Ferdinand, Count of Flanders

Who was Ferdinand, Count of Flanders?

Infante Ferdinand of Portugal, Count of Flanders was a Portuguese infante, fourth son of Portuguese King Sancho I and Dulce of Aragon. Born in 1188, he was Count of Flanders by marriage to Countess Joan of Flanders, eldest daughter of Baldwin IX of Flanders.

Ferdinand married Joan on January 1212 in Paris.

While on their way to Flanders the newlyweds were captured by Joan's first cousin Louis, eldest son of Philip Augustus and Joan's aunt, Isabella of Flanders. Louis' aim was to acquire his dead mother's dowry, a large piece of Flemish territory including Artois, which Joan's father had taken back by force after Isabella's death.

Released after this concession, Joan and Ferdinand soon joined the old allies of her father, king John of England and Emperor Otto IV, in an alliance against France. They were decisively defeated at Bouvines in July 1214, where Ferdinand was taken prisoner.

Ferdinand was to remain in French hands for the next 12 years, while Joan ruled alone. He was released in 1226, by the French regent, Blanche of Castile, after the accession of her son Louis IX of France.