Baldwin IV of Flanders
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Baldwin IV of Flanders (980 – May 30, 1036), known as the Bearded, was Count of Flanders from 988 until his death. He was the son of Arnulf II of Flanders.
Baldwin turned his attentions to the east and north, leaving the southern part of his territory in the hands of his vassals the counts of Guines, Hesdin, and St. Pol.
To the east was Lotharingia, and here Baldwin took Valenciennes, the Cambresis, and Hainaut. It was not until 1056, during the minority of the Emperor Henry IV, then he fully secured this territory, which was then recognized as fier held of the emperor.
In the more central and northerly parts of Flanders, the count's supremacy was unchallenged. Here there was a great deal of internal reclamation and colonization of marshland, all of which belonged to the counts of Flanders.
Baldwin first married Ogive of Luxemburg, by whom he had a son and heir Baldwin V. He later married Eleanor of Normandy, daughter of Richard II of Normandy, by whom he had a daughter Judith. Before Baldwin she had been married to Duke Welf of Bavaria. Their daughter Judith was married toTostig Godwinson, Earl of Northumberland.(*) These widespread family connections demonstrate the political interests of the Flemish counts, both in England to the west and in Germany to the east.
His granddaughter, Matilda of Flanders, would go on to marry William the Conqueror, therefore starting the line of Anglo-Norman Kings of England.
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(*) "Tostig, Earl of Northumbria," Dictionary of National Biography, vol. 19, pp. 998-1001.