Arnulf I, Count of Flanders

Arnulf I, Count of Flanders
Born c. 890
Died (965-03-28)28 March 965
Noble family House of Flanders
Spouse(s) Adele of Vermandois
Father Baldwin II of Flanders
Mother Ælfthryth of Wessex

Arnulf of Flanders (c. 890 – 27 March 965),[1] called the Great, was the first Count of Flanders, who ruled the County of Flanders, an area that is now northern France (Nord), northwestern Belgium and southwestern Netherlands.

Life

Arnulf was the son of margrave Baldwin II of Flanders and Ælfthryth of Wessex, daughter of Alfred the Great.[2] Through his mother he was a descendant of the Anglo-Saxon kings of England, and through his father, a descendant of Charlemagne.[3] Presumably Arnulf was named after Saint Arnulf of Metz, a progenitor of the Carolingian dynasty.[4]

At the death of their father in 918, Arnulf became Count of Flanders while his brother Adeloft or Adelolf succeeded to the County of Boulogne.[2] However, in 933 Adeloft died, and Arnulf took the countship of Boulogne for himself, but later conveyed it to his nephew, Arnulf II.[5]

Arnulf I greatly expanded Flemish rule to the south, taking all or part of Artois, Ponthieu, Amiens, and Ostrevent. He exploited the conflicts between Charles the Simple and Robert I of France, and later those between Louis IV and his barons.

In his southern expansion Arnulf inevitably had conflict with the Normans, who were trying to secure their northern frontier. This led to the 942 murder of the Duke of Normandy, William Longsword, at the hands of Arnulf's men.[6] The Viking threat was receding during the later years of Arnulf's life, and he turned his attentions to the reform of the Flemish government.

Family

The name of Arnulf's first wife is unknown but he had at least one daughter by her:[7]

  • Name unknown; married Isaac of Cambrai. Their son Arnulf succeeded his father as Count of Cambrai.[7]

In 934 he married Adele of Vermandois, daughter of Herbert II of Vermandois.[2] Their children were:

Succession

Arnulf made his eldest son and heir Baldwin III of Flanders co-ruler in 958, but Baldwin died untimely in 962, so Arnulf was succeeded by Baldwin's infant son, Arnulf II of Flanders.[2]

Ancestry

See also

References

  1. ↑ H. E. L. Mellersh; Neville Williams (1999). Chronology of World History. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-57607-155-7.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Detlev Schwennicke, Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten, Neue Folge, Band II (Verlag von J. A. Stargardt, Marburg, Germany, 1984), Tafel 5
  3. ↑ The Annals of Flodoard of Reims, 919–966, ed. Steven Fanning & Bernard S. Bachrach (University of Toronto Press, CA, 2011), p. xx
  4. ↑ Philip Grierson, 'The Relations between England and Flanders before the Norman Conquest', Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, Vol. 23 (1941), p. 86 n. 1
  5. ↑ Renée Nip, 'The Political Relations between England and Flanders (1066–1128)', Anglo-Norman Studies 21: Proceedings of the Battle Conference 1998, ed. Christopher Harper-Bill (The Boydell Press, Woodbridge, UK, 1999), p. 150
  6. ↑ David Nicholas, Medieval Flanders (Longman Group UK Limited, London, 1992), p. 40
  7. 1 2 3 Heather J. Tanner, Families, Friends and Allies: Boulogne and Politics in Northern France and England, C.879–1160 (Brill, Leiden, Netherlands, 2004) p. 55 n. 143

Additional references

  • Folcwine
  • Lambert of Ardres
  • Platts, Beryl. The Scottish Hazard: Flemish Nobility and their Impact on Scotland, 1985
Preceded by
Baldwin II		 Count of Flanders
918–965
with Baldwin III (958–962)		 Succeeded by
Arnulf II (Flanders)
Preceded by
Adalolphe		 Count of Boulogne
933–964		 Succeeded by
Arnulf II (Boulogne)
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