Eustace III was the count of Boulogne from 1087 succeeding his father, Eustace II. He joined the First Crusade, being present at Nicaea, Dorylaeum, Antioch, and Jerusalem. After fighting in the battle of Ascalon, he returned home. Initially offered the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Eustace was at Apulia when he received news of Baldwin of Bourcq's election to the throne. On his return to Boulogne, he founded a Cluniac monastery in Rumilly, retired as a monk, and died in 1125.
Theoderic, commonly known as Thierry of Alsace, was the fifteenth count of Flanders from 1128 to 1168. With a record of four campaigns in the Levant and Africa, he had a rare and distinguished record of commitment to crusading.
Arnulf I, called "the Great", was the first Count of Flanders.
Baldwin VI, also known as Baldwin the Good, was Count of Hainaut from 1051 to 1070 and Count of Flanders from 1067 to 1070.
Robert I, known as Robert the Frisian, was count of Flanders from 1071 until his death in 1093. He was a son of Baldwin V, Count of Flanders, and the younger brother of Baldwin VI, Count of Flanders. He usurped the countship after defeating his nephew Arnulf III and his allies, which included King Philip I of France, Count Eustace of Boulogne and the counts of Saint-Pol and Ardres at the Battle of Cassel. He subsequently made peace with Philip, who became his stepson-in-law, but remained hostile to his sister Matilda and her husband William the Conqueror, who was king of England and duke of Normandy.
Robert II, Count of Flanders was Count of Flanders from 1093 to 1111. He became known as Robert of Jerusalem or Robert the Crusader after his exploits in the First Crusade.
Arnulf III was Count of Flanders from 1070 until his death at the Battle of Cassel in 1071.
Baldwin II (1056–1098?) was count of Hainaut from 1071 to his death. He was an unsuccessful claimant to the County of Flanders. He disappeared in Anatolia during the First Crusade.
Baldwin III (1088–1120) was count of Hainaut from 1098 to his death.
Hugh II was the count of St. Pol in Artois, after having succeeded his brother Guy I who died without issue. He was the son of Hugh I. He participated in the First Crusade (1096–99) with his son Enguerrand, where they both won fame as military leaders. Being vassals of Eustace III of Boulogne, they probably travelled east in his company, among the retinue of Godfrey of Bouillon.
Eustace I Granier, also known as Eustace Grenier or Eustace Garnier, called in Latin Eustachius Granarius in the charters, was a Flemish crusader who took part in the First Crusade. He became lord of Caesarea in 1101 and lord of Sidon in 1110. On 18 April 1123, he was elected constable and bailiff of Jerusalem during the captivity of Baldwin II of Jerusalem. Shortly before his death, he defeated a Fatimid army at the Battle of Yibneh near Ibelin.
Eustace Grenier is quoted in a text in verse written during his life in honour of the knights of the diocese of Thérouanne who accompanied Baldwin of Boulogne to the Holy Land.
Contemporary authors and historians identify Eustace Grenier as a nobleman from the diocese of Thérouanne in the County of Saint-Pol. Alan V. Murray, historian of the Crusades, writes: "However, his origins can be established with a high degree of certainty. The Versus de viris illustribus diocesis Tarvanensis qui in sacra fuere expeditione identifies him as a Fleming from the diocese of Therouanne".
Sibylla of Anjou was a countess consort of Flanders as the wife of Thierry, Count of Flanders. She served as the regent of Flanders during the absence of her spouse from 1147 to 1149.
Adele of Vermandois was both a Carolingian as well as a Robertian Frankish noblewoman who was the Countess of Flanders by marriage (934–960).
Fulk of Guînes was the first Lord of Beirut (1110–c.1117) following its conquest in the wake of the First Crusade. He was from Guînes in the Boulonnais, the second son of Count Baldwin I of Guînes and distantly related to the counts of Boulogne.
Manasses II, was the Archbishop of Rheims (1096–1106), most significantly at the time of the First Crusade and the Crusade of 1101.
The Battle of Cassel was fought in February 1071 between Robert I of Flanders and his nephew, Arnulf III. The battle was a victory for Robert, and Arnulf was killed in the battle.
Walter Giffard, Lord of Longueville in Normandy, 1st Earl of Buckingham was an Anglo-Norman magnate.
The House of Flanders, also called the Baldwins, was a medieval ruling family of Frankish origin that was founded by Baldwin Iron Arm, son-in-law of Charles the Bald. The House of Flanders was the first dynasty to transform a county function of the Carolingian Empire into a hereditary fiefdom, the County of Flanders, falling under West Francia, created by the Treaty of Verdun in 843.
Gerbod the Fleming, of Oosterzele, 1st Earl of Chester, was a hereditary advocate of the Abbey of Saint Bertin at Saint-Omer, County of Flanders and Earl of Chester in 1070.
Robert II of Flanders' army was formed shortly after that of his kinsman Godfrey of Bouillon, arriving in Constantinople considerably later. His wife Clementia of Burgundy was regent of Flanders in his absence. The known members of the army, mostly Flemish, included the ones listed below, as reported in histories of the First Crusade. Unless otherwise noted, references are to the on-line database of Riley-Smith, et al., and the hyperlinks therein provide details including original sources. The names below are also referenced in the Riley-Smith tome, Appendix I: Preliminary List of Crusaders. Those references are not shown unless they appear elsewhere in the text of the book. Articles that are hyperlinked to a more detailed article in this encyclopædia rely on the latter for references.
