Coat of arms of the counts of Flanders.

The count of Flanders was the ruler or sub-ruler of the county of Flanders, beginning in the 9th century.^[1] Later, the title would be held for a time, by the rulers of the Holy Roman Empire and Spain. During the French Revolution, in 1790, the county of Flanders was annexed to France and ceased to exist. In the 19th century, the title was appropriated by Belgium and granted twice to younger sons of Belgian kings. The most recent holder died in 1983.^[2]

In 862 Baldwin I was appointed as the first Margrave of Flanders by King Charles II. It was a military appointment, responsible for repelling the Viking raids from the coast of Francia. The title of margrave (or marquis) evolved into that of count. Arnulf I was the first to name himself as count, by the Grace of God. The title of margrave largely fell out of use by the 12th century. Since then, the rulers of Flanders have only been referred to as counts.

The counts of Flanders enlarged their estate through a series of diplomatic marriages. The counties of Hainaut, Namur, Béthune, Nevers, Auxerre, Rethel, Burgundy, and Artois were all acquired in this manner. However, the County of Flanders suffered the same fate in turn. As a result of the marriage of Countess Margaret III with Philip II, Duke of Burgundy, the county and the subsidiary counties entered a personal union with the Duchy of Burgundy in 1405.^[3]

The counts of Flanders were also associated with the Duchy of Brittany prior to its union with France. In c. 1323, Joan, the daughter of Arthur II, Duke of Brittany, married the second son of Count Robert III. Joanna of Flanders, the granddaughter of Count Robert III and daughter of his son, Count Louis I, married John Montfort.^[4] During Montfort's imprisonment, she fought on his behalf, alongside English allies, during the Breton War of Succession for the ducal crown, which was won definitively by her son John V, Duke of Brittany. It was through this alliance that the Duchy of Brittany was eventually joined to the throne of France.^[5]

List of counts

House of Flanders

Portrait	Name	Lifespan	Reign	Consorts	Succession
	Baldwin VIII	1150 – 17 December 1195	1 August 1191 - 17 December 1194	Margaret I c. 1169 8 children	Husband of Margaret I
	Baldwin IX	July 1172 – c. 1205	1194 - 1205	Marie of Champagne 6 January 1186 Valenciennes 2 daughters	Son of Margaret I and Baldwin VIII, also Latin Emperor of Constantinople
	Joan	c. 1199 – 5 December 1244	1205 – 5 December 1244	(1) Ferdinand of Portugal 1212 Paris no issue (2) Thomas of Savoy-Piedmont 2 April 1237 no issue	Daughter of Baldwin IX
	Ferdinand	24 March 1188 – 27 July 1233	1212 – 27 July 1233	Joan, Countess of Flanders 1212 Paris no issue	Husband of Joan
	Thomas	c. 1199 – 7 February 1259	2 April 1237 – 5 December 1244	Joan, Countess of Flanders 2 April 1237 no issue	Husband of Joan
	Margaret II	1202 – 10 February 1280	5 December 1244 – 29 December 1278	(1) Bouchard IV of Avesnes c. 23 July 1212 3 sons (2) William II of Dampierre 18 August/15 November 1223 5 children	Sister of Joan

In 1244, the Counties of Flanders and Hainaut were claimed by Margaret II's sons, the half-brothers John I of Avesnes and William III of Dampierre in the War of the Succession of Flanders and Hainault. In 1246, King Louis IX of France awarded Flanders to William.

House of Dampierre

Portrait	Name	Lifespan	Reign	Consorts	Succession
	William II	1224 – 6 June 1251	1247 - 6 June 1251	Beatrice of Brabant November 1247 no issue	Son of Margaret II and William II of Dampierre
	Guy	c.  1226 – 7 March 1305	6 June 1251 - 7 March 1305	(1) Matilda of Béthune June 1246 8 children (2) Isabelle of Luxembourg March 1265 8 children	Brother of William II
	Robert III	1249 – 17 September 1322	7 March 1305 – 17 September 1322	(1) Blanche of Sicily 1265 1 son (died young) (2) Yolande II, Countess of Nevers c. 1271 5 children	Son of Guy: also Count of Nevers
	Louis I	c. 1304 – 26 August 1346	17 September 1322 – 26 August 1346	Margaret I, Countess of Burgundy 1320 1 son	Grandson of Robert III
	Louis II	25 October 1330 – 30 January 1384	26 August 1346 – 30 January 1384	Margaret of Brabant 1347 1 daughter	Son of Louis I; also Count of Burgundy
	Margaret III	13 April 1350 – 16 March 1405	30 January 1384 – 16 March 1405	(1) Philip I, Duke of Burgundy 1355 no issue (2) Philip II, Duke of Burgundy 19 June 1369 9 children	Daughter of Louis II

House of Burgundy

Portrait	Name	Lifespan	Reign	Consorts	Succession
	Philip II	17 January 1342 – 27 April 1404	1363 – 27 April 1404	Margaret III 19 June 1369 9 children	Husband of Margaret III; also Duke of Burgundy
	John	28 May 1371 – 10 September 1419	27 April 1404 – 10 September 1419	Margaret of Bavaria 12 April 1385 Cambrai 8 children	Son of Philip II and Margaret III
	Philip III	31 July 1396 – 15 June 1467	10 September 1419 – 15 June 1467	(1) Michelle of Valois June 1409 1 daughter (died young) (2) Bonne of Artois 30 November 1424 Moulins-les-Engelbert no issue (3) Isabella of Portugal 7 January 1430 3 sons 18 illegitimate children	Son of John
	Charles II	10 November 1433 – 5 January 1477	15 June 1467 – 5 January 1477	(1) Catherine of France 19 May 1440 Blois no issue (2) Isabella of Bourbon 30 October 1454 Lille 1 daughter (3) Margaret of York 3 July 1468 Damme no issue	Son of Philip III
	Mary	13 February 1457 – 27 March 1482	5 January 1477 – 27 March 1482	Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor 19 August 1477 Ghent 3 children	Daughter of Charles II

