Editing Baldwin I, Latin Emperor

{{Short description|Latin Emperor from 1204 to 1205}}
{{Redirect|Baldwin of Flanders}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{more citations needed|date=May 2020}}<!--last two sections only have one footnote each-->
{{infobox royalty
| name         = Baldwin I
| title        = Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans
| image        = Baldwin I of Constantinople.jpg
| succession   = [[Latin Emperor of Constantinople]]<br><small>Claimant [[Byzantine Emperor]]</small>
| reign        = 1204–1205
| coronation   = 16 May 1204 ([[Hagia Sophia]])
| successor    = [[Henry of Flanders]]
| succession1  = [[Count of Flanders]]
| reign1       = 1194–1205
| predecessor1 = [[Margaret I, Countess of Flanders|Margaret I]] and [[Baldwin VIII]]
| successor1   = [[Joan, Countess of Flanders|Joan]]
| succession2  = [[Count of Hainaut]]
| reign2       = 1195–1205
| predecessor2 = [[Baldwin V, Count of Hainaut|Baldwin V]]
| successor2   = [[Joan, Countess of Flanders|Joan]]
| spouse       = [[Marie of Champagne]]
| issue        = {{plainlist|
*[[Joan, Countess of Flanders]]
*[[Margaret II, Countess of Flanders]]}}
| house        = [[House of Flanders]]
| father       = [[Baldwin V, Count of Hainaut]]
| mother       = [[Margaret I, Countess of Flanders]]
| birth_date   = July 1172
| birth_place  = [[Valenciennes]], [[County of Hainaut|Hainaut]], [[Kingdom of France]]
| death_date   = {{circa|1205}} (aged about 32–33)
| death_place  = [[Veliko Tarnovo|Tarnovo]], [[Second Bulgarian Empire|Bulgaria]]<br/>{{small|(now Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria)}}
| burial_date  = 
| burial_place = 
| signature    = 
| religion     = [[Latin Catholic]]
}}

'''Baldwin I''' ({{langx|nl|Boudewijn}}; {{langx|fr|Baudouin}}; July 1172 – {{circa|1205}}) was the first [[Latin Emperor#Latin emperors of Constantinople, 1204–1261|Emperor of the Latin Empire]] of [[Constantinople]]; [[Count of Flanders#House of Flanders 2|Count of Flanders]] (as '''Baldwin IX''') from 1194 to 1205 and [[Count of Hainaut#House of Flanders|Count of Hainaut]] (as '''Baldwin VI''') from 1195 to 1205.  Baldwin was one of the most prominent leaders of the [[Fourth Crusade]], which resulted in the [[sack of Constantinople]] in 1204, the conquest of large parts of the [[Byzantine Empire]], and the foundation of the [[Latin Empire]]. The following year he was defeated at the [[Battle of Adrianople (1205)|Battle of Adrianople]] by [[Kaloyan of Bulgaria|Kaloyan]], the emperor of [[Second Bulgarian Empire|Bulgaria]], and spent his last days as a prisoner.

==Early life and family history==
Baldwin was the son of Count [[Baldwin V of Hainaut]] and Countess [[Margaret I of Flanders]].<ref name="Wolff281">{{Harvnb|Wolff|1952|p=281}}.</ref> When the childless Count [[Philip I of Flanders]] left on the last of his personal crusades in 1177, he designated Baldwin, his brother-in-law, as his heir. When Philip returned in 1179 after an unsuccessful siege of Harim during a joint campaign on behalf of the [[Principality of Antioch]], he was designated as the chief adviser of [[Philip Augustus]] by his sickly father, King [[Louis VII of France]].<ref name="Wolff281"/> One year later, Philip of Flanders had his protégé married to his niece, [[Isabelle of Hainaut]], offering the [[County of Artois]] and other Flemish territories as dowry, much to the dismay of Baldwin V.<ref>{{Harvnb|Wolff|1952|pp=281–282}}.</ref> In 1180, war broke out between King Philip and his mentor [[Philip I of Flanders]], resulting in the devastation of [[Picardy]] and [[Île-de-France]]; King Philip refused to give open battle and gained the upper hand, and [[Baldwin V of Hainaut]], at first allied with his brother-in-law [[Philip I of Flanders]], intervened on behalf of his son-in-law, King Philip, in 1184, in support of his daughter's interests.<ref name="Wolff282">{{Harvnb|Wolff|1952|p=282}}.</ref>

