Ferrand of Flanders

Fernand or Ferdinand of Portugal or of Burgundy , known as Ferrand of Flanders (in Portuguese D. Fernando ) (° 1188 - † Boundary-line, July 27th 1233). Infant of Portugal and Count de Flandre 1215 - 1233 by its marriage with the countess Jeanne of Constantinople.

Cours de its life

Wire of the king de Portugal Sanche I {{er}}, it marries in 1211, with the agreement of Philippe Auguste, the countess of Flanders Jeanne of Constantinople, pupil of the king de France.

At the beginning of its reign, it undergoes the authority of Philippe Auguste who arranged itself the marriage contract, while placing the towns of Aire and Saint-Omer, close to the royal Artois, in the prerogative of his oldest son Louis. Retained captive in Péronne time that prince Louis occupies these cities, the couple can finally think of making its entry with Ghent, but the Ganteses their leaven their door, because they consider that their countess “was sold” in Ferrand by Philippe Auguste. A treaty is finally signed with Bridge-with-Vendin the February 24th 1211, by which Ferrand and Jeanne yield to Louis de France Surface and St-Omer, like rights of his/her mother Isabelle de Hainaut, but in exchange of what the future Louis VIII gives up emitting claims on the Flanders. A little later the couple makes finally its entry in Ghent, whose inhabitants agree to pay them a sum as compensation of the undergone damage. The counts grant to the city a new municipal organization (annual election of the aldermen).

Ferrand answers only conditionally the feudal call of king de France against Jean without Ground (1212), with which it passes an offensive and defensive alliance, Flemish wool provisioning being done primarily of England. Ferrand wants monnayer the return of St-Omer and Surface and refuses a compensation. Philippe Auguste turns over then the Ost against the count of Flanders and invades his states (May 22nd 1213): Cassel, Ypres and all the country until Bruges is taken, Ghent is besieged. Ferrand calls the Help! its ally which sends the count to him de Salisbury, accompanied by Renaud de Dammartin, scrambled with the king of France. English forwarding unloads with Damme, where Ferrand swears fidelity with king Jean, but must be folded up; the king destroys the port, then takes Lille and finally Ghent. Ferrand must then take refuge on the island of Walcheren, in Zealand, imperial ground. The French troops are withdrawn and, after a failure in front of the castle of Erquinghem, held by the lord of the manor of Lille, and another in front of Lille even, the count takes again Ghent, invests Tournai, traditionally faithful to the Lilies, and makes finally its entry in Lille, whose inhabitants, removed from the weak French garrison, opened their doors cordially to him. But the king reappears, takes again Lille and, of rage, destroys it mainly off-setting its inhabitants, marking them of the sign of the slaves; the count, patient, had only time to flee among the flames. Ferrand flees then in England near king Jean, accompanied by various Flemish knights (1213) is then formed the coalition of the Flemings of Ferrand, the English of Jean without Ground and the Germans of the emperor Otton IV of Brunswick. The countryside is placed under the orders of Otton and Ferrand.

At the beginning of 1214, prince Louis seizes Bailleul and Steenvoorde. Ferrand, as for him, returned to Flanders, devastates Artois and of county of Guînes, takes Saint-Omer and Hesdin. Louis is recalled in France to fight Jean without Ground which seized the Poitou and goes on Angers. But the king of England is beaten with Rock-with- theMonks and must fold up himself.

However, Otton had arrived at Valencian, with the duke of the Brabant, the counts de Namur and of Limbourg, whereas Philippe Auguste raised the streamer to Saint-Denis and set in motion the ost at Péronne. The meeting held on the two armies takes place with Bouvines, Sunday July 27th 1214. It is a defeat for united: exhausted, Ferrand goes to Hugues de Marcuit, Otton flees. ( See Battle of Bouvines )

Connected, transported out of cage to Paris and locked up in the dungeons of the Louvre, Ferrand will leave there only the January 6th 1227, released by Blanche of Castille, which received half of the required ransom of fifty thousand pounds, which was piled up by the Jeanne countess. It must leave in pledge the towns of Douai, Lille and the Lock in waiting of the payment of the remainder of the ransom. It must also swear fidelity with the king.

There consequently remains faithful to this oath. At the time of the revolt of Pierre Mauclerc and large barons against White of Castille, there remains faithful to the regent, for whom he fights at the time of the first operations of the war, before venturing into Namurian, where he claims with the seat comtal, whose emperor invested it. It seizes some cities, but after the mediation of the count de Boulogne, a treaty is signed with Cambrai (1232): Henri de Vianden preserves the county of Namur, while Ferrand receives the bailliages of Golzinne and Vieux-Lille cheese, while waiting for the return of the legitimate count, the emperor of Constantinople Baudouin II of Courtenay.

With Jeanne, it reinforces the communes, instituting in particular in 1228 new échevinages in Ghent, Ypres, Bruges and Douai, with a novel mode of elections. He dies on July 27th, 1233 with Noyon, patient of the gravel. Its heart and its entrails are buried in the cathedral of the city, while its body is buried with the abbey of Marquette where Jeanne makes him build a mausoleum before joining it there with her death.

Sources and bibliography

Glay Edward: History of the counts de Flandre until the advent of the House of Burgundy , Counter of Printer-plain, Paris, MDCCCXLIII
Platelle Henri and Clauzel Denis: History of the French provinces of North, 2. Principalities with the empire of Charles Quint (900-1519) , Westhoek-Editions Editions of the Belfries, 1989; ISBN 2-87789-004-X
Douxchamps Cecile and Jose: Our dynastes medieval , Wepion-Namur 1996, Jose Douxchamps, editor; ISBN 29600078-1-6
De Cant Genevieve: Jeanne and Marguerite of Constantinople , Editions Root, Brussels, 1995; ISBN 2-87386-044-8

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