Baldwin VII, Count of Flanders
Baldwin VII of Flanders was Count of Flanders from 1111 to 1119.
Baldwin was the son of Count Robert II of Flanders and Clementia of Burgundy. He succeeded his father as count when he died on 5 October 1111. The inexperienced new count solicited the advice of his cousin, Charles the Good, who was several years older. It was Baldwin who arranged the marriage of Charles to the heiress of the County of Amiens, Margaret of Clermont, in 1118.
In 1105, Baldwin married Hawise of Brittany, daughter of Duke Alan IV of Brittany. The groom was twelve and the bride nine. The union, in all probability, was never consummated. They were divorced in 1110. Baldwin did not remarry. Baldwin and Hawise had no known issue.
He died after being wounded in September 1118 at the Battle of Bures-en-Bray, where he was fighting Henry I of England, on behalf of Louis VI of France. When he was dying in 1119, Baldwin declared his cousin Charles his heir. Charles became the new count of Flanders after his death.
