Baudouin VI-IX, Count of Flanders,
Emperor of Constantinople (1171-1205)
Born July 1171
Died 11 July 1205
Married 6 January 1186
Marie de Champagne
Born 1174
Died 9 August 1204
On 13 January 1186 he married Marie de Champagne and they produced two
daughters. He became Count of Flanders in 1194 and of Hainault in 1195.
In 1202 he joined the fourth crusade. His wife became regent in Flanders
and Hainault but, after the birth of their second child, she
joined her husband in Constantinople. On 9 May 1204 he was chosen first
Latin emperor of Constantinople and, on 16 May 1204, crowned in the Hagia
Sophia in Constantinople. Shortly afterwards, on 9 August 1204, he lost
his wife aged about thirty. The Greeks, invoking the aid
of the Bulgarians, rose and took Adrianople. Baudouin laid siege to
the town but, on 14 April 1205, was defeated and taken prisoner by the
Bulgarians and died on 20 July 1205.
Source: Leo van de Pas
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