Count Philip's wife [[Elisabeth of Vermandois|Elisabeth]] died in 1183, and Philip Augustus seized the province of [[Vermandois]] on behalf of Elisabeth's sister, [[Eleonore of Vermandois|Eleonore]]. Philip then remarried, to [[Infanta Teresa, Countess of Flanders|Matilda of Portugal]]. Philip gave Matilda a dower of a number of major Flemish towns, in an apparent slight to Baldwin V. Fearing that he would be surrounded by the royal domain of France and the [[County of Hainaut]], Count Philip signed a peace treaty with Philip Augustus and Count Baldwin V on 10 March 1186, recognizing the cession of Vermandois to the king, although he was allowed to retain the title [[Count of Vermandois]] for the remainder of his life. Philip died without further issue of disease on the Third Crusade at the siege of Acre in 1191, he was succeeded in [[Flanders (county)|Flanders]] by Baldwin V of Hainaut, although the two had been on seemingly uncordial terms since the 1186 treaty.<ref name="Wolff282"/> Baldwin V thereupon ruled as Baldwin VIII of Flanders by right of marriage.<ref name="Wolff282"/> When Countess Margaret I died in 1194, Flanders descended to her eldest son, Baldwin IX.<ref name="Wolff282"/>

In 1186, the younger Baldwin had married [[Marie of Champagne|Marie]], daughter of Count [[Henry I of Champagne]], and [[Marie of France, Countess of Champagne|Marie of France]].<ref name="Evergates127">{{Harvnb|Evergates|1999|p=127}}.</ref> The chronicler [[Gislebert of Mons|Gislebert]] describes Baldwin as being infatuated with his young bride, who nevertheless preferred prayer to the marital bed.
{{blockquote|
Immediately after this arrangement, the count of Hainaut's son Baldwin, thirteen years old,<ref>Baldwin was in fact 14 years old when he married [[Marie of Champagne]] in 1186.</ref> received as wife Marie, the count of Champagne's sister, twelve years old, at [[Château-Thierry]]. This Marie began sufficiently young to devote herself to divine obedience in prayers, vigils, fasts and alms. Her husband Baldwin, a young knight, by chaste living, scorning all other women, began to love her alone with a fervent love, which is rarely found in any man, so that he devoted himself to his sole wife only and was content with her alone. The solemn rejoicing of the wedding was celebrated at [[Valenciennes]] with an abundance of knights and ladies and men of whatever status.<ref>{{Harvnb|Gislebert of Mons|Napran|2005|p=105}}.</ref>
}}

Through Marie, Baldwin had additional connections and obligations to the defenders of the Holy Land: her brother [[Henry II of Champagne]] had been [[Kingdom of Jerusalem|King of Jerusalem]] in the 1190s (leaving a widow and two daughters who needed help to keep and regain their territories in Palestine). Marie's uncles [[Richard I of England]] and [[Philip II of France]] had just been on the [[Third Crusade]].

Baldwin's own family had also been involved in the defence of Jerusalem: his uncle Philip had died on Crusade. Baldwin's maternal grandmother was a great-aunt of Queen [[Isabella I of Jerusalem]] and the Counts of Flanders had tried to help Jerusalem relatives in their struggle. Baldwin wanted to continue the tradition. Margaret died in 1194, and the younger Baldwin became Count of Flanders. His father died the next year, and he succeeded to [[County of Hainaut|Hainaut]].

