Baldwin II of Mons was count of Hainaut from 1071 to his death. He was the younger son of Baldwin VI, Count of Flanders

Baldwin VI, Count of Flanders

Baldwin VI of Flanders was briefly Count of Flanders, from 1067 to 1070. He was also count of Hainaut from 1051 to 1070....

 and Richilde, Countess of Mons and Hainaut

Richilde, Countess of Mons and Hainaut

Richilde, Countess of Mons and Hainaut .Since the county of Hainaut would pass to the Counts of Flanders through marriage to her, she has often been mistakenly recorded a daughter of Regnier V of Mons, who was actually her father-in-law.She was married firstly to Herman of Mons, count of Hainaut,...

.

History

Baldwin became Count after the death of his older brother, Arnulf III, Count of Flanders

Arnulf III, Count of Flanders

Arnulf III was Count of Flanders and Count of Hainaut, as Arnulf I from 1070 to his death.He was the eldest son of Baldwin VI, Count of Flanders and Richilde, Countess of Mons and Hainaut.-History and Family:...

. The family claim to the title Count of Flanders

Count of Flanders

The Count of Flanders was the ruler or sub-ruler of the county of Flanders from the 9th century until the abolition of the position by the French revolutionaries in 1790....

 was lost by his brother's death, passing instead to their uncle Robert the Frisian

Robert I, Count of Flanders

thumb|Robert I of FlandersRobert I of Flanders , known as Robert the Frisian, was count of Flanders from 1071 to 1092.-History:...

.

Baldwin joined the First Crusade

First Crusade

The First Crusade was a military expedition by Western Christianity to regain the Holy Lands taken in the Muslim conquest of the Levant, ultimately resulting in the recapture of Jerusalem...

 in the company of Godfrey of Bouillon

Godfrey of Bouillon

Godfrey of Bouillon was a medieval Frankish knight who was one of the leaders of the First Crusade from 1096 until his death. He was the Lord of Bouillon, from which he took his byname, from 1076 and the Duke of Lower Lorraine from 1087...

 (rather than with Robert II of Flanders, whose family was still at odds with his own), after selling some of his property to the Bishopric of Liège

Bishopric of Liège

The Bishopric of Liège or Prince-Bishopric of Liège was a state of the Holy Roman Empire in the Low Countries in present Belgium. It acquired its status as a prince-bishopric between 980 and 985 when Bishop Notger, who had been the bishop of Liege since 972, acquired the status of Prince-Bishop...

. In 1098 he was sent back to Constantinople

Constantinople

Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

 with Hugh of Vermandois

Hugh of Vermandois

Hugh I , called Magnus or the Great, was a younger son of Henry I of France and Anne of Kiev and younger brother of Philip I. He was in his own right Count of Vermandois, but an ineffectual leader and soldier, great only in his boasting...

 after the siege of Antioch

Siege of Antioch

The Siege of Antioch took place during the First Crusade in 1097 and 1098. The first siege, by the crusaders against the Muslim city, lasted from October 21, 1097, to June 2, 1098. The second siege, against the crusaders who had occupied it, lasted from June 7 to June 28, 1098.-Background:Antioch...

, to seek assistance from Byzantine emperor Alexius I

Alexius I

Alexius I may refer to:*Alexios I Komnenos , Byzantine Emperor *Alexios I of Trebizond , great-great-grandson of the above, Emperor of Trapezunt...

. However, Baldwin disappeared during a raid by the Seljuk Turks in Anatolia

Anatolia

Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...

, and was presumably killed.

Family

He married Ida of Leuven (a daughter of Henry II, Count of Leuven

Henry II, Count of Leuven

Henry II was Count of Leuven from 1054 through 1071. Henry II was the son of Lambert II, Count of Leuven and Oda of Verdun. His maternal uncles included Pope Stephen X and Godfrey the Bearded, Duke of Lorraine....

 and sister of Godfrey I of Leuven, Duke of Lower Lotharingia

Godfrey I of Leuven

Godfrey I , called the Bearded, the Courageous, or the Great, was the landgrave of Brabant, and count of Brussels and Leuven from 1095 to his death and duke of Lower Lorraine from 1106 to 1129...

) in 1084. Their children were:

1. Baldwin III, Count of Hainaut
   Baldwin III, Count of Hainaut
   Baldwin III was count of Hainaut from 1098 to his death. He was son of Baldwin II, Count of Hainaut and Ida of Leuven.-History:Baldwin succeeded to the county of Hainaut in 1102. Baldwin married Yolande of Guelders at a young age. He had been betrothed to Adelaide of Maurienne, a niece of Countess...
   
   
2. Louis, living 1096
3. Simon, a canon in Liege
4. Henry, living 1096
5. Willem, died after 1117
6. Arnould; m. Beatrix von Ath (b. c. 1075–before 1136), daughter of Walter von Ath and Ade de Roucy. Father of Eustace the Elder of Roeulx.
7. Ida, (c. 1085–after 1101); 1m: Guy de Chievres; 2m: c. 1100 Thomas, Lord of Coucy
   Thomas, Lord of Coucy
   Thomas de Marle , the son of Enguerrand I and his repudiated wife, Adele de Marle, became the second of the Lords of Coucy.He is described as a "raging wolf" and fought against his father, whom he hated. Nevertheless, they both participated in the first crusade...
   
    (also called Thomas of Marle)
8. Richilde, (c. 1095–after 1118); m. c. 1115 (div. 1118) Amaury IV de Montfort. Became a nun at Mauberge after the death of her husband.
9. Aelidis, (before 1098–1153); m. Nicolas II de Rumigny

Sources

• Alan V. Murray, The Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: A Dynastic History, 1099-1125. Prosopographica et Genealogica, 2000.
• Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America Before 1700 by Frederick Lewis Weis, Lines 106-23, 163-24.

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