John of Avesnes (1 May 1218 – 24 December 1257) was the

count of Hainaut The Count of Hainaut (; ; ) was the ruler of the county of Hainaut, a historical region in the Low Countries (including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany). In English-la ...

from 1246 to his death.

Life

Born in

Houffalize Houffalize (; german: Hohenfels; wa, Oufalijhe) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Luxembourg, Belgium.Sven Vrielinck: De territoriale indeling van België 1795-1963 Volume 1. Universitaire Pers Leuven 2000. page 48 ...

, John was the eldest son of

Margaret II of Flanders Margaret, often called Margaret of Constantinople (1202 – 10 February 1280), ruled as Countess of Flanders during 1244–1278 and Countess of Hainaut during 1244–1253 and 1257–1280. She was the younger daughter of Baldwin IX, Count of ...

by her first husband, Bouchard IV of Avesnes. As the marriage of Margaret and Bouchard was papally dissolved, he was considered illegitimate. His mother was remarried to

William II of Dampierre William II (1196 – 3 September 1231) was the lord of Dampierre from 1216 until his death. He was the son of Guy II, constable of Champagne, and Mathilde of Bourbon.Theodore Evergates, ''The Aristocracy in the County of Champagne, 1100-1300 ...

and bore more children who could claim her inheritance. Thus, John and his brother Baldwin undertook to receive imperial recognition of their legitimacy and did so from the Emperor Frederick II. On 5 December 1244, Margaret inherited

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...

and Hainaut and designated her eldest son by her second husband,

William III of Dampierre William III (1224 – 6 June 1251) was the lord of Dampierre from 1231 and count of Flanders from 1247 until his death. He was the son of William II of Dampierre and Margaret II of Flanders. Margaret inherited Flanders and Hainault in 1244 ...

, as her heir. Immediately a war, called the

War of the Succession of Flanders and Hainault {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = {{PAGENAME , width = , partof = , image = Carte des comtés de Flandre et de Hainaut sous la comtesse Jeanne de Constantinople (1200-1244).png , image_size = 300px , alt ...

, was set off over the rights of inheritance, pitting John against William. After two years of fighting, in 1246, Louis IX of France intervened to settle the conflict and granted Hainaut to John and Flanders to William. However, Margaret refused to hand Hainaut over to John. On 6 June 1251, William of Flanders was assassinated and it was shown that the Avesnes family had financed the crime. On 4 July 1253, John defeated the armies of Margaret and her second Dampierre son, Guy, at the Battle of Walcheren. Guy was imprisoned and Margaret agreed to sell her rights to Hainaut to

Charles of Anjou Charles I (early 1226/12277 January 1285), commonly called Charles of Anjou, was a member of the royal Capetian dynasty and the founder of the second House of Anjou. He was Count of Provence (1246–85) and Forcalquier (1246–48, 1256–85) ...

if he would reconquer it from John. John's brother-in-law

William II, Count of Holland William II (February 1227 – 28 January 1256) was the Count of Holland and Zeeland from 1234 until his death. He was elected anti-king of Germany in 1248 and ruled as sole king from 1254 onwards. Early life William was the eldest son and heir ...

, who had been elected

German King This is a list of monarchs who ruled over East Francia, and the Kingdom of Germany (''Regnum Teutonicum''), from the division of the Frankish Empire in 843 and the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 until the collapse of the German Emp ...

(or " King of the Romans"), was convinced to grant Hainaut (an imperial fief) and those Flemish lands within the Empire to John. Charles was defeated and King Louis, returning from the Seventh Crusade, ordered his brother to abide by his arbitration of 1246. On 22 November 1257, Guy finally relinquished Hainaut, but John died on Christmas Eve in

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; nl, label=also Dutch, Valencijn; pcd, Valincyinnes or ; la, Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced a ...

Family and children

John married Adelaide of Holland in 1246 and had the following issue: *

John II, Count of Hainaut John II (1247 – 22 August 1304) was Count of Hainaut, Holland, and Zeeland. Life John II, born 1247, was the eldest son of John I of Hainaut and Adelaide of Holland.Detlev Schwennicke, ''Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der ...

and

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former province on the western coast of the Netherlands. From the 10th to the 16th c ...

(1247–1304) *Baldwin (born after 1247, lived in 1299) *Joanna, Abbess of Flines (died 1304) *

Bouchard Bouchard, a Norman name with German elements means "fort" (bourgh) and "brave," "strong" (heard), see Burkhardt. It is also a French nickname for someone with a big mouth, "bouche" being French for mouth. Notable people with the name include: * Se ...

Bishop of Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand E ...

(1251–1296) * Guy, Bishop of Utrecht (1253–1317) *

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

Bishop of Cambrai The Archdiocese of Cambrai ( la, Archdiocesis Cameracensis; French: ''Archidiocèse de Cambrai'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France, comprising the arrondissements of Avesnes-sur-Help ...

(1254–1296) * Floris,

stadholder In the Low Countries, ''stadtholder'' ( nl, stadhouder ) was an office of steward, designated a medieval official and then a national leader. The ''stadtholder'' was the replacement of the duke or count of a province during the Burgundian and ...

of Zeeland and

Prince of Achaea The Prince of Achaea was the ruler of the Principality of Achaea, one of the crusader states founded in Greece in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade (1202–1204). Though more or less autonomous, the principality was never a fully independent s ...

References

Sources

* *

External links

* Obreen (1911) (in Dutch).
Avesnes (Jan van)
'' In: P.C. Molhuysen and P.J. Blok (eds.): ''

Nieuw Nederlandsch Biografisch Woordenboek The ''Nieuw Nederlandsch Biografisch Woordenboek'' (''NNBW'') is a biographical reference work in the Dutch language. It has been succeeded by the '' Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland''. It was published in ten parts between 1911 and 1937 b ...

. Deel 1.'' Leiden: A.W. Sijthoff. Page 200. * Alphonse Wauters (in French). "Jean d'Avesnes" in: ''Biographie nationale''. Académie royale de Belgique. Vol. 10, pp. 280–292.

Life

Family and children

References

Sources

External links

See also