William William II Lord of Bethune

Background

He was the second son of Lord Robert V, nicknamed Robert the Red, and his wife Adelaide of Saint-Pol.

Career

He was a ruling Lord of Béthune, Richebourg and Warneton, as well as hereditary advocatus of the Abbey of St. Vaast, near Arras. Robert VI (d 1193) Baldwin (d 1212) Conon (d 1219 or 1220), a famous troubadour and crusader Jean III (d 1219), bishop of Cambrai When they arrived in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, William II and Robert VI wanted to marry Sibylla and Isabella, the sisters of King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem. The King, however, turned them down.

During the crusade, both Philip I and Robert V died. When Robert VI died childless in 1193, William II inherited the Béthune family possessions. On 23 February 1200, William II and Conon departed to accompany Count Baldwin during the Fourth Crusade.

He was present when the crusaders took Constantinople in April 1204. Baldwin IX of Flanders was elected Emperor of the newly founded Latin Empire as Baldwin I. After the disastrous Battle of Adrianople, where William did not participate, he and 7000 other crusaders returned home. Conon and Cardinal Peter of Capua tried in vain, and according to de Villehardouin in tears, to persuade William to stay in Constantinople.

Conon remained in Constantinople, and died there several years later. William died in April 1214, a few months before the Battle of Bouvines.

Achievements

• Conon became famous for his heroic deeds. William's actions were less noticeable.

Membership

He was a member of the influential House of Bethune, who had their ancestral seat in Béthune in the Artois region. Members of the Béthune family had divided loyalties in the conflict between King Philip II of France and Count Baldwin IX of Flanders about who was the rightful liege lord of Artois.