Eustace II of Boulogne

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Eustace II of Boulogne

Eustace II, (c. 1015-1020 – 1087) was count of Boulogne

Count of Boulogne

The county of Boulogne was a historical region in the Low Countries. It consisted of a part of the present-day France d?partement of the Nord , in parts of which there is still a Flemish-speaking minority....
from 1049-1093, fought on the Norman side at the Battle of Hastings

Battle of Hastings

The Battle of Hastings was the decisive Normans victory in the Norman Conquest of England. It was fought between the Norman army of William I of England, and the English people army led by Harold Godwinson....
, and afterwards received a large honour

Honour (land)

In medieval England, an honour could consist of a great lordship, comprising dozens or hundreds of Manorialisms. Holders of honours often attempted to preserve the integrity of an honour over time, administering its properties as a unit, maintaining inheritances together, etc....
in England.

He was the son of Eustace I

Eustace I of Boulogne

Eustace I, count of Boulogne, was a son of Count Baldwin II of Boulogne and Adeline of Holland. He held the county from 1046 until his death in 1049....
. His first wife was Goda, daughter of the English king Æthelred the Unready, and sister of Edward the Confessor

Edward the Confessor

Saint Edward the Confessor , son of Ethelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, was the penultimate Anglo-Saxons List of the monarchs of the Kingdom of England and the last of the House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 until his death....
. Goda died in 1055, before the Norman Conquest of her homeland, in which her husband participated. From his second marriage with Ida of Lorraine

Ida of Lorraine

Ida of Lorraine was a saint and noblewoman.She was born in Bouillon, Ardenne, South Belgium, the daughter of Godfrey III, Duke of Lower Lorraine and his wife, Doda.....
(daughter of Godfrey III, Duke of Lower Lorraine

Godfrey III, Duke of Lower Lorraine

Godfrey III , called the Bearded, was the eldest son of Gothelo I, Duke of Lorraine, duke of Duke of Lorraine and Duke of Lower Lorraine. By inheritance, he was count of Verdun and he became margrave of Antwerp as a vassal of the duke of Lower Lorraine....
), Eustace had three sons, Eustace III, the next count of Boulogne, and Godfrey of Bouillon

Godfrey of Bouillon

Godfrey of Bouillon was a medieval 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....
and Baldwin

Baldwin I of Jerusalem

Baldwin I of Jerusalem, formerly Baldwin I of Edessa, born Baldwin of Boulogne , 1058? - April 2, 1118, was one of the leaders of the First Crusade, who became the first County of Edessa and then the second ruler and first titled Kingdom of Jerusalem....
, both later monarchs of Jerusalem

Kingdom of Jerusalem

The Kingdom of Jerusalem was a Christianity kingdom established in the Levant in 1099 after the First Crusade. It lasted nearly two hundred years, from 1099 until 1291 when the last remaining possession, Acre, Israel, was destroyed by the Mamluks....
.

In 1048 Eustace joined his father-in-law's rebellion against the Emperor Henry III

Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor

Henry III , called the Black or the Pious, was a member of the Salian Dynasty of Holy Roman Empire. He was the eldest son of Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor and Gisela of Swabia and his father made him duke of Bavaria in 1026, after the death of Henry V, Duke of Bavaria....
.

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Eustace II, (c. 1015-1020 – 1087) was count of Boulogne

Count of Boulogne

Battle of Hastings

Honour (land)

Eustace I of Boulogne

Edward the Confessor

Ida of Lorraine

Godfrey III, Duke of Lower Lorraine

Godfrey of Bouillon

Baldwin I of Jerusalem

Kingdom of Jerusalem

Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor

Prohibited degree of kinship

The prohibited degree of kinship refers to a degree of consanguinity below which sexual interrelationships are regarded as incestuous. Inbreeding is a taboo across nearly all cultures worldwide, but the line at which a relationship is considered incestuous varies....
. It's likely the pope's action was at the behest of Henry III. The rebellion failed, and in 1049 Eustance and Godfrey submitted to Henry III.