House of Habsburg

Portrait	Name	Lifespan	Reign	Consorts	Succession
	Maximilian I	22 March 1459 – 12 January 1519	19 August 1477 – 27 March 1482	(1) Mary of Burgundy 19 August 1477 Ghent 3 children (2) Anne, Duchess of Brittany 19 December 1490 Rennes Cathedral no issue (3) Bianca Maria Sforza 16 March 1494 Hall in Tirol no issue	Husband of Mary
	Philip IV	22 July 1478 – 25 September 1506	27 March 1482 – 25 September 1506	Joanna of Castile 20 October 1496 Lier 6 children	Son of Mary and Maximilian I
	Charles III	24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558	25 September 1506 – 25 October 1555	Isabella of Portugal 10 March 1526 Alcázar Palace 7 children	Son of Philip IV

Charles V proclaimed the Pragmatic Sanction of 1549 eternally uniting Flanders with the other lordships of the Low Countries in a personal union. When the Habsburg empire was divided among the heirs of Charles V, the Low Countries, including Flanders, went to Philip II of Spain, of the Spanish branch of the House of Habsburg.

Portrait	Name	Lifespan	Reign	Consorts	Succession
	Philip V	21 May 1527 – 13 September 1598	16 January 1556 – 6 May 1598	(1) Maria Manuela of Portugal 12 November 1543 Salamanca 1 son (2) Mary I of England 25 July 1554 Winchester Cathedral no issue (3) Elisabeth of Valois 1559 Guadalajara 2 daughters (4) Anna of Austria May 1570 5 children	Son of Charles III
	Isabella Clara Eugenia	12 August 1566 – 1 December 1633	6 May 1598 – 13 July 1621	Albert VII, Archduke of Austria 18 April 1599 Valencia no issue	Daughter of Philip V; ruled jointly with her husband Albert VII, Archduke of Austria
	Albert	13 November 1559 – 13 July 1621	6 May 1598 – 13 July 1621	Isabella Clara Eugenia 18 April 1599 Valencia no issue	Husband of Isabella Clara Eugenia
	Philip VI	8 April 1605 – 17 September 1665	13 July 1621 – 17 September 1665	(1) Elisabeth of France 18 October 1615 Bordeaux 8 children (2) Mariana of Austria 7 October 1649 Navalcarnero 5 children	Grandson of Philip V
	Charles IV	6 November 1661 – 1 November 1700	17 September 1665 – 1 November 1700	(1) Marie Louise d'Orléans 19 November 1679 Quintanapalla no issue (2) Maria Anna of Neuburg 14 May 1690 Valladolid no issue	Son of Philip VI

House of Bourbon

Portrait	Name	Lifespan	Reign	Consorts	Succession
	Philip VII	19 December 1683 – 9 July 1746	1 November 1700 – 14 March 1713	(1) Maria Luisa of Savoy 2 November 1701 4 sons (2) Elisabeth Farnese 16 September 1714 Parma 6 children	Great-grandson of Philip VI

Between 1706 and 1714, Flanders was invaded by the English and the Dutch during the War of the Spanish Succession. The fief was claimed by the House of Habsburg and the House of Bourbon. In 1713, the Treaty of Utrecht settled the succession and the County of Flanders went to the Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg.

House of Habsburg

Portrait	Name	Lifespan	Reign	Consorts	Succession
	Charles V	1 October 1685 – 20 October 1740	7 September 1714 – 20 October 1740	Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel 1 August 1708 Santa Maria del Mar 4 children	Great-grandson of Philip III, also Holy Roman Emperor
	Maria Theresa	13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780	20 October 1740 – 29 November 1780	Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor 12 February 1736 Augustinian Church, Vienna 16 children	Daughter of Charles V, jointly with Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor
	Francis I	8 December 1708 – 18 August 1765	21 November 1740 – 18 August 1765	Maria Theresa 12 February 1736 Augustinian Church, Vienna 16 children	Husband of Maria Theresa
	Joseph	13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790	18 August 1765 – 20 February 1790	(1) Isabella of Parma October 1760 Vienna 5 children (died young) (2) Maria Josepha of Bavaria 25 January 1765 Schönbrunn Palace no issue	Son of Maria Theresa and Francis I
	Leopold	5 May 1747 – 1 March 1792	20 February 1790 – 1 March 1792	Maria Luisa of Spain 16 February 1764 Madrid 16 children	Brother of Joseph
	Francis II	12 February 1768 – 2 March 1835	1 March 1792 – 17 October 1797	(1) Elisabeth of Württemberg 6 January 1788 Vienna 1 daughter (died young) (2) Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily 15 September 1790 12 children (3) Maria Ludovika of Austria-Este 6 January 1808 no issue (4) Caroline Augusta of Bavaria 29 October 1816 no issue	Son of Leopold

The title was abolished de facto after revolutionary France annexed Flanders in 1795. Emperor Francis II relinquished his claim to the Low Countries in the Treaty of Campo Formio of 1797, and the area remained part of France until the end of the Napoleonic Wars.

Modern usage

Sources

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Counts of Flanders.

See also

• Marek, Miroslav. "Genealogy of the counts of Flanders". Genealogy EU. Archived from the original on 2007-10-28. Retrieved 2006-06-04.
• Counts of Flanders family tree