==Count of Flanders and Hainaut==
[[File:Vlaanderen maille Boudewijn Ieper.jpg|thumb|left|Silver '[[French sol#The sou in French expressions|maille]]' (half-[[denarius]] or ''petit [[denier (coin)|denier]]'') struck at [[Ypres]] under Baldwin IX]]
Baldwin took possession of a much-reduced [[Flanders (county)|Flanders]], lessened by the large chunk, including [[Artois]], given by Philip of Alsace as dowry to Baldwin's sister [[Isabelle of Hainaut]], and another significant piece to his own wife. Isabelle had died in 1190, but King Philip still retained her dowry, on behalf of Isabelle's son, the future [[Louis VIII of France]]. The eight years of Baldwin's rule in Flanders were dominated by his attempts to recover some of this land.<ref>{{Harvnb|Wolff|1952|p=283}}.</ref> After [[Philip II of France]] took Baldwin's brother, Philippe of Namur, prisoner, Baldwin was forced to agree to a truce to ensure his safety. The Treaty of Péronne was signed in January 1200 on the condition that Baldwin receive the territories he had won during the war.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/romancingpastris0000spie |url-access=registration |quote=Treaty of Péronne 1200. |title=Romancing the Past: The Rise of Vernacular Prose Historiography in Thirteenth-century France |year=1993 |publisher=University of California Press |author=Gabrielle M. Spiegel |isbn=0520077105 |page=[https://archive.org/details/romancingpastris0000spie/page/40 40] |access-date=21 February 2015}}</ref> Baldwin was made the [[vassal]] of Philip II, and the king returned portions of [[Artois]] to Baldwin.<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=04S4YdDarD0C&dq=Treaty+of+P%C3%A9ronne+1200&pg=PA32 |title= The Hutchinson Dictionary of Ancient & Medieval Warfare |year= 1998 |page= 32 |publisher= Taylor & Francis |author= Matthew Bennett |isbn= 1579581161 |access-date= 21 February 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=f_jLbHTM_zgC&dq=Treaty+of+P%C3%A9ronne+1200&pg=PA49 |title= The Rise of the Medieval World, 500-1300: A Biographical Dictionary |page= 49 |year= 2002 |publisher= Greenwood Publishing Group |author= Jana K. Schulman |isbn= 0313308179 |access-date= 21 February 2015}}</ref>

In this fight against the French king, Baldwin allied with others who had quarrels with Philip, including kings [[Richard I of England|Richard I]] and [[John of England]], and the [[List of German Kings and Emperors|German King]] [[Otto IV]]. A month after the treaty, on [[Ash Wednesday]] (23 February) 1200 in the town of [[Bruges]], Baldwin 'took the cross', meaning he committed to embark on a [[crusade]], namely the [[Fourth Crusade]].<ref>Kenneth M. Setton, Robert Lee Wolff and Harry W. Hazard eds., ''A history of the Crusades, Volume II: the later Crusades 1189–1311'' (London and Madison, second edition 1969), 159.</ref> He spent the next two years preparing, finally leaving on 14 April 1202.

As part of his effort to leave his domains in good order, Baldwin issued two notable charters for [[County of Hainaut|Hainaut]]. One detailed an extensive criminal code and appears to be based on a now-lost charter of his father. The other laid down specific rules for inheritance. These are an important part of the legal tradition in Belgium.<ref>{{Harvnb|Wolff|1952|pp=283–287}}.</ref>

Baldwin left behind his two-year-old daughter and his pregnant wife, Countess Marie. Marie was regent for Baldwin for the two years she remained in Flanders and Hainaut, but by early 1204, she had left both her children behind to join him in the East. They expected to return in a couple of years, but in the end, neither would see their children or their homeland again. In their absence, Baldwin's younger brother [[Philip I of Namur|Philip of Namur]] was regent in Flanders, with custody of the daughters. Baldwin's uncle William of Thy (an illegitimate son of [[Baldwin IV, Count of Hainaut|Baldwin IV of Hainaut]]) was regent for Hainaut.<ref>{{Harvnb|Wolff|1952|p=288}}.</ref>

