Christine of Ardres, Countess of Guines

Ardres heiress of the glory and the vice-counties and Marc Cole Wide

Chrestienne de Marck

• Born in 1140
• Deceased 2 July 1177 - Ardres, 62038, Pas de Calais, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France, aged 37 years old
• Héritière d'Ardres, Marc et Collewide
• also known as Christine of Ardres

Family

• Parents: Arnould IV de Collewide de MARCK 1115-1147 (Seigneur d'Ardres, Vicomte de Marq, Seigneur de Collewide) & Adélaïde d'ARDRES 1110-1176 (Dame d'Ardres)
• Spouse: Baudoin II de GUÎNES †1205 (Parents : Arnould Ier de GUÎNES /1127-1169 & Mahaut de SAINT OMER 1115-1169)

Children

1. M Arnould II de GUÎNES †1220 Married in 1185 to Béatrice de BOURBOURG †1214
2. M Guillaume de GUÎNES †
3. M Manasses de GUÎNES †1222/ With Adelis de THIEMBRONNE †1214/
4. M Baudouin de GUÎNES
5. M Gilles Dit de Lotesse de GUÎNES †1227/ With Chrestienne de MONTGARDIN
6. M Siger de GUÎNES †1205/ With Adelis de SELTUN
7. F Mabile de GUÎNES With Jean N
8. F Adeline de GUÎNES With Hugues de MALANNOY
9. Adeline de GUÎNES With Baudouin II de MARQUISE
10. F Marguerite de GUÎNES With Rabodon de RUMES
11. F Mahaut de GUÎNES With Guillaume de THIEMBRONNE
12. F Mabille de GUÎNES With Jean II de CYSOING

    ---

Notes

Extracted from Johnson, "Aristocratic Women’s Kinship Ties in Twelfth- and Thirteenth-Century Flanders and Champagne" (2019). Master's Theses. 4732. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/4732. Page 55-58

Christine of Ardres, Countess of Guines [r. 1169-1177]

Christine was the only daughter of Arnold IV of Merck and Adeline of Ardres (see Appendix D). The lordship of Ardres had already been inherited through the female line by way of her mother, and since Christine did not have any siblings, the lordship of Ardres would pass to Christine.

As the sole heir to the lordship, Christine’s father was in negotiations for her marriage. In an attempt to sue for peace, Arnold I, count of Guines, and his wife Matilda, offered the hand of their first son, Baldwin II. This was not the final word in the marriage, however, for Adeline and Arnold IV asked Christine for her consent to this proposal:

Thus the girl [Christine] heard what she was not displeased to hear and lo, as she was now present, she now expressed her assent with happiness of her face. She leaned attentively with prickled ears toward the voice of her father and mother, about to answer more freely her consent. (188)

Much like in the case of Emma of Tancarville, the reader does not get a glimpse of affection between husband and wife until much later on in life and, in this instance, on her deathbed. After the birth of Matilda, Christine fell gravely ill. Lambert notes that this was only a year after the ather young at the time of her death. Lambert even gives the exact date of the death of Christine as July 2, 1177. According to Lambert, all the people of Guines and Ardres mourned the death of the countess, but none so more than her husband, Baldwin. Lambert describes how at the death of his wife Baldwin fell ill as well:

Then Count Baldwin, accepting no consolation for the death of his much beloved wife, fell without moderation on his sickbed for many days. He was said to have been so stricken in mind because of his great sadness and illness, that he did not know himself for many days, but could not distinguish or discern good from evil or right from wrong. (198)

Through the great number of children produced, Baldwin and Christine were able to further the connections of Guines and Ardres through marriage. Unfortunately, Lambert of Ardres does not speak of Christine’s involvement in arranging the marriages of the children. So it is unclear what role, if any, she had.

References

• Johnson, "Aristocratic Women’s Kinship Ties in Twelfth- and Thirteenth-Century Flanders and Champagne" (2019). Master's Theses. 4732. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/4732. Page 55-58
• 188. Lambert of Ardres, The History of the Counts of Guines and Lords of Ardres.
• 198. Lambert of Ardres, The History of the Counts of Guines and Lords of Ardres, 119; Historia Comitum Ghisnensium, 601: “Comes autem Balduinus de sibi amantissime uxoris morte nullam admittens consolationem in lectum egritudinis immoderatepermultos dies incidit et pre nimio dolore et infirmitatesic menteconsternatusfuisse dicitur, ut nec se ipsum nec alium per multos dies agnosceret, sed nec bonum a malo nec honestum ab inhonesto distingueret autdiscerneret
• Histoire généalogique des maisons de Guines d'Ardres, de Gand et de Coucy et ... De André Du Chesne. Her children: Page 74-77. GoogleBooks Her ancestry: Page 80. GoogleBooks
• http://racineshistoire.free.fr/LGN/PDF/Guines.pdf
• https://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/NORTHERN%20FRANCE.htm#ChristianeAr... ARNAUD de Colvide (-[1176]). Vicomte de Marchiennes after 1136. m ADELINE d’Ardres, daughter of ARNAUD [I] Seigneur d’Ardres & his wife Gertrude --- (-after 1147). Arnaud & his wife had one child: a) CHRISTINE d’Ardres (-2 Jul 1177). m BAUDOUIN de Guines, son of ARNOUL [I] Comte de Guines & his wife Mathilde de Saint-Omer (-2 Jan 1205, bur Andres). He succeeded his father in 1169 as Comte de Guines.
• https://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/NORTHERN%20FRANCE.htm#BaudouinIIGu... BAUDOUIN de Guines, son of ARNOUL [I] Comte de Guines & his wife Mathilde de Saint-Omer (-2 Jan 1205, bur Andres). ... m CHRISTINE d'Ardres, daughter of ARNAUD [III] de Colvide Seigneur d'Ardres & his wife Adeline d'Ardres (-2 Jul 1177). The Historia Comitum Ghisnensium names "Christianam Ardensis domini filiam" as wife of "Balduinus Ghisnensis comitis Arnoldi filius"[1053]. Comte Baudouin & his wife had ten children: ...