Childhood Her father left on the
Fourth Crusade before she was born, and her mother left two years later, leaving Margaret and her older sister
Joan in the guardianship of their uncle
Philip of Namur. After her mother died in 1204, and her father the next year, In the presence of a significant number of bourgeois of Hainaut, she declared she did not want another husband than Bouchard, and before 23 July 1212 they were married. Margaret was then twelve years old, while her new husband was twenty-eight. After the capture of Ferdinand of Portugal at the
Battle of Bouvines (27 July 1214), Bouchard of Avesnes claimed to Joan in the name of his wife her share of their inheritance, which led Joan to attempt to get Margaret's marriage dissolved; in addition, the French King began to see Bouchard with suspicion because he fought in the Flemish army. Philip II informed
Pope Innocent III that before his wedding, Bouchard of Avesnes had already received
holy orders as
sub-deacon, so technically his union was illegal. In 1215, at the
Fourth Council of the Lateran, the Pope annulled the marriage on this ground; however, Margaret and Bouchard refused to submit and they took refuge at the Castle of
Houffalize in the
Ardennes under the protection of
Waleran, Count of Luxembourg. In the following four years, they had three sons: • Baldwin of Avesnes (1217 – 1219), who died in infancy. •
John of Avesnes (1 May 1218 – 24 December 1257) •
Baldwin of Avesnes (September 1219 – 10 April 1295)
Second marriage In 1219, in a battle against Joan, Bouchard of Avesnes was captured and imprisoned for two years, until 1221, when he was released on the condition that he separate from his wife and made a trip to Rome to get the absolution from the Pope. While he was in Rome to obtain forgiveness and the orders that would make his union legitimate, Joan took advantage of this to convince Margaret (who after Bouchard's capture came to live at her court, leaving her two sons in France under custody) to contract a new wedding. Finally, Margaret gave in to her sister's pressures, and between 18 August and 15 November 1223, she married
William II of Dampierre, a nobleman from
Champagne. They had five children: •
William II, Count of Flanders (1224 – 6 June 1251). •
Joan of Dampierre ( – 1245/1246), married in 1239 to Hugh III of Rethel, then in 1243 to
Theobald II, Count of Bar. In 1246 Louis IX, acting as an arbitrator, gave the right to inherit Flanders to the Dampierre children, and the rights to Hainaut to the Avesnes children. This would seem to have settled the matter, but neither party accepted the solomonic decision of the French King, while responding to the spirit of fairness of the monarch, it had a political effect clearly advantageous for the interests of France, to dislocate the county, and served to avoid war. However, in 1248 John of Avesnes took advantage of the departure of Louis IX and William of Dampierre for the Crusades, to initiate war against his mother, taking Hainaut and Alost with other surrounding Flemish lands. caused the renewal of the hostilities when John of Avesnes, who was uneasy about his rights, convinced
William II of Holland, the German King recognized by the pro-papal forces, to seize Hainaut and the parts of Flanders which were within the bounds of the
Holy Roman Empire. William II was theoretically, as King, overlord of these territories, and also John's brother-in-law. A civil war followed, which ended when the Avesnes forces defeated and imprisoned Guy of Dampierre (who had succeeded his brother as co-ruler of Flanders) at Westkappel, on the island of Walcheren, in July 1253. Margaret offered the County of Hainaut to
Charles of Anjou (brother of Louis IX) in order to obtain his military intervention against William II. The death of John of Avesnes in 1257 put a temporary halt over the already costly internecine quarrel. John II of Avesnes succeeded her as sole Count of Hainaut. Margaret's death ended the personal union between Flanders and Hainaut, which had lasted for nearly a century. The two counties were reunited again only in 1432 when
Jacqueline of Bavaria, the Avesnes heiress, surrendered her domains to
Philip III, Duke of Burgundy, the Dampierre heir. ==Political role==