Elisabeth (French: ''Élisabeth''), also known as Isabelle Mabille (1143 – Arras, 28 March 1183), was ruling Countess of Vermandois from 1168 to 1183, and also Countess of Flanders by marriage to

Philip I, Count of Flanders Philip I (1143 – 1 August 1191), commonly known as Philip of Alsace, was count of Flanders from 1168 to 1191. During his rule Flanders prospered economically. He took part in two crusades and died of disease in the Holy Land. Count of Flanders ...

. She was the eldest daughter of

Ralph I, Count of Vermandois Ralph I of Vermandois (French: ''Raoul Ier'') (d. 14 October 1152) was Count of Vermandois. He was a son of Hugh, Count of Vermandois and his wife, Adelaide, Countess of Vermandois. Ralph was a grandson of Henry I of France, while Ralph‘s mother ...

and his second spouse,

Petronilla of Aquitaine Petronilla of Aquitaine ( 1125 – c.1151) was the second daughter of William X of Aquitaine and Aenor of Châtellerault. She was the elder sister of William Aigret and the younger sister of Eleanor of Aquitaine, who was Queen consort of France ...

Life

Elisabeth was the second child and oldest daughter of her father; she had an elder brother named Hugh from his first marriage to Eleanor of Champagne. Therefore Elisabeth was second in line to inherit the county. When Elisabeth was aged two, she was joined by a brother also named Ralph; this pushed Elisabeth back to third in line. Around three years later, Elisabeth gained a further sister, Eleonore. Elisabeth's mother Petronilla was the sister of the much-celebrated

Eleanor of Aquitaine Eleanor ( – 1 April 1204; french: Aliénor d'Aquitaine, ) was Queen of France from 1137 to 1152 as the wife of King Louis VII, Queen of England from 1154 to 1189 as the wife of King Henry II, and Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right from 1 ...

, Queen consort of both

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in her lifetime, this made Elisabeth first cousin to both

Richard I of England Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, and Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes, and was overl ...

and

John of England John (24 December 1166 – 19 October 1216) was King of England from 1199 until his death in 1216. He lost the Duchy of Normandy and most of his other French lands to King Philip II of France, resulting in the collapse of the Angevin Emp ...

. Ralph had divorced his first wife Eleonore, however his marriage to Petronilla had been viewed as illegitimate by Pope Innocent II, the marriage was later legitimized by

Pope Celestine II Pope Celestine II ( la, Caelestinus II; died 8 March 1144), born Guido di Castello,Thomas, pg. 91 was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 26 September 1143 to his death in 1144. Early life Guido di Castello, possibly ...

thus allowing Isabelle Mabile to possibly inherit. However, Ralph divorced Petronilla in 1151 then remarried the following year to Laurette, daughter of Thierry, Count of Flanders.

Marriage

On 14 October 1152, Elisabeth's father died and Hugh was made Count of

Vermandois Vermandois was a French county that appeared in the Merovingian period. Its name derives from that of an ancient tribe, the Viromandui. In the 10th century, it was organised around two castellan domains: St Quentin (Aisne) and Péronne (Somme ...

; therefore, Elisabeth returned to second-in-line. In 1159, sixteen-year-old Elisabeth married

. The following year, Elisabeth's brother Ralph married Philip's sister Margaret. In the same year, Hugh abdicated from his position as count to become a monk; therefore, Ralph succeeded as count, Elisabeth was then promoted to first in line, her sister Eleonore in second.

Rule

In 1167, Elisabeth's brother Ralph died of leprosy. As his marriage to Margaret had proved childless, Elisabeth inherited the County of Vermandois, which she ruled over jointly with her husband; this pushed Flemish authority further south, to its greatest extent thus far, and threatened to completely alter the balance of power in northern France. Philip and Elisabeth were childless. In 1175, Philip discovered that Elisabeth was committing adulteryGislebertus (of Mons), ''Chronicle of Hainaut'', transl. Laura Napran, (The Boydell Press, 2005), 34 note138.Ex Radulfi de Diceto imaginibus historiarum, RHGF XIII, p. 198. and had her lover, Walter de Fontaines, beaten to death. Philip then obtained complete control of her lands in Vermandois from King Louis VII of France. In 1177, when Philip left for the Holy Land, he designated his sister Margaret and her second husband, Baldwin V, Count of Hainaut, as his heirs. Elisabeth died at Arras on 28 March 1183 aged thirty-nine or forty, prompting King

Philip II of France Philip II (21 August 1165 – 14 July 1223), byname Philip Augustus (french: Philippe Auguste), was King of France from 1180 to 1223. His predecessors had been known as kings of the Franks, but from 1190 onward, Philip became the first French m ...

to seize Vermandois on behalf of her sister, Eleonore, who succeeded her. Elisabeth was buried at

Amiens Cathedral , image = 0 Amiens - Cathédrale Notre-Dame (1).JPG , imagesize = 200px , img capt = Amiens Cathedral , pushpin map = France , pushpin label position = below , coordinates = , country ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elisabeth of Vermandois 1143 births 1183 deaths Capetian House of Vermandois 12th-century women rulers 12th-century French women Countesses of Flanders 12th-century French people 12th-century women from the county of Flanders