Yolanda (french: Yolande de Hainault; 1175 – August 1219), often called Yolanda of Flanders, was Empress of the

Latin Empire The Latin Empire, also referred to as the Latin Empire of Constantinople, was a feudal Crusader state founded by the leaders of the Fourth Crusade on lands captured from the Byzantine Empire. The Latin Empire was intended to replace the Byza ...

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

, first as the wife of Emperor Peter from 1216 to 1217 and thereafter as

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

until her death in 1219. Peter was captured and imprisoned before he could reach Constantinople, so Yolanda assumed the duties of governing the Empire. She was ruling Marchioness of Namur from 1212 until 1217.

Biography

Yolanda was the daughter of

Baldwin V, Count of Hainault Baldwin is a Germanic name, composed of the elements ''bald'' "bold" and ''win'' "friend". People * Baldwin (name) Places Canada * Baldwin, York Regional Municipality, Ontario * Baldwin, Ontario, in Sudbury District * Baldwin's Mills, ...

, and Countess

Margaret I of Flanders Margaret I (c. 1145 - died 15 November 1194) was the countess of Flanders '' suo jure'' from 1191 to her death. Early life Margaret was the daughter of Count Thierry of Flanders and Sibylla of Anjou. In 1160 she married Count Ralph II of Vermand ...

. Two of her brothers, Baldwin I and then Henry, were emperors in Constantinople. In 1212, Yolanda became Marchioness of Namur after her brother, Marquis Philip I. After the death of her brother emperor Henry in 1216 there was a brief period without an emperor, before Peter was elected to succeed her brother. On their way there, Peter sent Yolanda ahead to Constantinople, while he fought the

Despotate of Epirus The Despotate of Epirus ( gkm, Δεσποτᾶτον τῆς Ἠπείρου) was one of the Greek successor states of the Byzantine Empire established in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade in 1204 by a branch of the Angelos dynasty. It clai ...

, during which he was captured. Because his fate was unknown (although he was probably killed), Yolanda governed Constantinople as a sole ruler for two years. She allied with the

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

ns against the various Byzantine successor states, and was able to make peace with

Theodore I Lascaris Theodore I Laskaris or Lascaris ( gr, Θεόδωρος Κομνηνὸς Λάσκαρις, Theodōros Komnēnos Laskaris; 1175November 1221) was the first emperor of Nicaea—a successor state of the Byzantine Empire—from 1205 to his d ...

of the

Empire of Nicaea The Empire of Nicaea or the Nicene Empire is the conventional historiographic name for the largest of the three Byzantine Greek''A Short history of Greece from early times to 1964'' by W. A. Heurtley, H. C. Darby, C. W. Crawley, C. M. Woodhous ...

, who married her daughter, Marie. She died soon after in 1219.

Legacy

Following Yolanda's death, her second son, Robert of Courtenay, became emperor because her oldest son, Philip, did not want the throne. Robert was still in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

at the time. Yolanda was, in her own right, Marchioness of Namur, which she inherited from her brother, Marquis Philip I, in 1212 and left to her eldest son, Marquis Philip II, when she went to Constantinople in 1216.

Issue

By Peter of Courtenay she had 10 children: *

Philip Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who populariz ...

(d. 1226), Marquis of Namur, who declined the offer of the crown of the Latin Empire * Robert of Courtenay (d. 1228), Latin Emperor * Henry (d. 1229), Marquis of Namur *

Baldwin II of Constantinople Baldwin II, also known as Baldwin of Courtenay (french: Baudouin de Courtenay; late 1217 – October 1273), was the last Latin Emperor ruling from Constantinople. Biography Baldwin II was born in Constantinople (the only Latin emperor to be b ...

(d. 1273) *

Margaret Margaret is a female first name, derived via French () and Latin () from grc, μαργαρίτης () meaning "pearl". The Greek is borrowed from Persian. Margaret has been an English name since the 11th century, and remained popular through ...

, Marchioness of Namur, who married first Raoul d'Issoudun and then Henry count of Vianden * Elizabeth, who married Walter (Gaucher) count of

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar ( ...

and then Eudes sire of Montagu *

Yolanda de Courtenay Yolanda of Courtenay (c. 1200 – June 1233), was a Queen of Hungary as the second wife of King Andrew II of Hungary. Yolanda was the daughter of Count Peter II of Courtenay and his second wife, Yolanda of Flanders, the sister of Baldwin I ...

, who married

Andrew II of Hungary Andrew II ( hu, II. András, hr, Andrija II., sk, Ondrej II., uk, Андрій II; 117721 September 1235), also known as Andrew of Jerusalem, was King of Hungary and Croatia between 1205 and 1235. He ruled the Principality of Halych from 11 ...

* Eleanor, who married Philip of Montfort, Lord of Tyre * Marie de Courtenay, who married

of the

* Agnes, who married

Geoffrey II Villehardouin Geoffrey II of Villehardouin (french: Geoffroi II de Villehardouin) (''c.'' 1195- after May 6, 1246) was the third prince of Achaea (''c.'' 1229-1246).Longnon 1969, p. 242. From his accession to the princely throne, he was a powerful and respected ...

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 sta ...

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yolanda of Flanders 1175 births 1219 deaths 13th-century Latin Emperors of Constantinople House of Hainaut Capetian House of Courtenay Regents of the Latin Empire Latin Empresses of Constantinople Margraves of Namur Women of the Crusader states

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 ...

13th-century Byzantine women 13th-century women rulers 13th-century rulers in Europe 12th-century women from the county of Flanders