Meanwhile, desperate for funds to support themselves and pay for their expenses, the leaders of the Fourth Crusade were persuaded by the [[Republic of Venice|Venetian]]s (who had built the crusaders' fleet) to divert to [[Constantinople]]. The Venetians had had designs on the Byzantine capital for some time, and also wished to revenge themselves for the [[Massacre of the Latins]] in 1182. The political excuse for this excursion was in large part due to the exiled Byzantine prince Alexios (the future Emperor [[Alexios IV Angelos]]), who promised the crusaders supplies, money, and the island of [[Crete]] in return for their help in ousting his uncle Emperor [[Alexios III Angelos]] and freeing his imprisoned father [[Isaac II Angelus]]. In April 1204, after numerous failed negotiations attempting to obtain the promised funds from the Byzantines, the Crusaders [[Sack of Constantinople|conquered the most powerfully protected city in the world]]. Stunned at their own success and unsure of what to do next, the leaders adopted a similar track as their forefathers had during the First Crusade. They elected one of their own, Count Baldwin of Flanders as emperor (of what modern historians refer to as the [[Latin Empire]]) and divided imperial lands into feudal counties.

==Latin emperor==
The imperial crown was at first offered to [[Enrico Dandolo]], [[Doge of Venice]], who refused it. The choice then lay between Baldwin and the nominal leader of the crusade, [[Boniface of Montferrat]]. While Boniface was considered the most probable choice, due to his connections with the Byzantine court, Baldwin was young, gallant, pious, and virtuous, one of the few who interpreted and observed his crusading vows strictly, and the most popular leader in the host. With Venetian support, he was elected on 9 May 1204 and crowned on 16 May in the [[Hagia Sophia]] at a ceremony which closely followed Byzantine practices.{{sfn|Setton|1976|p=13}} During his coronation, Baldwin wore a very rich jewel that had been bought by Byzantine Emperor [[Manuel I Komnenos]] for 62,000 silver marks. Baldwin's wife Marie, unaware of these events, had sailed to [[Akko|Acre]]. There she learned of her husband's election as emperor, but died in August 1204 before she could join him.

[[File:Baldwin09Flanders.jpg|thumb|Seal of Baldwin as emperor|left]]The Latin Empire was organized on [[feudal]] principles; the emperor was feudal superior of the princes who received portions of the conquered territory: in October 1204 he enfeoffed 600 knights who occupied lands formerly held by Greek nobles.<ref>{{citation|last=Lock|first=Peter|title = The Franks in the Aegean: 1204–1500 | year = 1995 | publisher = Routledge| isbn = 9780582051393}}</ref> His own special portion consisted of the city of Constantinople, the adjacent regions both on the [[Europe]]an and the [[Asia]]tic side, along with some outlying districts, and several islands including [[Lemnos]], [[Lesbos Island|Lesbos]], [[Chios]] and [[Tenos]]. The territories still had to be conquered; first of all, it was necessary to break the resistance of the Greeks in [[Thrace]] and secure [[Thessalonica]]. In this enterprise in the summer of 1204, Baldwin came into collision with Boniface of Montferrat, the rival candidate for the empire, who received a large territory in [[Macedonia (region)|Macedonia]] with the title of [[king of Thessalonica]].

Boniface hoped to make himself quite independent of the empire and do no homage to his kingdom, and he opposed Baldwin's proposal to march to [[Thessalonica]]. The antagonism between Flemings and [[Lombards]] aggravated the quarrel. Baldwin insisted on going to Thessalonica; Boniface laid siege to [[Adrianople]], where Baldwin had established a governor; civil war seemed inevitable. An agreement was effected by the efforts of Dandolo and Count [[Louis I of Blois]]. Boniface received Thessalonica as a [[fief]] from the emperor and was appointed commander of the forces which were to march to the conquest of [[Greece]].

