriageable boys of noble descent. This was not so bad because each of the marriageable girls was provided with a rich dowry. One of Berthulf's nieces married a certain Robert, lord of Raeskerke near Diksmuide. However, according to the new knighthood laws, a nobleman who had been married to a subordinate for one year became a subordinate himself and lost his noble title.
By chance and due to some quarrel, Robert challenged a knight to a duel one day. Snarling, the knight replied it was below him to match himself with someone who was no longer noble because he had been married for more than a year to a non-noble person. Karel, who attended the planned duel, had to agree with the accusing knight, after twelve witnesses had claimed under oath that Berthulf's niece was indeed not of noble descent.
On
2 March 1127 Karel den Goede is murdered by Bordsiard
in the church of Saint Donaas.
(After an engraving of G.H. Moke, as published in "An other
history of Belgium" by Van Belle)
Robert, who was not aware of this fact at the time he got married, inflamed with anger and spread the disgraceful news everywhere that the Erembout family was not of noble descent as everybody believed, but were mere descendants of subordinates.
The Erembout family were now the subject of mockery and contempt and delevoped a deep hatred against Karel whom they considered to be responsible for this scandal. They decided to avenge themselves. They started by attacking the house of Van der Straeten, Karel's chaplain. The house was completely destroyed and the manservants were murdered. When Karel heard about this, he convened with his counsellors and asked them what punishment was fit for the crime of the brutes. The answer was: burn down the house of Bordsiard, son of Lambert Nappin, cousin of the chaplain and the most fanatic adversary of Karel in the family. Karel accepted this verdict which was immediately executed.
Karel's entourage now started fearing for their lives and they asked the count to deal with the Erembout family with much caution. Karel did not take their advise to heart. A few days after the execution of the verdict, some mediators of the chaplain visited Karel to ask for his forgiveness for the crimes of the Erembout family. Karel agreed on the condition they would swear never to repeat such crimes.
In the meantime, the whole of Berthulf's family had gathered in a great hall of the chaplain's house to discuss their attitude towards Karel. In the middle of the discussion, the mediators entered the room and reported about their meeting with Karel. These mediators were in fact friends of the Erembout family and were not happy with Karel's lenient attitude. Instead of telling the truth as they should have done, they claimed that Karel had received them in anger and that no one had to expect any kind of forgiveness from him. Berthulf then closed all doors and in some sort of conclave they decided on Karel's fate: death!
The murder
Next to the count's palace there was the old church of Saint Donaas, where the count attended early mass every morning and where he used to give alms. On 2 March 1127, a Wednesday, Karel went to church with some armourbearers who remained at the back of the church so that Karel could kneel before the altar alone. He had brought a small prayer book in which he read the text for the day. At that time he was approached by an old woman who begged him for an alm. Without hesitation Karel gave her a few coins after which the woman took a few steps back expressing a few words of gratitude. At the same time Bordsiard, wrapped in a black coat in which he hid a sword, had entered the church noiselessly and approached the praying count from behind. At that moment he drew his sword and lightly touched the count's head with it. The count turned and looked into the eyes of his murderer. The old woman who had just received an alm and witnessed the scene, shouted: "Sire count, watch out!". It was too late. Bordsiard struck the sword into the count's skull with such force that the count's brains were scattered on the ground.
This cowardly murder will put Flanders in a state of anarchy which will only end by the accession to the throne by Diederik van den Elzas.
Bibliography:
1. DUCLOS, Ad. "Karel den Goede", Uitg. De Zuttere-Van
Kersschavern, Brugge 1884.
2.
DHONDT, J. Prof. Dr. "Algemene geschiedenis der Nederlanden", Dl II.
Vlaanderen tussen 918 en 1128, Standaard Boekhandel, Antwerpen 1950.
3. LEGLAY, Edward. "Histoire des comtes de Flandre", Brussel
1843.