William II, Count of Hainaut
Encyclopedia
Avesnes-sur-Helpe
Avesnes-sur-Helpe is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department Nord-Pas Calais. Avesnes-sur-Helpe is known as "the little Switzerland of the north." This region is filled with spacious country parks areas and leisure facilities, including Val...
, William IV of Holland
County of Holland
The County of Holland was a county in the Holy Roman Empire and from 1482 part of the Habsburg Netherlands in what is now the Netherlands. It covered an area roughly corresponding to the current Dutch provinces of North-Holland and South-Holland, as well as the islands of Terschelling, Vlieland,...
and William III of Zeeland
Zeeland
Zeeland , also called Zealand in English, is the westernmost province of the Netherlands. The province, located in the south-west of the country, consists of a number of islands and a strip bordering Belgium. Its capital is Middelburg. With a population of about 380,000, its area is about...
from 1337 to his death, succeeding his father, William I
William I, Count of Hainaut
William I, Count of Hainaut was Count William III of Avesnes, Count William III of Holland and Count William II of Zeeland from 1304 to his death...
. He married Joanna, Duchess of Brabant
Joanna, Duchess of Brabant
Joanna, Duchess of Brabant , also known as Jeanne, was the heiress of Duke John III, who died in Brussels, December 5, 1355. Her mother was Marie d'Évreux.- Family :...
and Limburg in 1334, but had no issue.
Military career and death
William fought in FranceFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
as ally of the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
(he was the brother in law of Edward III
Edward III of England
Edward III was King of England from 1327 until his death and is noted for his military success. Restoring royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father, Edward II, Edward III went on to transform the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe...
). He went on crusade against the Saracens and the Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
ns. He besieged Utrecht
Utrecht (city)
Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands with a population of 312,634 on 1 Jan 2011.Utrecht's ancient city centre features...
, because his one time favourite bishop John van Arkel of Utrecht had turned against him. He died during one of the battles of Warns
Battle of Warns
The Battle of Warns was a battle from the Frisian-Hollandic War between count Willem IV of Holland and the Frisians which took place on 26 September 1345...
against the Frisians
Friesland
Friesland is a province in the north of the Netherlands and part of the ancient region of Frisia.Until the end of 1996, the province bore Friesland as its official name. In 1997 this Dutch name lost its official status to the Frisian Fryslân...
in 1345.
After his death
William was succeeded by his sister, who was married to emperor Louis IVLouis IV, Holy Roman Emperor
Louis IV , called the Bavarian, of the house of Wittelsbach, was the King of Germany from 1314, the King of Italy from 1327 and the Holy Roman Emperor from 1328....
. Hainaut
County of Hainaut
The County of Hainaut was a historical region in the Low Countries with its capital at Mons . In English sources it is often given the archaic spelling Hainault....
, Holland and Zeeland
Zeeland
Zeeland , also called Zealand in English, is the westernmost province of the Netherlands. The province, located in the south-west of the country, consists of a number of islands and a strip bordering Belgium. Its capital is Middelburg. With a population of about 380,000, its area is about...
became a part of the imperial crown domains.
See also
- Counts of Hainaut family treeCounts of Hainaut family treeThis is a family tree of the Counts of Hainaut, sometimes spelled though not pronounced Hainault from 1055 to 1432, when the County of Hainaut and the County of Holland are incorporated in the estates of the Duchy of Burgundy, following the end of the Hook and Cod wars...
- Counts of Holland family treeCounts of Holland family treeThis is a family tree of the Counts of Holland from 916 to 1299, when a personal union was formed with the County of Hainaut. After this date, the diagram continues at Counts of Hainaut family tree.-See also:*Holland - Other family trees...
- Friso-Hollandic WarsFriso-Hollandic WarsThe Friso-Hollandic Wars, also called Frisian-Hollandic Wars , were a series of short medieval wars consisting of the attempts made by the counts of Holland to conquer the free Frisian territories, which lay to the north and east of their domain...
- FrisiaFrisiaFrisia is a coastal region along the southeastern corner of the North Sea, i.e. the German Bight. Frisia is the traditional homeland of the Frisians, a Germanic people who speak Frisian, a language group closely related to the English language...