During the following winter (1204–1205) the Franks prosecuted conquests in [[Bithynia]], in which [[Henry of Flanders|Henry]], Baldwin's brother, took part. But in February the Greeks revolted in [[Thrace]], relying on the assistance of [[Kaloyan of Bulgaria|Kaloyan]], tsar of [[Bulgaria]], whose overtures of alliance had been rejected by the emperor. The garrison of Adrianople was expelled. Baldwin along with Dandolo, the count of Blois, and [[Geoffrey of Villehardouin|Marshal Villehardouin]], the [[historian]], marched to besiege that city. The Frankish knights were defeated (14 April 1205); the count of Blois was slain, and the emperor was captured by the Bulgarians (see [[Battle of Adrianople (1205)|Battle of Adrianople]]).

==Captivity and death==
[[File:Bal.Kyla.jpg|thumb|[[Baldwin's Tower]] in the [[Tsarevets (fortress)|Tsarevets]] castle, [[Veliko Tarnovo]], [[Bulgaria]], built 1848]]
For some time Baldwin's fate was uncertain, and in the meanwhile Henry, his brother, assumed the regency. Not until the middle of July the following year was it ascertained that he was dead.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}}

The circumstances of Baldwin's death are not exactly known.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Bousfield |first=Jonathan |title=Bulgaria |last2=Richardson |first2=Dan |date=2002 |publisher=Rough Guides |isbn=978-1-85828-882-6 |edition=4th |location=London |oclc=49989328 |ol=9003821M}}</ref> There are several accounts of his fate; one being that he was at first treated well as a prisoner by Kaloyan despite refusing to release him at the request of the Pope—another says Kaloyan had Baldwin's hands and feet cut off and thrown in a ditch to die,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Miller |first=William |author-link=William Miller (historian) |title=The Balkans: Roumania, Bulgaria, Servia and Montenegro, with New Chapter Containing Their History from 1896 to 1922 |year=1923 |edition=3rd |pages=173 |orig-year=1896}}</ref> while a third account says he refused the advances of the Bulgarian queen who then accused him of rape and had him executed.<ref name=":22">{{Cite book |last=Bousfield |first=Jonathan |title=Bulgaria |last2=Richardson |first2=Dan |date=2002 |publisher=Rough Guides |isbn=978-1-85828-882-6 |edition=4th |location=London |oclc=49989328 |ol=9003821M}}</ref> The historian [[George Acropolites]] reports that the Tsar had Baldwin's [[Skull cup|skull made into a drinking cup]], just as had happened to [[Nicephorus I]] almost four hundred years before.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}}

Kaloyan wrote to [[Pope Innocent III]], reporting that Baldwin had died in prison. A tower of the [[Tsarevets (fortress)|Tsarevets]] fortress of the medieval Bulgarian capital, [[Veliko Tarnovo]], is still called [[Baldwin's Tower]]; supposedly, it was the tower where he was interned.

It was not until July 1206 that the Latins in Constantinople had reliable information that Baldwin was dead. His brother [[Henry of Flanders|Henry]] was crowned emperor in August.

Back in Flanders, however, there seemed to be doubt whether Baldwin was truly dead. In any case, Baldwin's other brother Philip of Namur remained as regent, and eventually, both of Baldwin's daughters, [[Joan, Countess of Flanders|Joan]] and [[Margaret II, Countess of Flanders|Margaret II]], were to rule as countesses of Flanders.

