Louis VI made great efforts to further William’s cause in 1127. In January he granted him the royal estates in the French Vexin as a base to attack down the Seine into Normandy, and he was married to the queen’s half sister. The murder of Count Charles the Good of Flanders on 2 March 1127 gave King Louis an even better chance to further William’s fortunes. He marched into Flanders at the head of an army and on 30 March got the barons of the province to accept William as their new count.

Initially, William did well, securing most of the county by the end of May. But English money and the emergence of a rival in Thierry of Alsace led to a deterioration in his position. In February 1128 St Omer and Ghent declared against him, as did Bruges in March. In May 1128 Lille too welcomed Thierry, leaving William controlling little more than the southern fringe of Flanders. However, he struck back at Bruges and at the battle of Axspoele south of the town on 21 June, William defeated Thierry with his Norman knights and French allies.

At this point he was joined by his father-in-law, Duke Godfrey of Brabant, and together their armies besieged Aalst on 12 July, with the probable intention of going on from there to reduce Ghent. But during the course of the siege he was wounded in the arm in a scuffle with a foot soldier. The wound became gangrenous and William died at the age of twenty-five on 28 July 1128, attended to the end by his faithful brother-in-law, Helias of Saint Saens. William’s body was carried to the abbey of St Bertin in St Omer and buried there. He left no children and was survived by his imprisoned father by six years.

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References

• Galbert of Bruges, The Murder of Charles the Good, trans. J.B. Ross (repr. Toronto, 1982)
• Sandy Burton Hicks, "The Impact of William Clito upon the Continental Policies of Henry I of England," Viator 10 (1979), 1-21.
• D. Crouch, The Normans: History of a Dynasty (London, 2002)
• C.W. Hollister, Henry I (New Haven, 2001)
• J.A. Green Henry I (Cambridge, 2006)

Preceded by Charles I

Count of Flanders 1127–1128

Succeeded by Thierry

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