Baldwin VII, Count of Flanders

Baldwin VII of Flanders (1093 – 17 July 1119) was Count of Flanders from 1111 to 1119.

Life

Family relations

He was the son of Robert II, Count of Flanders and Clementia of Burgundy. Two of his maternal uncles were the later Pope Callixtus II and Raymond of Burgundy, Count of Coimbra and husband of the future Queen Urraca of León and Castile. In consequence, Baldwin and the later King Alfonso VII of León and Castile - son of Raimond and Urraca - were first cousins. Two of Baldwin's other first cousins were Amadeus III, Count of Savoy and William V, Marquess of Montferrat; both were sons of one of his maternal aunts, Gisela of Burgundy, whose first husband was Umberto II, Count of Savoy (father of Amadeus III) and whose second husband was Rainier, Marquess of Montferrat (father of William V).

Reign as count and death

Baldwin succeeded his father as Count of Flanders when he died, on 5 October 1111. Only eighteen years old, the new Count solicited the advice of his cousin, Charles the Good, who was several years older. It was Baldwin who arranged the marriage of Charles to the heiress of the County of Amiens, Margaret of Clermont, in 1118.

He died after being wounded in September 1118 at the Battle of Bures-en-Brai, where he was fighting Henry I of England, on behalf of Louis VI of France. When he was dying in 1119, Baldwin declared his cousin Charles his heir. Charles became the new Count of Flanders after his death.

Marriage

In 1105, Baldwin married Hawise of Brittany (also called Havide), daughter of Alan IV, Duke of Brittany. The groom was twelve, and the bride, only nine. The union, in all probability, was never consummated. They were divorced in 1110. Neither of them remarried. Baldwin and Hawise had no known issue.