Hugo von Boves
(Depiction from the Chronica Majora by Matthew Paris , 13th century.)
Hugo von Boves , also known as Hugo von Coucy (French: Hugues ; † September 1215 ), was a French knight who was best known for his betrayal of King Philip II Augustus . The English chronicler Roger von Wendover described him as a good fighter, but also as brutal, arrogant and merciless towards the weaker, women and children.
Hugo was the youngest of three sons of Sire Robert I of Boves and Beatrix of Saint-Pol. On his father's side he came from a side branch of the house of Coucy , the father died in 1191 during the Third Crusade . Together with his brothers Enguerrand , Robert and Thomas he took part in the fourth crusade . During the siege of Zara in 1203, however, they left the crusader army to go straight to the holy land .
Back at home, Hugo became an opponent of King Philip II's policy of restricting the political influence of the feudal nobility. After murdering a Prévot (Vogt) of the king, he joined Count Rainald I of Dammartin , who had also stood up against the king in 1210. Over the next few years they supported Count Ferrand of Flanders , also a traitor who was in open war against the king. All three allied themselves in 1213 with the Anglo-Guelph alliance around Emperor Otto IV and King John of England against France.
They joined the emperor's army that passed through Flanders in the summer of 1214 . When the army met that of the French king near Bouvines on July 27 , Hugo got into an argument with the Count of Dammartin. Dammartin advised against fighting on a Sunday as it was a sacred day and they had God against them. Hugo, however, accused him of cowardice and ingratitude towards the King of England, who had finally given them rich gifts for their services. Emperor Otto IV ultimately decided to fight, Hugo was assigned to the banner of the Earl of Salisbury so that he would not have to fight alongside Dammartin. Shortly before the fight began, the Count of Dammartin is said to have vowed to fight until he was either killed or captured, while Hugo would be the coward who fled before that happened. In the battle of Bouvines Hugo was one of those knights of the emperor who pressed King Philip II so hard that he was knocked from his horse. However, he could be saved from captivity by his own knights, who in return attacked the emperor and also brought him down. When the emperor fled and the battle was lost, Hugo also fled. But Dammartin actually fought well into the evening before he was captured.
In the following year Hugo was called to England by King John to support him in the fight against the rebel barons . To this end, Hugo recruited a force of Brabanzone mercenaries . On the English Channel, however, his ship was hit by a storm and smashed on the Suffolk coast , Hugo and his mercenaries drowned. His body was herded ashore at Great Yarmouth .
See also House Boves
Web links
- ↑ Excerpt from the Flores Historiarum by Roger von Wendover (eng.)
- ↑ Gesta Regis Henrici secundis et Gesta Regis Ricardi Benedicti abbatis , ed. by William Stubbs in: Rolls Series 49 (1867), Vol. 2, p. 149
- ↑ Excerpt from the Gesta Philippi Augusti by Guillaume le Breton (eng.)
- ^ John T. Appleby: Johann "Ohneland". King of England . Riederer, Stuttgart 1965, p. 215
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Hugo von Boves |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Hugo of Coucy |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French knight |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 12th Century |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 1215 |