Jacob of Avesnes

Coat of arms of the Lords of Avesnes

Jacob I of Avesnes (fr. Jacques I ^er d'Avesnes , * around 1152; † September 7, 1191 with Arsuf ) was from 1171 lord of Avesnes , Condé and Leuze and an important French nobleman from the Avesnes family .

He was the son of Nicholas von Oisy, Lord of Avesnes and Matilda of La Roche. He married Adela († 1185), the heir to Burchard, the Lord of Guise . This marriage gave his family extensive new possessions. He rose to become a major knight of Hainaut . He probably also had good contacts with the English King Heinrich II.

In 1189 he led an advance detachment of the Third Crusade with French, Flemish and Frisian crusaders to Palestine by sea , where he arrived in late summer 1189. He joined the siege of Acre that had just begun (1189–1191) . After the conquest of Acre , he and the main army of the crusade moved alongside the English King Richard the Lionheart along the coast towards Jaffa , with Jacob commanding the Flemish crusade contingent. On September 7, 1191 he was killed in the battle of Arsuf .

It can be assumed that the English king had a hand in the game when Jacob's children achieved social advancement into the nobility. He needed support in the ranks of the French nobility and took care of his protégé by interceding with various high-ranking gentlemen. Jacob's eldest son, Walter II of Avesnes , married an heir to the Champagne family and became Count of Blois and Chartres , and Burkhard IV of Avesnes married the sister of the Countess of Flanders . But Jacob's daughters were also married to great masters. Mathilde became Countess of Chiny after she married Ludwig IV of Chiny in 1206, Ida became Mistress of Enghien and Ada became Countess of Soissons .

progeny

He had eight children with his wife Adela von Guise:

• Walter II of Avesnes , Lord of Avesnes, Leuze, Condé and Guise, Count of Blois and Chartres
• Jakob, Lord of Landrecies (probably identical with the knight of the fourth crusade Jakob von Avesnes , † 1209)
• Wilhelm († 1219)
• Burkhard († 1244), Bailli from Hainaut
• Matilda ∞ I Nicholas IV. Of Rumigny ∞ II Ludwig IV. († 1226) Count of Chiny ( House of Chiny )
• Adelheid ∞ Roger von Rosoy († 1246)
• Ida (* 1180; † 1216), ∞ Engelbert IV. Von Enghien
• Ada (Adela) ∞ I Heinrich III. of Grandpré ∞ II Raoul von Nesle , Count of Soissons

literature

• Hans Van Werveke : Jacob, heer van Avesnes . In: Nationaal Biografisch Woordenboek. Deel 6. Brussels 1974, col. 483-490.

predecessor	Office	successor
Nicolas	Lord of Avesnes 1171–1191	Walter II.