Louis II, Count of Flanders

Who was Louis II, Count of Flanders?

Louis II of Flanders, also Louis III of Artois and Louis I of Palatine Burgundy, known as Louis of Male, was the son of Louis I of Flanders and Margaret I of Burgundy daughter of king Philip V of France. He was Count of Flanders from 1346 until his death.

On his father's death at the Battle of Crécy in 1346, he inherited the counties of Flanders, Nevers, and Rethel. The Guilds, depending on the English wool trade, forced Louis to recognize Edward III of England as his overlord and arrange an engagement to the daughter of the English king, Isabella. Louis managed to avoid this by fleeing to France in 1347.

On the death of his father-in-law in 1355, he took the title of Duke of Brabant, but was unable to wrest the duchy from his sister-in-law Joanna, Duchess of Brabant in the War of the Brabantian Succession. Louis managed to defeat the Brabantians in the battle of Scheut near Anderlecht and capture the cities of Mechelen, Brussels, Antwerp and Leuven, but he was unable to acquire the duchy. By the Peace of Ath he gained the Lordship of Mechelen and the city of Antwerp.

Louis tried to govern as a Realpolitiker. With regards to his internal policy, his main aim was to prevent the formation of a broad coalition against him, as happened against his father. Except for his last years, he was successful in preventing this. However, even in his latter years he managed to get the support of Bruges against the revolt of Ghent. His foreign policy was one of neutrality in the Hundred Years' War, which kept him in favor with both France and England.