Baldwin II (Flanders)

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Baldwin II the Bald in a 16th century depiction

Baldwin II the Bald (Dutch: Boudewijn de Kale , French: Baudouin le Chauve , Latin: Balduinus Calvus ; * around 863 - 10 September 918 ) was a count of Flanders in the 9th and 10th centuries. He was the eldest son of Count Baldwin I Eisenarm († 879) from the House of Flanders and Judith, a daughter of Emperor Charles the Bald .

Life

Throughout his life, Baldwin pursued the expansion of his dominion and the defense against the Vikings, who threatened northern Flanders from Friesland. With Archbishop Fulko of Reims , he spoke out in 888 for a kingship of the Carolingian Arnulf of Carinthia in western Regnum, but immediately recognized the Robertine Odo , who was able to prevail in the election. In the following years, Baldwin extended his area of ​​influence to Boulogne and (892) the Artois and took over the Abbey of Saint-Vaast . With his aggressive attacks, however, he also provoked a break with King Odo, whom he was now hostile to. Baldwin supported his brother Rodulfus in 895 with the capture of Saint-Quentin and Péronne , which, however, penetrated the spheres of interest of Heribert I , who killed Rodulfus in battle the following year and thus took control of the Vermandois . To King Charles III. the simple-minded he lost in Arras in 899 , but after he murdered Archbishop Fulko the following year, the king recognized him as lay abbot of Saint-Bertin. Shortly afterwards, Baldwin also murdered his archenemy Heribert I of Vermandois.

Baldwin was instrumental in establishing the position of Flanders as a strong feudal principality comprising several old counties, which in the high Middle Ages was one of the most important powers in France. His nickname ( Calvus ) does not indicate a possible hairlessness of him, he should above all emphasize his descent from Emperor Charles the Bald. He died on September 10, 918 and was buried in the Abbey of Saint Peter in Ghent .

Since about 884 Baldwin was married to the Anglo-Saxon princess Ælfthryd / Elfrude († 929), a daughter of King Alfred the Great of Wessex and his wife Ealhswith . Since his mother had already been married to two Anglo-Saxon kings, he deepened the dynastic and political relations between Flanders and England. The marriage had four children:

A possible illegitimate son of Baldwin was Albert / Ascelin († 977), who officiated as Bishop of Paris and Provost von Drongen .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Folkwin gave him the titles comes (count) and marchio (margrave); Gesta abbatum S. Bertini Sithiensium , ed. by Oswald Holder-Egger in MGH SS 13 (1881), p. 624
  2. ↑ Baldwin was also called Morinorum principem by Richer von Reims ; Richeri historiarum libri I , ed. by Georg Heinrich Pertz in MGH SS 3 (1839), p. 574. The old Roman Civitas Morinorum comprised the pagi Bononiensis (Boulogne) and Teruanensis (Thérouanne).
  3. ↑ Annales Xantenses et Annales Vedastini , ed. by B. de Simson in MGH SS rer. Germ. 12 (1909), pp. 65-66.
  4. ↑ Folkwin, Gesta abbatum S. Bertini Sithiensium , ed. by Oswald Holder-Egger in MGH SS 13 (1881), pp. 624–625.
  5. ↑ Regino von Prüm , Chronicon , ed. by Friedrich Kurz in MGH SS 1 (1890), p. 567.
  6. ↑ Corpus Chronicorum Flandriae , Volume 1, ed. by Joseph-Jean De Smet (Brussels, 1841), p. 495
  7. ↑ Folkwin, Gesta abbatum S. Bertini Sithiensium , ed. by Oswald Holder-Egger in MGH SS 13 (1881), pp. 624–627.
  8. ↑ Corpus Chronicorum Flandriae , Volume 1, ed. by Joseph-Jean De Smet (Brussels, 1841), p. 596.

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predecessor Office successor
Baldwin I. poor in iron Count of Flanders
879–918 		Arnulf I the Great
personal data
SURNAME Baldwin II
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Baldwin the Bald
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Count and Margrave of Flanders, Count of Boulogne
DATE OF BIRTH at 863
DATE OF DEATH September 10, 918