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Source: Flanders MEDIEVAL PRINCIPALITY AND HISTORICAL REGION, EUROPE WRITTEN BY: The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

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Type	Valeur
Titre	Flanders MEDIEVAL PRINCIPALITY AND HISTORICAL REGION, EUROPE WRITTEN BY: The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

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BALDWIN I Margrave of Flanders CR002

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Flanders, French Flandre, Flemish Vlaanderen, medieval principality in the southwest of the Low Countries, now included in the French département of Nord (q.v.), the Belgian provinces of East Flanders and West Flanders (qq.v.), and the Dutch province of Zeeland (q.v.). The name appeared as early as the 8th century and is believed to mean “Lowland,” or “Flooded Land.” The origins of Flanders lay in the pagus Flandrensis, an area composed of Brugge (Bruges) and its immediate environs under the administration of the Frankish empire. At first Flandrensis was an inconspicuous district, but beginning in the 9th century, a remarkable line of Flemish counts succeeded in erecting a quasi-independent state on the borders between the French and German kingdoms. When Charlemagne’s empire had been divided up under the Treaty of Verdun (843), the Schelde River had been made the dividing line between the Western and Eastern Frankish kingdoms. The rise of Flanders began when the official administrator of the pagus, Baldwin I Iron-Arm, married the Western Frankish king Charles II the Bald’s daughter in 862 and was appointed count of Flanders. His successors as count, among them Baldwin II (ruled 879–918), Arnulf I the Great (918–965), Baldwin IV the Bearded (988–1035), and Baldwin V (1035–67), gradually expanded their domain southward to the towns of Douai and Arras and eastward across the Schelde River to Ghent and Antwerp. These counts were vassals of the French king for what they held west of the Schelde (Crown Flanders, or Kroonvlaanderen, the most important part of the kingdom), and vassals of the German king for what they held east of it (called Imperial Flanders, or Rijksvlaanderen, as part of the Holy Roman Empire). The Flemish counts enjoyed virtual independence from weak French kings during this time. The first dynasty of counts died out in 1119, but Flanders rose to the height of its power and wealth under a later line of counts whose principal members were Thierry of Alsace (1128–68) and his son Philip (1168–91).

Flanders, French Flandre, Flemish Vlaanderen, medieval principality in the southwest of the Low Countries, now included in the French département of Nord (q.v.), the Belgian provinces of East Flanders and West Flanders (qq.v.), and the Dutch province of Zeeland (q.v.). The name appeared as early as the 8th century and is believed to mean “Lowland,” or “Flooded Land.”
The origins of Flanders lay in the pagus Flandrensis, an area composed of Brugge (Bruges) and its immediate environs under the administration of the Frankish empire. At first Flandrensis was an inconspicuous district, but beginning in the 9th century, a remarkable line of Flemish counts succeeded in erecting a quasi-independent state on the borders between the French and German kingdoms.

When Charlemagne’s empire had been divided up under the Treaty of Verdun (843), the Schelde River had been made the dividing line between the Western and Eastern Frankish kingdoms. The rise of Flanders began when the official administrator of the pagus, Baldwin I Iron-Arm, married the Western Frankish king Charles II the Bald’s daughter in 862 and was appointed count of Flanders. His successors as count, among them Baldwin II (ruled 879–918), Arnulf I the Great (918–965), Baldwin IV the Bearded (988–1035), and Baldwin V (1035–67), gradually expanded their domain southward to the towns of Douai and Arras and eastward across the Schelde River to Ghent and Antwerp. These counts were vassals of the French king for what they held west of the Schelde (Crown Flanders, or Kroonvlaanderen, the most important part of the kingdom), and vassals of the German king for what they held east of it (called Imperial Flanders, or Rijksvlaanderen, as part of the Holy Roman Empire). The Flemish counts enjoyed virtual independence from weak French kings during this time. The first dynasty of counts died out in 1119, but Flanders rose to the height of its power and wealth under a later line of counts whose principal members were Thierry of Alsace (1128–68) and his son Philip (1168–91).