A letter from and her son William (1248, July 7)

Translated letter:

The following is the plan of peace initiated between the countess of Flanders and of Hainaut and William, her son, count of Flanders on one side, and on the other Floris, brother of the count of Holland, chosen as king of the Romans. The said Floris has promised to the aforesaid lady countess and her son that he will recognize fully to them all rights which their ancestors, counts of Flanders, held and possessed in the land of Zeeland, and he will also make the men of Zeeland recognize it, and he himself as well as said men of Zeeland will swear on this by oath and will grant their letters concerning the protection of this, and they will bring it about that the aforesaid lord king will recognize and confirm all the aforesaid rights that the lords and counts of Flanders held and possessed in the land of Zeeland in the time of aforesaid king’s ancestors; and regarding all these things that must be accomplished Floris will give to the said lady countess hostages, which the lady countess herself will detain in her prison until all the aforesaid things will have been fully accomplished, (and) when they have been carried out the aforesaid hostages must be freed. Moreover, Floris and other nobles of the land will come to the lady countess herself to ask for her grace and kindness, and Floris must put himself at the will of the lady countess and wherever she herself will have wished; and since the duke of Brabant has asked the lady countess to free him, she must hear the duke himself and free him. And if it should happen, God forbid, that the lord king should challenge the aforesaid in any way, beyond the homage that must be paid the lady countess, Floris his brother in no way should provide aid to the king his brother against the aforesaid countess or her heirs, and both he himself as well as the men of the land of Zeeland will swear to this and likewise will grant to the lady countess letters regarding the need to maintain this. In addition, Floris will render to the lady countess all his arrears that she lacks, received from his brother the king or from himself or from anyone else, from the land of Zeeland up to the present day, within the next two years to come, and he will cause to be submitted other arrears not yet received according to the custom thus far observed by the good and certain peace existing between the count of Flanders and the count of Holland; and concerning the said arrears that must be paid fully within the aforesaid time Floris will give to the lady countess sufficient hostages, who will remain with her until he will have made a pledge or other sufficient surety to her regarding the aforesaid. Floris will also grant letters and will swear that, if the land of Zeeland should in any way come to him, regarding the land itself he will pay homage to the lord of Flanders without opposition. In addition Floris has promised that he will restore to their heredity Peter of Soubbourc, Egidius of Koudekerke and all those who departed with them from the land of Zeeland, and he will quit them from all wrongdoing that they committed against the count of Holland up to the present day. Also the said Floris has promised and granted that for the inquest which the lady countess will make, he will render fully, at the decision of the lady countess, to said Peter and Egidius and theirs all their losses unjustly done to them; concerning the other losses that must be restored which according to the law were done to them, said Floris will assent to and stand by the advice of the lady countess, and to that effect Floris must hand over all those who were captured and all their property without payment and he must discharge in good faith what was able to be found. Likewise it should be known that both the lord king and the aforesaid Floris and the men of Zeeland are bound to beseech the lord Pope within the next year to come that he should confirm these agreements, namely concerning the recognition and confirmation of all the rights which the lords and counts of Flanders held from the counts of Holland and held in the land of Zeeland according to agreements prescribed and sealed by the counts of Holland, such that, if it should happen that said king or his brother or his successors or men of Zeeland at any time challenge the aforesaid agreements, God forbid, he should place their lands under interdict and excommunicate the persons of those same ones until satisfaction will have been made to the count of Flanders concerning the wrong. Moreover Floris and the men of Zeeland have promised that they will work toward this, that the said king may make amends suitably to the lady countess concerning the homage that must be paid for the land of Zeeland. Nonetheless it should be known that, if the duke of Brabant at the requests of the said Floris for his deliverance does not wish to send or come to the lady countess within eight days, the lady countess will allow Floris himself to return home freely. Granted in the year of the Lord 1248 on the morrow of the octave of Peter and Paul the apostles.(1)

Original letter:

