Fifteenth count of Flanders from 1128 to 1168
Theoderic
(
Dutch
:
Diederik
,
French
:
Thierry
,
German
:
Dietrich
;
c.
1099
? 17 January 1168), commonly known as
Thierry of Alsace
, was the fifteenth
count of Flanders
from 1128 to 1168. With a record of four campaigns in the Levant and Africa (including participation in the
Second Crusade
, the failed 1157?1158 siege of the
Syrian
city
Shaizar
, and the 1164
invasion of Egypt
), he had a rare and distinguished record of commitment to crusading.
Countship
[
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]
Theoderic was the youngest son of Duke
Theoderic II of Lorraine
and
Gertrude
, daughter of Count
Robert I of Flanders
.
After the murder of his cousin,
Charles the Good
, in 1127, Theoderic claimed the
County of Flanders
, but another cousin,
William Clito
, became count instead with the support of King
Louis VI of France
.
William's politics and attitude towards the autonomy of Flanders made him unpopular,
and by the end of the year
Bruges
,
Ghent
,
Lille
, and
Saint-Omer
recognized Theoderic as a rival count. Theoderic's supporters came from the
Imperial
faction of Flanders.
Louis VI of France had
Raymond of Martigne
, the
Archbishop of Reims
, excommunicate Theoderic.
Louis VI then besieged Lille, but was forced to retire when
Henry I of England
, William Clito's uncle, transferred his support to Theoderic.
However, Theoderic was defeated at Axspoele and fled to Bruges.
He was forced to flee Bruges as well, and went to
Aalst
, where he was soon under siege from William,
Godfrey I of Leuven
, and Louis VI. The city was about to be captured when William was found dead on 27 July 1128, leaving Theoderic as the only claimant to the seat.
Theoderic set up his government in Ghent and was recognized by all the Flemish cities as well as King Henry, who had his Flemish lords in England swear fealty to him. Theoderic himself swore homage to Louis VI after 1132,
in order to gain the French king's support against
Baldwin IV, Count of Hainaut
, who had advanced his own claim on Flanders.
Pilgrimage and Second Crusade
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]
In 1132, his wife, Suanhilde, died, leaving only a daughter. In 1139, he went on pilgrimage to the
crusader
Kingdom of Jerusalem
, and married
Sibylla of Anjou
, daughter of King
Fulk of Jerusalem
and the widow of William Clito; a very prestigious marriage. This was the first of Theoderic's four pilgrimages to the
Holy Land
. While there he also led a victorious expedition against
Caesarea Phillippi
, and fought alongside his father-in-law in an invasion of
Gilead
. He soon returned to Flanders to put down a revolt in the Duchy of
Lower Lotharingia
, ruled at the time by
Godfrey III of Leuven
.
Theoderic joined the
Second Crusade
in 1147. He led the crossing of the
Maeander River
in
Anatolia
and fought at the Battla of Attalya in 1148, and after arriving in the crusader Kingdom he participated in the
Council of Acre
, where the ill-fated decision to attack
Damascus
was made.
Theoderic participated in the
Siege of Damascus
, led by his wife's half-brother
Baldwin III of Jerusalem
, and with the support of Baldwin,
Louis VII of France
, and
Conrad III of Germany
, he lay claim to Damascus. However, the native crusader barons preferred one of their own nobles,
Guy I Brisebarre
, lord of
Beirut
. According to
William of Tyre
, the resulting dispute contributed to the final failure of the siege: 'for the local barons preferred that the Damascenes should keep their city rather than to see it given to the count', and so did all they could to ensure the siege collapsed.
[5]
Therefore, William continues, many contemporaries blamed Theoderic for the ultimate failure of the Second Crusade (though it is notable that William himself declines to say whether he believed Theoderic responsible).
During his absence, Baldwin IV of Hainaut invaded Flanders and pillaged
Artois
; Sibylla reacted strongly and had
Hainaut
pillaged in response. The Archbishop of Reims intervened and a treaty was signed. When Theoderic returned in 1150, he took vengeance on Baldwin IV at
Bouchain
, with the aid of
Henry I, Count of Namur
and
Henry II of Leez
,
Bishop of Liege
. In the subsequent peace negotiations, Theoderic gave his daughter
Marguerite
in marriage to Baldwin IV's son, the future
Baldwin V, Count of Hainaut
.
