Editing Pierre II of Courtenay (section)

==Biography==
Pierre II was a son of [[Peter I of Courtenay|Pierre I of Courtenay]] (died 1183), a younger son of [[Louis VI of France]] and his second wife, [[Adelaide of Maurienne|Adélaide de Maurienne]].{{sfn|Rasmussen|1997|p=9}} His mother was Elisabeth de Courtenay, daughter of [[Renaud de Courtenay]] (died 1194) and Hawise du Donjon.{{sfn|Commire|1999|p=?}}

Pierre first married [[Agnes I, Countess of Nevers|Agnes I]], via whom he obtained the three counties of [[Count of Nevers|Nevers]], [[County of Auxerre|Auxerre]], and [[Tonnerre, Yonne|Tonnerre]].{{sfn|Bouchard|1987|p=349}} In 1193 he married secondly to [[Yolanda, Latin Empress|Yolanda]],{{sfn|Bouchard|1987|p=349}} a sister of [[Baldwin I, Latin Emperor|Baldwin]] and [[Henry of Flanders]], who were afterwards the first and second emperors of the Latin Empire of Constantinople. Pierre accompanied his cousin, King [[Philip II of France|Philip Augustus]], on the [[third Crusade]] in 1190, returning to France in 1193. He fought (alongside his brother Robert) in the [[Albigensian Crusade]] in 1209 and 1211, when he took part in the siege of [[Lavaur, Tarn|Lavaur]]. He was present at the [[Battle of Bouvines]] in 1214.

When his brother-in-law, the emperor [[Henry of Flanders|Henry]], died without issue in 1216, Pierre was chosen as his successor, and with a small army he left his residence of [[château de Druyes]] in [[France]] to take possession of his throne. He was consecrated emperor at the [[Basilica of Saint Lawrence outside the Walls]] in [[Rome]] by [[Pope Honorius III]] on 9 April 1217. He then borrowed some ships from the Venetians, promising in return to conquer [[Durrës|Durazzo]] for them, but he failed in this enterprise and sought to make his way to Constantinople by land.{{sfn|Ostrogorsky|1995|p=433}} On the journey he was seized by the [[Despotate of Epirus|despot of Epirus]], [[Theodore Komnenos Doukas]], and, after an imprisonment of two years, died,{{sfn|Ostrogorsky|1995|p=433}} probably by foul means. Pierre thus never governed his empire, which, however, was ruled for a time by his wife, Yolanda, who had succeeded in reaching Constantinople. Two of his sons, [[Robert of Courtenay|Robert]] and [[Baldwin II of Constantinople|Baldwin]], reigned in turn as emperors of the Latin Empire of Constantinople.