Eustace paid a visit to England

England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
in 1051, and was honourably received at the Confessor's court. Edward and Eustace were former brothers-in-law and remained allied politically. On the other hand the dominant figure in England, Earl Godwin

Godwin, Earl of Wessex

Godwin of Wessex, also known as Godwine, Goodwin, Godwyn or Goodwyn was one of the most powerful lords in Kingdom of England under the Denmark king Canute the Great and his successors....
, had recently married his son Tostig to the daughter of Eustace's rival the count of Flanders. Furthermore Godwin's son Sweyn

Sweyn Godwinson

Sweyn Godwinson was the eldest son of Godwin, Earl of Wessex, and brother of Harold II of England....
had been feuding with Eustace's stepson Ralph the Timid

Ralph the Timid

Ralph the Timid was the Earl of Hereford from 1052 until his death in 1057. He was the son of Drogo of Mantes, Count of the Vexin, and Goda, daughter of King Ethelred the Unready of England and Emma of Normandy....
.

A brawl in which Eustace and his servants became involved with the citizens of Dover led to a serious quarrel between the king and Godwin. The latter, to whose jurisdiction the men of Dover were subject, refused to punish them. His lack of respect to those in authority was made the excuse for outlawing himself and his family. They left England, but returned the next year (1052) with a large army, aided by the Flemish.

In 1052 William of Talou

William of Talou

William of Talou was the son of Richard II of Normandy of Normandy and Papia from Envermeu. His brother was Mauger Archbishop of Rouen, who became archbishop of Rouen in 1037....
rebelled against his nephew William

William I of England

William I , better known as William the Conqueror , was Duke of Normandy from 1035 and English monarchy from later 1066 to his death. William is sometimes also referred to as "William II" in relation to his position as the second Duke of Normandy of that name....
of Normandy. Eustace may well have been involved in this rebellion, although there is no specific evidence, for after William of Talou's surrender he fled to the Boulonnais court.

The following years saw still further advances by Eustace's rivals and enemies. Count Baldwin of Flanders consolidated his hold over territories he had annexed to the east. In 1060 he became regent of France during the minority of his nephew Philip I of France

Philip I of France

Philip I , called the Amorous, was List of French monarchs from 1060 to his death. His reign, like that of most of the early House of Capet, was extraordinarily long for the time....
. In contrast Eustace's stepson Walter of Mantes failed in his attempt to claim the County of Maine. He was captured by the Normans and died soon afterwards in mysterious circumstances.

These events evidently caused a shift in Eustace political allegiances, for he then became an important participant in the Norman conquest of England in 1066. He fought at Hastings, although sources vary regarding the details of his conduct during the battle. Eustace received large land grants afterwards, which suggests he contributed in other ways as well, perhaps by providing ships.

In the following year, probably because he was dissatisfied with his share of the spoil, he assisted the Kent

Kent

Kent is a Counties of England in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the River Thames estuary....
ishmen in an attempt to seize Dover Castle

Dover Castle

Dover Castle is situated at Dover, Kent and has been described as the "Key to England" due to its defensive significance throughout history....
. The conspiracy failed, and Eustace was sentenced to forfeit his English fiefs.

Subsequently he was reconciled to the Conqueror, who restored a portion of the confiscated lands.

Eustace died in 1093, and was succeeded by his son, Eustace III.

It has been suggested that Eustace was the patron of the Bayeux Tapestry

Bayeux Tapestry

The Bayeux Tapestry is a 50 cm by 70 m long embroidery cloth?not an actual tapestry?which explains the events leading up to the Norman conquest of England as well as the events of the invasion itself....
.

Eustace has been portrayed on screen by Leslie Bradley in the film Lady Godiva of Coventry
Lady Godiva of Coventry

Lady Godiva of Coventry is an American historical film, directed by Arthur Lubin and released in 1955 in film. It starred Maureen O'Hara in the title role....
(1955) and by Joby Blanshard in the two-part BBC TV play Conquest (1966), part of the series Theatre 625
Theatre 625

Theatre 625 is a British television drama anthology series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC Two from 1964 to 1968. It was one of the first regular programmes in the line-up of the channel, and the title highlighted the fact that it was produced and transmitted on the higher-definition 625-line format, which at the time only BBC...
.