William of Ypres styled count of Flanders,(circa 1090 – 24 January 1164/5[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 1126/7.[3] He was made Earl of Kent in 1141 by king Stephen, for his service, (but never styled as such,[3]) and deprived of the title by King Henry II in about 1155. He founded Boxley Abbey in the 1140s.
Family
He was an illegitimate son of Philip of Loo, son of Floris I, Count of Holland and Gertrude of Saxony. 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. The chronicle of Galbert of Bruges attributes his failure to a lack of trustworthiness, as well as his birth. 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.
Further Reading
- James Bruce Ross (translator), The Murder of Charles the Good, 2nd edition 2005
Footnotes
- ^ 24 January 1164 Old Style, 1165 New Style
- ^ William of Ypres Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
- ^ a b c 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."
