Matthew of Alsace
Matthew | |
|---|---|
 Coat of arms of the county of Boulogne | |
| Count of Boulogne | |
Reign | 1160–1173 |
Predecessor | Marie I |
Successor | Ida |
| Born | c. 1137 |
| Died | 1173 (aged c. 36) |
| Noble family | House of Alsace |
| Spouses | Marie de Boulogne Eleanor of Vermandois |
Issue | Ida, Countess of Boulogne Matilda of Flanders, Duchess of Brabant |
| Father | Thierry, Count of Flanders |
| Mother | Sibylla of Anjou |
Matthew of Alsace (c. 1137–1173) was the count of Boulogne from 1160. He was the second son of Thierry, Count of Flanders and Sibylla of Anjou. Matthew forcibly abducted the nun Marie I of Boulogne and constrained her into marriage, claiming the title of Count of Boulogne jure uxoris in 1160. The forced marriage was opposed by the Church and finally annulled in 1170, but he continued to rule as count until his death.
Matthew and Marie had two daughters: Ida and Matilda.[1] In 1171, Matthew married Eleanor of Vermandois; they had one short-lived daughter.[2]
Matthew was a supporter of Henry the Young King,[3] and received lands in England. He died fighting at the siege of Driencourt,[4] during the 1173–74 revolt of the sons of King Henry II of England, under the leadership of Matthew's brother Count Philip I of Flanders. Wounded by a crossbow bolt, he did not recover.[5]
References
[edit]- ↑ McDougall 2017, p. 204.
- ↑ Dyggve 1935, p. 67-68.
- ↑ Strickland 2016, p. 139.
- ↑ Flori 2007, p. 106.
- ↑ Gillingham 1989, p. 67.
Sources
[edit]- Dyggve, Holger Petersen (1935). "Personnages historiques figurant dans la poésie lyrique française des XII e et XIII e siècles. III: Les dames du »Tournoiement» de Huon d'Oisi". Neuphilologische Mitteilungen (in French). 36 (2): 65–91.
- Flori, Jean (2007). Eleanor of Aquitaine: Queen and Rebel. Edinburgh University Press.
- George, Hereford Brooke (1875). Genealogical Tables Illustrative of Modern History. Oxford at the Clarendon Press.
- Gillingham, John (1989). Richard the Lionheart. Yale University Press.
- McDougall, Sara (2017). Royal Bastards: The Birth of Illegitimacy, 800-1230. Oxford University Press.
- Strickland, Matthew (2016). Henry the Young King, 1155-1183. Yale University Press.