Twenty years later, in 1225, a man appeared in Flanders claiming to be the presumed dead Baldwin. His claim soon became entangled in a series of rebellions and revolts in Flanders against the rule of Baldwin's daughter Jeanne. A number of people who had known Baldwin before the [[crusade]] rejected his claim, but he nonetheless attracted many followers from the ranks of the peasantry. Eventually unmasked as a [[Burgundy (region)|Burgundian]] serf named Bertrand of Ray, the false Baldwin was executed in 1226.{{sfn|Cohn|1970|pp=89-93}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
{{Commons category|Baldwin I of Constantinople}}
{{EB1911 poster|Baldwin I. (emperor of Romania)}}
{{Refbegin}}
* Angold, Michael, ''The Fourth Crusade: Event and Context'', Harlow: Pearson, 2003. {{ISBN|978-0582-35610-8}}
*{{Citation|last=Cohn|first=Norman|title=The Pursuit of the Millennium|year=1970|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|location=[[Oxford, UK]]}}.
*{{Citation|last=Evergates|first=Theodore|title=Aristocratic Women in Medieval France|year=1999|publisher=[[University of Pennsylvania Press]]|location=[[Philadelphia]]|isbn=0-8122-1700-4}}.
*{{Citation|author1=Gislebert of Mons|author1-link=Gislebert of Mons|last2=Napran|first2=Laura (trans.)|title=Chronicle of Hainaut|year=2005|publisher=[[Boydell Press]]|location=[[Woodbridge, Suffolk]]|isbn=1-84383-120-1}}.
* Harris, Jonathan, ''Byzantium and the Crusades'', London and New York: Bloomsbury, 2nd ed., 2014. {{ISBN|978-1-78093-767-0}}
*Harris, Jonathan, 'Collusion with the infidel as a pretext for military action against Byzantium', in ''Clash of Cultures: the Languages of Love and Hate'', ed. S. Lambert and H. Nicholson, Turnhout: Brepols, 2012, pp.&nbsp;99–117. {{ISBN|978 2503 520643}}
* {{cite web|url=https://www.academia.edu/31064036 |first=David |last=Savignac|title=The Medieval Russian Account of the Fourth Crusade – A New Annotated Translation}}
* Van Tricht, F., ''The Latin Renovatio of Byzantium: The Empire of Constantinople (1204–1228)'', Leiden: Brill, 2011
*{{Citation|last=Moore|first=John C.|title=Baldwin IX of Flanders, Philip Augustus and the Papal Power|journal=[[Speculum (journal)|Speculum]]|volume=37|issue=1|pages=79–89|date=January 1962|doi=10.2307/2850600|jstor=2850600|publisher=Medieval Academy of America|s2cid=159905474}}.
*{{The Papacy and the Levant|volume=1}}
*{{Citation|last=Wolff|first=Robert Lee|title=Baldwin of Flanders and Hainaut, First Latin Emperor of Constantinople: His Life, Death, and Resurrection, 1172–1225|journal=[[Speculum (journal)|Speculum]]|volume=27|issue=3|pages=281–322|date=July 1952|doi=10.2307/2853088|jstor=2853088|publisher=Medieval Academy of America|s2cid=163762031}}.
{{Refend}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-hou|[[House of Flanders]]||July 1172||c.1205||}}
{{s-reg}}
|-
{{S-bef
| before = [[Alexios V Doukas|Alexios V]]|as=[[Byzantine Emperor]]
}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of Latin Emperors|Latin Emperor of Constantinople]]|years=1204–1205}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Henry of Flanders|Henry]]}}
{{s-bef| before = [[Margaret I of Flanders|Margaret I]]|before2=[[Baldwin V, Count of Hainaut|Baldwin VIII]]}}
{{s-ttl| title  = [[Count of Flanders]]
       | years  = 1194–1205 }}
{{s-aft| rows   = 2 | after  = [[Joan, Countess of Flanders|Joan]] }}
{{s-break}}
{{s-bef| before = [[Baldwin V, Count of Hainaut|Baldwin V]] }}
{{s-ttl| title  = [[Count of Hainaut]]
       | years  = 1195–1205 }}
{{s-end}}

{{Latin Empire Monarchs}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baldwin 01 of Constantinople}}
[[Category:1172 births]]
[[Category:1205 deaths]]
[[Category:13th-century Latin emperors of Constantinople]]
[[Category:12th-century counts of Flanders]]
[[Category:13th-century counts of Flanders]]
[[Category:12th-century counts of Hainaut]]
[[Category:13th-century counts of Hainaut]]
[[Category:House of Hainaut]]
[[Category:Christians of the Fourth Crusade]]
[[Category:People from Valenciennes]]
[[Category:Prisoners who died in Bulgarian detention]]
[[Category:13th-century monarchs in Europe]]
[[Category:13th-century peers of France]]
[[Category:Executed monarchs]]
[[Category:People executed by Bulgaria]]