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Archiver > GEN-MEDIEVAL > 2004-09 > 1094711434
From: Stewart Baldwin < >
Subject: Re: Tanner on the counts of Boulogne
Date: Thu, 09 Sep 2004 06:30:34 GMT
References: <7f3ac78c.0409051157.1ce2c04e@posting.google.com> <413C92E0.10306@interfold.com> <zS9%c.21989$D7.20257@news-server.bigpond.net.au> <gogsj09pvudgqpgklf7noh3u0uobcaukkq@4ax.com> <DHy%c.23359$D7.11027@news-server.bigpond.net.au>
Here is the genealogical table of the early counts of Boulogne (up
through Eustace I) as it appears on page 290 of Heather Tanner's new
book "Families, Friends, and Allies - Boulogne and Politics in
Northern France and England, c. 879-1160". As usual, a constant with
font and a line length of at least 70 are needed for the table to view
correctly. Please keep in mind that the documentation for most of
this table is still troublesome, so it should only be interpreted as
Tanner's opinion unless more convincing support is produced.
Baldwin II of Flanders m. Elstrude, K. Alfred's daughter
(879-918) |
___________________|_______________________
| | | |
Arnulf I Ealswid Ermengarth Adalulf
of Flanders of Boulogne (918-33)
m. ?
|
_______________________|.............
| | |
Arnulf I brother Baldwin Balzo
(962-c. 988) (d. 961/2) (d. 973)
_____________|_______
| |
Baldwin I Arnulf II
of Boulogne of Ternois
(c. 988-1024) (c. 988-1019)
m. m. ?
Adelvie ? of Gent
| _____|______
Eustace I | |
(1024-47) son son/daughter
m.
Matilda of Louvain
|
etc.
[Note: I have put the line from Arnulf I and his brothers sticking up
into nowhere as the carelessly printed genealogical table has it, but
it is clear from the text that Adalulf is the intended father. (In
fact, the first three generations are reasonably well documented.)]
I have now searched the book enough to say that if there is any
coherent discussion of the documentation for the generations from
Arnulf I of Boulogne to Eustace I, then it is well hidden in the book.
I have searched every page listed in the index for Arnulf I, Arnulf
II, Baldwin I, and Adelvie without finding any cited contemporary
authority for identifying Arnulf I as father of Baldwin I and Arnulf
II, Baldwin I and Arnulf II as brothers, Baldwin I as father of
Eustace I, or Adelvie as wife of Baldwin I or mother of Eustace (she
is stated in Hariulf's Chronicle of the abbey of St. Riquer to have
married a count of Boulogne, but his name is not given).
So far, the most detailed discussion I have found on this part of the
genealogy (not counting undocumented statements of relationship as
fact) is footnote 39 on page 79 (The index is not very good, so there
could very well be more discussion which I have not seen): "Although
Rigaux thinks that Eustace I was the brother of Arnulf II of Ternois,
his death in 1047 strongly suggests that he was Baldwin's son, not
brother. Rigaux's genealogy does not include Baldwin of Boulogne,
which overlooks the evidence of the 988 charter for St. Peter's Gent
issued by Baldwin IV."
Although I have not seen Rigaux ("Recherches Sur Les Premiers Comtes
de Boulogne", Bulletin de la société académique de l'arrondissement de
Boulogne-sur-Mer 6 (1900-03):361-9), it is not hard to guess here that
he is relying on Lambert of Ardres (not necessarily reliable on this
point), who gives "Ernicule" (evidently Arnulf I of Boulogne) two sons
Arnulf and Eustace.
Page 71 mentions the charter of Baldwin IV of Flanders that Tanner
cites as evidence for Baldwin I of Boulogne (see footnote 4 for the
list of witnesses). It appears that this count Baldwin was not
specifically identified as a count of Boulogne, and I have not seen
anything in Tanner's book giving clear contemporary documentation for
the existence of count Baldwin I of Boulogne.
There is a noncontemporary genealogy of the counts of Boulogne stating
that Eustace was a son of count Baldwin of Boulogne by his wife Ada de
Gant (no parentage stated), with Baldwin supposedly being the son of a
count Guy of Boulogne ("Guido à la Blanke-Barbe"), among other dubious
statements (only some of which seem to have found their way into the
internet sites) [see RHF 11: 346]. This would seem like a likely
source used by Tanner for some of her conclusions on this part of the
genealogy, although I have not yet found any citations to that effect.
On page 76, note 23, she cites Duchesne's genealogy of the counts of
Guînes, etc. (available on Gallica), p. 38 as stating without proof
that Adelvie was a daughter of count Arnulf of Gent (although she
should have noted that Duchesne hedged his statement: "... on peut
presumer ..."), and she places Adelvie as a daughter of Arnulf,
qualified with a question mark, on the genealogical table on page 299.
While I have no quarrel with eliminating "Guido à la Blanke-Barbe"
from the list of historical counts of Boulogne, it would seem that a
reasonable discussion of the topic of this genealogy would at least
mention him, if only to explain the reason for rejecting him. This
Guy does not appear in the index, although I have found "Guy
White-beard" mentioned in a footnote on page 282 (without saying who
he is). The index is not very good, so it is hard to say what other
references might occur on pages which I have not yet checked. I have
also noticed more proofreading errors than I should have on such a
brief examination of the book. My favorite so far is the discovery
(p. 350) of king "Etudes" of France (888-898), of whose existence I
had not previously heard. :-)
Although this book has been a great disappointment so far, there are
probably still some useful tidbits in there that a more careful
reading will turn up, and I will report any that I find.
Stewart Baldwin
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