Baldwin VI, Count of Flanders

Baldwin VI (c. 1030 – 17 July 1070), also known as Baldwin the Good, was Count of Hainaut from 1051 to 1070 (as Baldwin I) and Count of Flanders from 1067 to 1070.

Baldwin VI
Count of Flanders and Hainaut
Born	c. 1030
Died	(1070-07-17)17 July 1070
Noble family	Flanders
Spouse(s)	Richilde, Countess of Hainaut
Father	Baldwin V, Count of Flanders
Mother	Adela of France

Baldwin was the eldest son of Baldwin V of Flanders and Adela, a daughter of King Robert II of France[1][2] and Constance of Arles.[3] His father arranged his marriage, under threat of arms, to Richilde, the widow of Herman of Mons and heir of Hainaut.[4] As Hainaut was a part of the Holy Roman Empire this enraged Emperor Henry III, who had not been consulted, causing him to wage war on the two Baldwins but was not successful.[4] Between 1050 and 1054 Count Lambert II of Lens fought alongside the Baldwins against Henry III finding that this alliance best protected his interests.[lower-alpha 1][5]

Baldwin VI died on 17 July 1070.[1] Baldwin had constructed the church of St. Peter's of Hasnon, placed monks there and designated it as his burial place.[6] His early death left Flanders and Hainaut in the hands of his young son, Arnulf III, with Richilde as regent.[7] Arnulf III was killed at the Battle of Cassel (1071).[8] Baldwin VI's younger son, Count Baldwin II of Hainaut,[1] could not claim Flanders from Baldwin VI's brother, Robert I.[9]

Notes

1. Lambert II was reported to have died in 1054 at Lille fighting on the side of the Counts Baldwin against Henry III. See John Carl Andressohn, The ancestry and life of Godfrey of Bouillon (Ayer Publishing, 1972), p. 20. Others fighting for the Counts of Flanders against Henry III included the lords of Alost. See Heather J. Tanner, Families, Friends, and Allies (Leiden: Brill, 2004), p. 87–88 n. 74.

References

1. Detlev Schwennicke, Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten, Neue Folge, Band II (Marburg, Germany: Verlag von J. A. Stargardt, 1984), Tafel 5
2. Gilbert of Mons, Chronicle of Hainaut, Trans. Laura Napran (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 2005), p. 4
3. Detlev Schwennicke, Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten, Neue Folge, Band II (Marburg, Germany: Verlag von J. A. Stargardt, 1984), Tafel 187
4. Renée Nip, 'The Political Relations Between England and Flanders (1066–1128)', Anglo-Norman Studies 21: Proceedings of the Battle Conference 1998, Ed. Christopher Harper-Bill (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 1989), p. 147.
5. Heather J. Tanner, Families, Friends, and Allies: Boulogne and Politics in Northern France and England, c.879–1160 (Leiden: Koninklijke Brill NV, 2004), p. 87
6. Herman (of Tournai), The Restoration of the Monastery of Saint Martin of Tournai, Ed. Lynn Harry Nelson (Catholic University of America Press, 1996), p. 27
7. Renée Nip, 'The Political Relations between England and Flanders (1066–1128)', Anglo-Norman Studies 21: Proceedings of the Battle Conference 1998, Ed. Christopher Harper-Bill (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 1999), p. 154
8. Renée Nip, 'The Political Relations between England and Flanders (1066–1128)', Anglo-Norman Studies 21: Proceedings of the Battle Conference 1998, Ed. Christopher Harper-Bill (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 1999), p. 155
9. Gilbert of Mons, Chronicle of Hainaut, Trans. Laura Napran (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 2005), p. 6

See also

• Counts of Flanders family tree
• Counts of Hainaut family tree

Baldwin VI, Count of Flanders House of Flanders Born: c. 1030 Died: 17 July 1070
Preceded by Baldwin V	Count of Flanders 1067–1070	Succeeded by Arnulf I/III
Preceded by Herman	Count of Mons 1051–1070
Preceded by Richilde	Count of Hainaut 1051–1070
Preceded by Godfrey III	Margrave of Antwerp 1069–1070	Succeeded by Godfrey IV