Talis est forma pacis inita inter •• comitissam Flandrie et Haynonie et Willelmum, filium eius, comitem Flandrie ex una parte et Florentium, fratrem comitis Hollandie, electi in regem Romanorum, ex altera: Dictus Florentius promittit predictis domine comitisse et eius filio quod omnia iura que antecessores sui, comites Flandrie, tenuerunt et habuerunt in terra Zelandie, plenarie eis recognoscet et etiam homines Zelandie recognoscere fatiet, et hoc tam ipse quam dicti homines Zelandie iuramento firmabunt et litteras suas similiter de hoc servando dabunt, et procurabunt quod predictus dominus rex predicta iura omnia que domini et comites Flandrie tenuerunt et habuerunt in terra Zelandie tempore antecessorum predicti regis, recognoscet et confirmabit; et de hiis omnibus consummandis dabit Florentius obsides dicte domine •• comitisse, quos ipsa domina comitissa in sua prisonia detinebit donec predicta omnia plenarie consummentur, quibus consummatis debent predicti obsides liberari. Preterea Florentius et aliqui de nobilibus terre venient ad ipsam dominam comitissam requisituri gratiam suam et veniam, et Florentius debet se ponere in voluntate domine comitisse et ubi ipsa voluerit; et dum dux Brabantie dominam comitissam rogaverit liberare ipsum, ipsum ducem debet exaudire et eum liberare. Et si contingeret, quod absit, quod dominus •• rex contra predicta veniret in aliquo, preterquam de homagio domine comitisse faciendo, Florentius, frater eius, contra predictam comitissam vel eius heredes in nullo fratri suo •• regi auxilium prestaret, et hoc tam ipse quam homines terre Zelandi iurabunt et litteras domine •• comitisse similiter de hoc tenendo dabunt. Ad hec Florentius reddet domine •• comitisse omnia arreragia sua que ei deficiunt ex terra Zelandie usque in hodiernum diem recepta a fratre suo rege vel ab ipso vel a quocumque alio infra duos annos proximo venturos, et alia arreragia nondum recepta fatiet intusvenire secundum consuetudinem hactenus observatam firma pace et bona inter •• comitem Flandrie `et comitem Hollandie' existente; et de dictis arreragiis infra prefatum tempus plenarie persolvendis obsides dabit Florentius sufficientes domine •• comitisse, qui penes ipsam remanebunt donec cautionem fecerit ei de predictis 30 fideiussoriam vel aliam suffitientem. Dabit etiam Florentius litteras et iurabit quod, si terra Zelandie quoquo modo ad ipsum deveniret, de ipsa terra homagium faceret domino Flandrie sine contradictione. Ad hec promisit Florentius quod Petrum de Soubbourc, Egidium de Koudekerke et omnes illos qui cum eis de terra Zelandie recesserint, reponet in suas hereditates et quitabit ob omni forefacto quod erga •• comitem Hollandie usque in hodiernum diem perpetraverint. Promisit etiam dictus Florentius et concessit quod ad inquisitionem quam fatiet domina comitissa, dictis Petro et Egidio et suis omnia dampna sua iniuste eis facta, plenarie reddet ad dictum domine •• comitisse; de aliis autem dampnis reddendis que per legem eis facta sunt, consilio domine •• comitisse acquiescet dictus Florentius et stabit, et per tantum Florentius debet deliberare omnes illos qui capti sunt et bona omnia eorum sine custu et quitare bona fide que inveniri poterunt. Item sciendum quod tam dominus'•• rex quam prefatus Florentius et homines Zelandie domino pape supplicare tenentur infra annum proximo venturum quod conventiones istas, videlicet de recognitione et confirmatione iurium omnium que domini et comites Flandrie habuerunt a comitibus Hollandie et tenuerunt in terra Zelandie* secundum conventiones, prescriptas et sigillatas a comitibus Hollandie, confirmet ita quod, si contingat dictum regem vel fratrem eius vel eius successores vel homines Zelandie contra predictas conventiones aliquando venire, quod absit, terras eorum supponat interdicto et personas eorumdem excommunicet donee de iniuria •• comiti Flandrie fuerit satisfactum. Preterea promisit* Florentius et homines Zelandie quod laborabunt ad hoc quod dictus rex domine • comitisse de homagio terre Zelandie fatiendo satisfatiet competenter. Sciendum est tamen quod, si • dux Brabantie ad preces dicti Florentii pro deliberatione sua infra octo dies venire ad dominam comitissam vel mittere nollet, domina •• comitissa ipsum Florentium ad propria permitteret libere remeare. Actum anno Domini millesimo ducentesimo quadragesimo octavo, in crastino octabarum Petri et Pauli apostolorum.

Historical context:

In the struggles between Margaret’s sons from her first marriage, the Avesnes, and those from her second, the Dampierres, there were battles and destruction of property. John of Avesnes was helped by his in-laws, the counts of Holland, Margaret by her cousins, the kings of France. The countess’s failure to do homage to the empire for Flanders was a recurring issue, but as count of Holland, William owed her homage for Zeeland. This letter sets out the terms of one of the peace settlements.

Scholarly notes:

1 This translation was provided by Ashleigh Imus.

Printed source:

Oorkondenboek van Holland en Zeeland tot 1299, ed. A.C.F.Koch (Gravenhage: Martinus Nijhoo, 1970), 2.408-10, ep.758.

Date:

1248, July 7