Baldwin Ii Of Courtenay
Baldwin II of Courtenay ( 1217 1273 ), is the last Latin emperor of Constantinople from 1228 to 1261 ) and Marquis de Namur from 1237 to 1256. It is also the only Roman emperors of the East to be Porphyrogenitus , that is to say, born to emperors. It comes from the Capetian house of Courtenay and is the son of Peter II of Courtenay , Count of Nevers, Auxerre and Tonnerre and Latin emperor of Constantinople and Yolande de Hainaut.
Summary |
Biography
Although Latin crowned emperor in Rome, his father never came to Constantinople, because he was captured by Theodore Komnenos Doukas Angel , Despot of Epirus , in 1217 and died in prison in 1219 . After a disastrous reign in which he lost most of the territory of the Latin empire , he died in January 1228 . The third son of Peter II, Henry II , who succeeded his elder brother at Namur in 1226, refused to turn crown imperial throne and falls to the youngest son, Baldwin II, who was only eleven years .
Initially, the regency is proposed Narjot Toucy , but the regents are seeking an experienced man who can be protective of the empire. Their choice was in 1229 of Jean de Brienne , former king of Jerusalem ousted by Frederick II of Hohenstaufen. So that the mishap had befallen him with Frederick II does not happen again, he demands to be associated to the throne regardless of its position as regent and her daughter's fiance Mary Baldwin II, 19 April 1229. Satisfied, he went to Constantinople where he was crowned emperor in 1231 .
But the choice of John of Brienne as emperor angers Ivan Asen II , Tsar of the Bulgarians , who goes on the offensive and besieged Constantinople in 1235 and 1236. While Jean de Brienne is the defense of the city, Baldwin went to Europe, and claims its heritage possessions, including Courtenay , which he sells to finance the defense of the empire, and the County of Namur. At the news of the death of Jean de Brienne, 23 March 1237 , he sent to Constantinople Jean de Bethune, troops and money, of which most is lost en route. He makes himself at the head of a troop at the end of the year 1239 after undertaking the county of Namur .
He went on to fight John III Doukas Vatatzes , Greek emperor of Nicaea , has the upper hand and then sign a truce for two years. The alliance between the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II and John III Doukas Vatatzes puts him in trouble, and Baldwin went to Italy at the end of 1243 to reconcile the Pope Innocent IV to Frederick II and break the alliance between two emperors. The pope in 1246 accompanies the kingdom of France to support his request for reinforcements, but he only gets the restoration of the County of Namur. John III Doukas Vatatzes advantage of his absence to take Salonica, Thrace and Macedonia in 1247. Fortunately, Vatatzes died in 1254, and his successor, Theodore II Lascaris is unable to organize new attacks and provide some respite to the Latin Empire. Theodore II died in 1258 and his son John IV Lascaris , aged eight, succeeded him under the regency of Michael Palaeologus. This gets rid of the young emperor and crowned himself emperor, Constantinople and resumed 25 July 1261 , ending the Latin Empire .
Baldwin fled to Negrepont , then the court of Sicily. County of Namur was conquered in 1256 by Count Henry V of Luxembourg , and in 1263 he sold his rights to the county to Guy de Dampierre. He tries to organize a new expedition, attributing part of the empire to those who promise to participate: the kingdom of Thessaloniki to the duke Hugh IV of Burgundy , the sovereignty of the Principality of Achaea to King Charles I of Sicily , through the Treaty of Viterbo (1267) which also contains the betrothal of his son with a daughter of Charles of Sicily, but the promises are not followed up. The only really interested in is Charles King of Sicily, but driven out of Sicily after the Sicilian Vespers , he is not interested in Byzantine affairs, with other concerns that restoration of the Latin Empire. Baldwin II died of grief in 1273 , aged 56. It is this prince who donated it to St. Louis in the crown of thorns which was built the Sainte-Chapelle .
Marriage and children
He married in 1234 Marie de Brienne, daughter of Jean de Brienne , King of Jerusalem and Latin emperor of Constantinople and Berengaria of Castile, with whom he had a son:
- Philip I of Courtenay (1243 1283), emperor of Constantinople holder.
References
- "Peter II of Courtenay, Jean Franois Michaud, Biographie Universelle Ancient and Modern, Vol. 33, Ch Delagrave et Cie, Paris, nineteenth century , p. 249-250
- a and b Baron Emile de Borchgrave, "Philip II of Namur, Belgian Royal Academy, National Biography, vol. 17, Brussels, 1903 Notes
Sources
- Prvost, "Baldwin II, emperor of Constantinople" in French Dictionary of Biography, vol. 5, Paris, 1951 [ detail editions ] , Col. 868-9
- Rene Grousset , L'Empire du Levant: History of the Eastern Question , Payot, coll. "Library History", Paris 1949 (reprint 1979), 648 p. ( ISBN 2-228-12530-X )
- Marie-Nicolas Bouillet and Alexis Chassang (ed.), "Baldwin II of Courtenay" in Universal Dictionary of History and Geography, 1878 [ detail editions ] ( Wikisource )
Preceded by Baldwin II of Courtenay Followed by Robert I. 
Latin emperor of Constantinople 1228-1261 -1273
with Jean de Brienne in 1231 to 1237Michael VIII Palaeologus
(Byzantine emperor)Philip I of Courtenay
(Emperor of Constantinople holder)Marguerite 
Marquis of Namur 1237-1256 Henry III
Loading ...