Arnul II de Guin

He was brought up at the court of Philip of Alsace , Count of Flanders. In 1182 he received from his father the lord Ardr - the inheritance of his mother.

After the death of Philip of Alsace (1191), according to the conditions of the Arras Treaty, the French king became the direct overlord of Gin instead of the counts of Flanders, to whom Boulonnay and Ternois retreated.

In 1198, Arnul entered into an alliance with Baudouin IX of Flanders , who tried to regain Arras , given as a dowry to Isabella de Hainaut , the wife of King Philip Augustus . In January 1199, at a conference in Peronn, the parties came to an agreement according to which Douay, Ardre, Lille, La Gorgue, Ricbur, Er, Saint-Omer remained subordinate to Flanders and confirmed suzerainty over Guin County.

In 1198 or 1199, Arnul married Beatrice de Bourbur, heiress of the bourgeois stronghold and the lord of Turkuen. Soon, Countess of Flanders Matilda claimed her land. The war began, which came with varying success. In 1205, Matilda's ally Renault de Dammarten captured Captain Baudouin II, father of Arnul. Soon he was released, but after some time he died.

Having become Earl of Gin, Arnul made peace with Matilda of Flanders. In order to protect his lands from the raids of Renault de Dammarten, in 1211 he recognized himself as a vassal of King Philip Augustus. After that, he became the enemy of Ferrand , Count of Flanders.

In 1214, Arnul participated in the Battle of Buvin , in which two of his worst enemies, the Counts of Flanders and Dammarten, were captured.

Children:

• Baudouin III (d. 1244), Earl of Guin
• Robert
• Henry
• Arnul
• Beatrice, the first abbess of Bonam Abbey
• Magot, third wife of Hugo de Chatillon, Count de Saint-Paul
• Adeline
• Beatrice the Younger.

At the request of Arnul, Lambert of Ardra began writing his chronicle, Historia comitum Ghisnensium (History of Gin County) in 1198.

• http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/NORTHERN%20FRANCE.htm#_Toc523243270
• The History of the Counts of Guines and Lords of Ardres (The Middle Ages Series) by Lambert of Ardres ( ISBN 9780812219968 )