Eustace III of Boulogne
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Eustace III, was a count of Boulogne, successor to his father Count Eustace II of Boulogne. It remains somewhat unclear whether he was also a son of Ida of Lorraine, who certainly was the mother of his two younger brothers.
He went on crusade in 1096 with his brothers Godfrey of Bouillon (duke of Lower Lorraine) and Baldwin of Boulogne. He soon returned to Europe to administer his domains. He married Princess Mary of Scotland, daughter of King Malcolm III of Scotland, and Saint Margaret of Scotland. Eustace and Mary had one daughter, Matilda of Boulogne.
When his youngest brother king Baldwin I of Jerusalem died in 1118, the elderly Eustace was offered the throne. Eustace was at first uninterested, but was convinced to accept it; he travelled all the way to Apulia before learning that a distant relative, Baldwin of Bourcq, had been crowned in the meantime. Eustace returned to Boulogne and died about 1125.
On his death the county of Boulogne was inherited by his daughter, Matilda, and her husband Stephen de Blois, count of Mortain, afterwards king of England, and at the death of Matilda in 1151 it was inherited by their son, Eustace IV of Boulogne, later their second son William and ultimately by their daughter Marie of Boulogne, since both sons died without children.
Sources
- Payne, Robert. Dream and the Tomb, 1984
| Preceded by: Eustace II | Count of Boulogne 1093-1125 | Succeeded by: Matilda I |