Return to Holy Land
[
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]
In 1156, Theoderic had his eldest son married to
Elizabeth of Vermandois
, daughter and heiress of
Raoul I of Vermandois
.
In 1156, he returned to the Holy Land, this time with his wife accompanying him. He participated in Baldwin III's siege of
Shaizar
in 1157,
but the fortress remained in Muslim hands when a dispute arose between Theoderic and
Raynald of Chatillon
over who would possess it should it be captured.
He returned to Flanders 1159 without Sibylla, who remained behind to become a nun at the convent of
St. Lazarus
in
Bethany
. Their son
Philip
had ruled the county in their absence, and he remained co-count after Theoderic's return. In 1164, Theoderic returned once more to the Holy Land. He accompanied King
Amalric I
, another half-brother of Sibylla, to
Antioch
and
Tripoli
. He returned home in 1166, and adopted a
date palm
as his seal, with a crown of
laurels
on the reverse.
Death
[
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]
Thierry died on 17 January 1168 and was buried in the Abbey of
Watten
, between Saint-Omer and
Gravelines
. His rule had been moderate and peaceful; the highly developed administration of the county in later centuries first began during these years. There had also been great economic and agricultural development, and new commercial enterprises were established; Flanders' greatest territorial expansion occurred under Theoderic.
Family
[
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]
Theirry's first wife,
Margaret of Clermont
(or Swanhilde), died in 1132, leaving only one daughter:
- Laurette of Flanders
,
who married four times:
Iwain, Count of Aalst
;
Henry II, Duke of Limburg
;
Raoul I of Vermandois
,
Count of Vermandois
; and
Henry IV of Luxembourg
. Laurette finally retired to a nunnery, where she died in 1170.
Theoderic secondly married
Sibylla of Anjou
, daughter of
Fulk V of Anjou
and
Ermengarde of Maine
,
and former bride of
William Clito
. Their children were:
- Philip of Flanders
(died 1191)
- Matthew of Alsace
(died 1173), married Countess
Marie I of Boulogne
- Margaret I of Flanders
(died 1194), married Ralph II, count of Vermandois and Valois (died 1167, son of
Ralph I
), and then she married
Baldwin V, Count of Hainaut
- Gertrude of Flanders
(died 1186), married
Humbert III of Savoy
- Matilda of Flanders, abbess of
Fontevrault
- Peter of Flanders
(died 1176),
Bishop of Cambrai
References
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]
Sources
[
edit
]
- Aird, William M. (2008).
Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy: c. 1050-1134
. The Boydell Press.
- Baldwin, John W. (1986).
The Government of Philip Augustus: Foundations of French Royal Power in the Middle Ages
. University of California Press.
- Baldwin, Marsall W. (1969) [1955]. "The Latin States under Baldwin III and Amalric I, 1143?1174; The Decline and Fall of Jerusalem, 1174?1189". In
Setton, Kenneth M.
; Baldwin, Marshall W. (eds.).
A History of the Crusades, Volume I: The First Hundred Years
(Second ed.). Madison, Milwaukee, and London: University of Wisconsin Press. pp. 528?561, 590?621.
ISBN
0-299-04834-9
.
- George, Hereford Brooke (1875).
Genealogical Tables Illustrative of Modern History
. Oxford at the Clarendon Press.
- Gislebertus (of Mons) (2005).
Chronicle of Hainaut
. Translated by Napran, Laura. The Boydell Press.
- Hollister, C. Warren (2003).
Henry I
. Yale University Press.
- Nicholas, David M (1992).
Medieval Flanders
. Routledge.
- Tanner, Heather J. (2022). "The Twelfth-Century Norman and Angevin Duke-Kings of England and the Northern French Nobility". In Church, Stephen D (ed.).
Anglo-Norman Studies XLIV: Proceedings of the Battle Conference 2021
. The Boydell Press. pp. 153?168.
156-157
Thierry, Count of Flanders
Born:
c.
1099
Died:
17 January 1168
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Preceded by
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Count of Flanders
1128?1168
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Succeeded by
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