William of Ypres styled count of Flanders, (c. 1090 – 24 January 1164/1165[1]),[2][3] was King Stephen of England's chief lieutenant, during the English civil wars of 1139–54 known as the Anarchy. He commanded a contingent of Flemish soldiers.
He claimed the county of Flanders on the death of Charles the Good on 2 March 1127/28.[2]
Though no proof of his creation as Earl of Kent by King Stephen exists, chroniclers describe him as ‘possessing the county’ and having ‘having Kent in his custody’[2]. On this county, he exercised the same powers than the other earls; though he never adopted the comital style[2].
He founded the cisterian house of Boxley circa 1146[2].
Family
He was an illegitimate son of Philip of Loo, son of Robert I, Count of Flanders and Gertrude of Saxony[2]. He was a claimant in 1119 to the title of Count of Flanders; he lost out to Charles the Good, and again in 1127, when he lost out to William Clito[2]. The chronicle of Galbert of Bruges attributes his failure to his birth[2]. Finally, he was again in contention the following year (1128), after William Clito's death, but lost out to Thierry of Alsace, who eventually banished him from Flanders in 1133.[2]
Further reading
- James Bruce Ross (translator), The Murder of Charles the Good, 2nd edition 2005
Footnotes
- ^ 24 January 1164 Old Style, 1165 New Style
- ^ a b c d e f g h i William of Ypres Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
- ^ Person Page 476: William of Ypres Cites: "Revised by others later George Edward Cokayne The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct, or Dormant, I-XIII (in 6) (Thrupp, Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL5 2BU: Sutton Publishing Limited, 2000), VII:130."
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