Baldwin I, Emperor of Constantinople

BALDWIN I, emperor of CONSTANTINOPLE. - Sixth count of Hainaut and ninth count of Flanders, b. at Valenciennes in 1171, d., perhaps at Adrianople, around 1205. In 1185 he married Maria, daughter of Henry of Champagne. On the death of his mother, Margaret of Alsace, in 1194, he inherited a good part of Flanders and, on the death of his father, Baldwin VIII, in 1195, he became count of Hainaut. He joined with England in the struggle against Philip Augustus and succeeded in conquering Tournai, Aire and Saint-Omer. He joined the Fourth Crusade: on 26 June 1202, having entrusted his possessions to his brother the count of Namur and to his uncle William of Flanders, he set out for Venice and took part in the capture of Zara. He fought valiantly both in the first and in the second occupation of Constantinople, and on 16 May 1204 he was solemnly consecrated in Hagia Sophia as Latin emperor of the East. He thus found himself the ruler of a vast territory whose effective conquest, however, had yet to be completed. Before long the Latin barons lost interest in the empire and, considering themselves independent, began skirmishes among themselves. The Greeks and the Slavs knew how to take advantage of this situation and, under the command of the king of Bulgaria, provoked a violent revolt in Thrace. The crusaders besieged Adrianople, but on 14 Apr. 1205 they suffered a terrible defeat. B. fought with extreme valor, but was wounded and taken prisoner. Nothing more was ever heard of him, despite the insistent requests made by Innocent III to the king of Bulgaria.