Ralph I, Count of Vermandois

Ralph I
Count of Vermandois
Reign	1102–1152
Predecessor	Adelaide, Countess of Vermandois and Hugh, Count of Vermandois
Successor	Ralph II
Died	(1152-10-14)14 October 1152
Spouses	Eleanor of Champagne Petronilla of Aquitaine Laurette of Flanders
Issue	Elisabeth, Countess of Vermandois Ralph II, Count of Vermandois Eleanor, Countess of Vermandois
House	Capet
Father	Hugh, Count of Vermandois
Mother	Adelaide, Countess of Vermandois

Ralph I of Vermandois (French: Raoul I^er) (d. 14 October 1152) was Count of Vermandois. He was a son of Hugh, Count of Vermandois and his wife, Adelaide, Countess of Vermandois. ^[1] Ralph was a grandson of Henry I of France, while Ralph's mother had been the Carolingian heiress to Herbert IV, Count of Vermandois.

Ralph's paternal uncle was Philip I of France. Through him Ralph was a first cousin of Louis VI of France and a first cousin once removed of Louis VII of France.

Ralph served as the seneschal of France during the reign of Louis VI. ^[2] Under pressure from the queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Louis allowed Ralph to repudiate his wife, Eleanor of Champagne, sister of Stephen, King of England, in favor of Eleanor of Aquitaine's sister, Petronilla of Aquitaine. ^[3] This led to a war with Theobald II of Champagne, who was the brother of Ralph's first wife Eleanor. The war lasted two years (1142–44) and ended with the occupation of Champagne by the royal army.

Ralph and Petronilla were excommunicated by Pope Innocent II for a marriage deemed illegitimate, overriding three bishops who had already annulled Ralph's prior marriage. ^[3] With Eleanor's death in 1147, the following year Pope Eugene III, legitimized the marriage at the Council of Reims. ^[4]

Image of Ralph taken from his seal

Family and children

Ralph was married three times:

1. in 1125 to Eleanor, daughter of Stephen, Count of Blois. Their marriage ended in divorce in 1140 ^[3] and she died in 1147.

2. in 1140 to Petronilla of Aquitaine; ^[3] they had three children, each of whom would eventually marry a child of Count Thierry of Flanders:

• Elizabeth (or Isabelle) Mabile, countess of Vermandois and Valois (1143–1183), married Philip I, Count of Flanders; no issue. ^[5]
• Ralph II, count of Vermandois and Valois (1145–1167), ^[6] was the first husband of Margaret of Lorraine, who later became suo jure countess of Flanders. He died of leprosy in 1167 without issue.
• Eleanor, countess of Vermandois and Valois (b. 1148? – d. 1213/1214). ^[7] She married four times as follows, but had no issue:
  • 1. Godfrey of Hainaut, Count of Ostervant (d. 1163). ^[8]
  • 2. before 1167 William IV, Count of Nevers. ^[9]
  • 3. ca 1170 Matthew of Alsace. ^[9]
  • 4. ca 1175 Count Matthew III of Beaumont-sur-Oise. ^[10]

3. in 1152 with Laurette of Flanders, ^[11] daughter of Thierry, Count of Flanders and Swanhilde. They had no children.

References

1. Bardot & Marvin 2018, p. ix.
2. Livingstone 2018, p. 151.
3. Bradbury 2007, p. 152.
4. Duval-Arnould 1984, p. 82.
5. Baldwin 1986, p. 15.
6. Duval-Arnould 1984, p. 68.
7. Duval-Arnould 1984, p. 67.
8. Gislebertus (of Mons) 2005, p. 40.
9. Dyggve 1935, p. 67-68.
10. Baldwin 1986, p. 81.
11. Stewart 1979, p. 110.

Sources

• Baldwin, John W. (1986). The Government of Philip Augustus: Foundations of French Royal Power in the Middle Ages. University of California Press.
• Bardot, Michael L.; Marvin, Laurence W., eds. (2018). Louis VII and his World. Brill.
• Bradbury, Jim (2007). The Capetians: Kings of France 987-1328. Hambledon Continuum.
• Duval-Arnould, Louis (1984). "Les dernières années du comte lépreux Raoul de Vermandois (v. 1147–1167...) et la dévolution de ses provinces à Philippe d'Alsace". Bibliothèque de l'École des chartes (in French). 142–1.
• Dyggve, Holger Petersen (1935). "Personnages historiques figurant dans la poésie lyrique française des XII e et XIII e siècles. III: Les dames du »Tournoiement» de Huon d'Oisi". Neuphilologische Mitteilungen (in French). 36 (2): 65–91.
• Gislebertus (of Mons) (2005). Chronicle of Hainaut. The Boydell Press.
• Livingstone, Amy (2018). "Revealing the Extraordinary: The Lives of Unremarkable Men in the Age of Louis VII". In Bardot, Michael L.; Marvin, Laurence W. (eds.). Louis VII and His World. Brill.
• Stewart, Gregory (1979). "The Twelfth Century Psalter Commentary in French for Laurette d'Alsace". In Lourdaux, W.; Verhelst, D. (eds.). The Bible and Medieval Culture. Leuven University Press.

Preceded by Adelaide and Hugh

Count of Vermandois 1102–1152

Succeeded by Ralph II