Arnulf II, Count of Flanders
Arnulf II (960 or 961 – 30 March 987) was Count of Flanders from 965 until his death.
Arnulf II  | |
|---|---|
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| Count of Flanders | |
| Reign | 965 – 30 March 987 | 
| Predecessor | Arnulf I  Baldwin III  | 
| Successor | Baldwin IV | 
| Born | c. 961 | 
| Died | 30 March 987 Ghent  | 
| Noble family | House of Flanders | 
| Spouse(s) | Rozala of Italy | 
| Issue | Baldwin IV, Count of Flanders | 
| Father | Baldwin III of Flanders | 
| Mother | Mathilde Billung of Saxony | 
Life
    
He was the son of Baldwin III of Flanders and Mathilde Billung of Saxony, daughter of Herman, Duke of Saxony.[1][2] His father Baldwin III died in 962, when Arnulf was just an infant, whilst Arnulf's grandfather, Arnulf I, was still alive.[2] When Arnulf I died three years later (965), the regency was held by his kinsman Baldwin Balso, who died in 973.[3]
By the time Arnulf attained his majority in 976, Flanders had lost some of the southern territory acquired by Arnulf I.[3] The latter had given some parts of Picardy to King Lothar of France to help assure his grandson's succession, and gave Boulogne as a fief to another relative.[3] Then early in Arnulf's minority Lothar had taken Ponthieu and given it to Hugh Capet, and the first counts of Guînes had established themselves.[3] Arnulf died on 30 March 987 at age 26.[4] Shortly after Arnulf's death his widow married King Robert II of France.[4]
Family
    
In 976, he married Rozala of Italy, daughter of Berengar II of Italy,[5] and had two children:
- Baldwin IV (980–1035), who succeeded his father.[5] He married twice and fathered Baldwin V.
 - Mathilde, who died before 995.[2]
 
Notes
    
- Nicholas 1992, p. 42.
 - Detlev Schwennicke, Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten, Neue Folge, Band II (Verlag von J. A. Stargardt, Marburg, Germany, 1984), Tafel 5
 - Jean Dunbabin, France in the Making, 843–1180, Second Edition (Oxford University Press, 2005), p. 73
 - Frederick Lewis Weis, Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists, Who Came To America before 1700, Seventh Edition (Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1993), Line 162-20
 - Nicholas 1992, p. 44.
 
References
    
- Nicholas, David (1992). Medieval Flanders. Longman.
 
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