Individual Details
Pierre II de Courtenay, Emperor of Constantinople
(Abt 1155 - Bef Jan 1218)
Pierre was born about 1155, the son of Pierre I de France, sire de Courtenay (himself the son of Louis VI 'the Fat', king of France) and Elisabeth de Courtenay. In 1184 he married Agnčs de Nevers, daughter of Gui I, comte de Nevers et de Tonnerre, and Mahaud de Bourgogne, comtesse de Grignon, dame de Vitteaux. Agnčs was her father's heir to Nevers and Auxerre, as her brother Guillaume V had died in 1181. She and Pierre had a daughter Mahaut who would have progeny. Agnčs died in 1192.
Having obtained the counties of Nevers and Auxerre by his first marriage, for his second wife Pierre chose Yolande, daughter of Baudouin V-VIII, count of Hainault and Flanders, and Margarethe of Flanders. Yolande was a sister of Baudouin and Henri of Flanders, who were to become the first and second emperors of the Latin empire of Constantinople. Pierre and Yolande married in June 1193. Of their many children, a son Baudouin II and three daughters would have progeny.
Pierre accompanied his cousin, King Philippe August of France, on the Third Crusade in 1190, fought against the Albigensians, and was present at the Battle of Bouvines on 27 July 1214, in which Philippe August decisively defeated the coalition led by the Holy Roman Emperor Otto IV and Dom Ferrante, Infante de Portugal.
When his brother-in-law, Henri of Flanders, emperor of Constantinople, died without sons in 1216, Pierre was chosen as his successor. On 9 April 1217 he was consecrated emperor by Pope Honorius III, in Rome but in a church outside the walls. Borrowing some ships from the Venetians, he promised in return to conquer Durazzo for them. Failing in this enterprise he sought to make his way to Constantinople by land. On the journey he was seized by the despot of Epirus, Theodore Angelos, and after an imprisonment of two years he died, probably by foul means.
Source: Leo van de Pas
Having obtained the counties of Nevers and Auxerre by his first marriage, for his second wife Pierre chose Yolande, daughter of Baudouin V-VIII, count of Hainault and Flanders, and Margarethe of Flanders. Yolande was a sister of Baudouin and Henri of Flanders, who were to become the first and second emperors of the Latin empire of Constantinople. Pierre and Yolande married in June 1193. Of their many children, a son Baudouin II and three daughters would have progeny.
Pierre accompanied his cousin, King Philippe August of France, on the Third Crusade in 1190, fought against the Albigensians, and was present at the Battle of Bouvines on 27 July 1214, in which Philippe August decisively defeated the coalition led by the Holy Roman Emperor Otto IV and Dom Ferrante, Infante de Portugal.
When his brother-in-law, Henri of Flanders, emperor of Constantinople, died without sons in 1216, Pierre was chosen as his successor. On 9 April 1217 he was consecrated emperor by Pope Honorius III, in Rome but in a church outside the walls. Borrowing some ships from the Venetians, he promised in return to conquer Durazzo for them. Failing in this enterprise he sought to make his way to Constantinople by land. On the journey he was seized by the despot of Epirus, Theodore Angelos, and after an imprisonment of two years he died, probably by foul means.
Source: Leo van de Pas
Events
| Birth | Abt 1155 | ||||
| Marriage | Jun 1193 | Yolande of Flandre Hainaut | |||
| Death | Bef Jan 1218 |
Families
| Spouse | Yolande of Flandre Hainaut ( - 1219) |
| Child | Yolande de Courtenay, Princess of Constantinople (1200 - 1233) |
| Father | Pierre de France, Sire of Courtenay (1126 - 1183) |
| Mother | Elisabeth de Courtenay (1127 - 1205) |