The New International Encyclopædia/Baldwin I.

BALDWIN I. (1171—c.1206). The first Latin Emperor of Constantinople. He was born at Valenciennes, the son of Baldwin VIII., Count of Flanders and Hainault. In 1195 he succeeded his father as Count of Flanders. In 1200 he appointed his brother Philip to the regency of Hainault and Flanders, and joined the Fourth Crusade. Part of the Crusaders—Baldwin I. among others—were induced to assist the Venetians in reconquering Zara, in Dalmatia, from the King of Hungary. While at Zara the young Alexius, son of Isaac II., Emperor of Constantinople, asked the assistance of the Crusaders against his uncle, Alexius Angelus, who had deposed and blinded Isaac II., and had usurped the throne. In return for their aid he promised to pay the Crusaders a liberal sum of money, to help them recover Palestine, and to effect the union of the Greek Church with the Roman. The Crusaders agreed, defeated the usurper’s forces, and restored the rightful emperor; but when Alexius experienced some difficulty in carrying out his promises they turned their arms against him. A revolution broke out in the city at the same time. Alexius the Younger was murdered, and his father died soon after. Alexius Ducas Murzuflos then usurped the throne, but was defeated by the Crusaders, and Constantinople was sacked, the Latins and the Venetians sharing the booty. Baldwin was chosen emperor, and crowned on May 9, 1204; but he received only about a fourth part of the Empire—Constantinople and Thrace—the Venetians obtaining the greater share of the provinces. A part also fell to the French adventurers who accompanied the expedition, and several provinces remained in the hands of Greek princes. The capacities of Baldwin I. were not able to cope with the evils necessarily attending so anomalous a position. The Greeks were discontented, and, backed by Calo-John, King of Bulgaria, took advantage of the absence of Baldwin I.’s brother with the flower of his troops in Asia, and rose and massacred the Latins scattered throughout the towns of Thrace, and made themselves masters of Adrianople. Baldwin laid siege to the town with the forces he had at his disposal, but was defeated and taken prisoner, April 14, 1205, by the Bulgarian king, and probably died about a year after (1206) in captivity. The facts about his death were never known. In 1225 a usurper attempted to pass himself off for Baldwin, and thus obtain Flanders. Baldwin I. was succeeded by his brother Henry. Consult: Pears, Fall of Constantinople (London, 1885); Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, new ed. Vol. VI. (London, 1898).