Baldwin II (1056–1098?) was count of Hainaut from 1071 to his death. He was an unsuccessful claimant to the

County of Flanders The County of Flanders was one of the most powerful political entities in the medieval Low Countries, located on the North Sea coast of modern-day Belgium and north-eastern France. Unlike the neighbouring states of Duchy of Brabant, Brabant and ...

. He disappeared in

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

during the

First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the Middle Ages. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Muslim conquest ...

Minority

Baldwin was the younger son of Count Baldwin VI of Flanders and Countess Richilde of Hainaut. He became count of Hainaut after the death of his older brother, Arnulf III of Flanders, at the battle of Cassel. The

was then claimed by their victorious uncle Robert the Frisian. During Baldwin's minority reign, which lasted until 1083, Richilde constantly fought against Robert to recover Flanders for her son, but she was unsuccessful. In order to obtain funds, she enfeoffed the county to the Prince-Bishopric of Liège. With the funds obtained in the transaction, around 1072, she assembled a coalition that included the duke of Bouillon, the counts of

Namur Namur (; ; ) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is the capital both of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration. Namur stands at the confl ...

, Louvain, Montaigu, Chiny, Hautmont (Clermont, according to Reiffenberg Frédéric Auguste Ferdinand Thomas de Reiffenberg, "Histoire du comté de Hainaut") and others, all to no avail: Robert defeated the coalition decisively at Broqueroie.By Gislebertus (of Mons), Laura Napran, Chronicle of Hainaut, 2005

Family

Baldwin married Ida, a daughter of Count Henry II of Leuven and sister of Count Godfrey I of Leuven, in 1084. Their children were: #

Baldwin III, Count of Hainaut Baldwin III (1088–1120) was count of Hainaut from 1098 to his death. History Baldwin was son of Count Baldwin II of Hainaut and Ida of Hainaut, Ida of Louvain. He succeeded to the County of Hainaut in 1102. Baldwin married Yolande of Guelders at ...

# Louis, living 1096 # Simon, a canon in

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

# Henry, living 1096 # William, died after 1117 # Arnold; m. Beatrix von Ath (b. c. 1075 – before 1136), daughter of Walter von Ath and Ade de Roucy. Father of Eustace the Elder of Roeulx. # Ida, (c. 1085 – after 1101); 1m: Guy de Chievres; 2m: c. 1100 Thomas, Lord of Coucy (also called Thomas of Marle) # Richilde, (c. 1095 – after 1118); m. c. 1115 (div. 1118) Amaury III de Montfort. Became a nun at

Maubeuge Maubeuge (; historical or ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department in northern France. It is situated on both banks of the Sambre (here canalized), east of Valenciennes and ab ...

after the death of her husband. # Aelidis, (before 1098 – 1153); m. Nicolas II de Rumigny

Crusade

Baldwin joined the

in the army of Godfrey of Bouillon (rather than with his nearer relative Robert II of Flanders, whose family was still at odds with his own), after selling some of his property to the Prince-Bishopric of Liège. In 1098 he was sent back to

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

with Count Hugh of Vermandois after the

siege of Antioch The siege of Antioch took place during the First Crusade in 1097 and 1098, on the crusaders' way to Jerusalem through Syria (region), Syria. Two sieges took place in succession. The first siege, by the crusaders against the city held by the Sel ...

, to seek assistance from

Byzantine emperor The foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, which Fall of Constantinople, fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as legitimate rulers and exercised s ...

Alexius I. However, Baldwin disappeared during a raid by the

Seljuk Turks The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; , ''Saljuqian'',) alternatively spelled as Saljuqids or Seljuk Turks, was an Oghuz Turks, Oghuz Turkic, Sunni Muslim dynasty that gradually became Persianate society, Persianate and contributed to Turco-Persi ...

, and was presumably killed. Baldwin's fate remained uncertain for a long time. While on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 1106, Baldwin's wife Ida organized a search for her lost husband in Anatolia, which was inconclusive.Jonathan Riley-Smith, ''The First Crusaders 1095-1131'' (Cambridge, third print 2004), 147.

References

*Alan V. Murray, ''The Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: A Dynastic History, 1099-1125''. Prosopographica et Genealogica, 2000. {{DEFAULTSORT:Baldwin 02, Count of Hainaut 1056 births 1090s deaths 11th-century counts of Hainaut Year of death uncertain House of Flanders Counts of the Holy Roman Empire Christians of the First Crusade

Minority

Family

Crusade

See also

References