Yolanda of Flanders

Yolanda of Flanders (1175–1219) ruled the Latin Empire in Constantinople for her husband Peter II of Courtenay from 1217 to 1219.

She was the daughter of Baldwin V, Count of Hainault, and Countess Margaret I of Flanders. Two of her brothers, Baldwin I and then Henry, were emperors in Constantinople. After the death of the latter in 1216 there was a brief period without an emperor, before Peter was elected. Peter sent Yolanda to Constantinople while he fought the Despotate of Epirus, during which he was captured. Because his fate was unknown (although he was probably killed), Yolanda ruled as regent. She allied with the Bulgarians against the various Byzantine successor states, and was able to make peace with Theodore I Lascaris of the Empire of Nicaea, who married her daughter. However, she soon died, in 1219.

Her second son, Robert of Courtenay, became emperor because her first son did not want the throne. As Robert was still in France at the time, there was technically no emperor until he arrived in 1221.

Yolanda was, in her own right, Marchioness of Namur, which she inherited from her uncle, Marquis Philip I, in 1212 and left to her eldest son, Marquis Philip II, when she went to Constantinople in 1216.

By Peter of Courtenay she had 10 children:

  • Philip (d. 1226), Marquis of Namur, who declined the offer of the crown of the Latin Empire
  • Robert of Courtenay (d. 1228), Latin Emperor
  • Henry (d. 1229), Marquis of Namur
  • Baldwin II of Constantinople (d. 1273)
  • Margaret, Marchioness of Namur, who married first Raoul d'Issoudun and then Henry count of Vianden
  • Elizabeth, who married Walter count of Bar and then Eudes sire of Montagu
  • Yolanda de Courtenay, who married Andrew II of Hungary
  • Eleanor, who married Philip of Montfort, Lord of Tyre
  • Marie de Courtenay, who married Theodore I Lascaris of the Empire of Nicaea
  • Agnes, who married Geoffrey II Villehardouin, Prince of Achaea
Yolanda of Flanders House of Hainaut Cadet branch of the House of Flanders Born: 1175 Died: 1219
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Philip I
Marchioness of Namur
1212–1217
Vacant Title next held by Philip II
Royal titles
Previous:
Maria of Bulgaria
Latin Empress consort
of Constantinople

1216–1217
Vacant Title next held by Lady of Neuville
Ancestors of Yolanda of Flanders
16. Baldwin II, Count of Hainaut
8. Baldwin III, Count of Hainaut
17. Ida of Leuven
4. Baldwin IV, Count of Hainaut
18. Gerhard Flaminius de Wassenberg
9. Yolande de Wassenberg
19. Clemence of Poitou
2. Baldwin V, Count of Hainaut
20. Albert III, Count of Namur
10. Godfrey I, Count of Namur
21. Ida of Saxony
5. Alice of Namur
22. Conrad I, Count of Luxembourg
11. Ermesinda of Luxembourg
23. Clementia of Aquitaine
1. Yolanda of Flanders
24. Gerard, Duke of Lorraine
12. Theodoric II, Duke of Lorraine
25. Hedwige de Namur
6. Thierry, Count of Flanders
26. Robert I, Count of Flanders
13. Gertrude of Flanders
27. Gertrude of Saxony
3. Margaret I, Countess of Flanders
28. Fulk IV, Count of Anjou
14. Fulk V of Anjou
29. Bertrade de Montfort
7. Sibylla of Anjou
30. Elias I, Count of Maine
15. Ermengarde, Countess of Maine
31. Mathilda of Château-du-Loire
Monarchs of the Latin Empire of Constantinople
Reigning emperors
(1204–1261)
  • Baldwin I
  • Henry
  • Peter
  • Yolanda
  • Robert I
  • Baldwin II (with John of Brienne as regent)
Titular emperors
(1261–1383)
  • Baldwin II
  • Philip I
  • Catherine I (with Charles of Valois)
  • Catherine II (with Philip II)
  • Robert II
  • Philip III
  • James of Baux
Persondata
Name Yolanda of Flanders
Alternative names Yolande of Hainaut
Short description Regent of Latin Empire of Constantinople (1217-1219)
Date of birth 1175
Place of birth
Date of death 1219
Place of death

Famous quotes containing the word flanders:

    If ye break faith with us who die
    We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
    In Flanders fields.
    John McCrae (1872–1918)