History, Wonder Tales, Fairy Tales, Myths and Legends The Flemish | Page 81

Erembalds had reached a political and economic zenith. After 1091 Bertulf, a member
of the Erembald clan was both the chancellor of the county, and the provost of the
wealthy church of St. Donatian at Bruges. Although Charles had been in Flanders for
some forty years he was surprised when he was informed that the Erembalds were
freeborn but not noble. Unwisely, he decided to disgrace them. It seems clear that the
status of the Erembalds was an open secret among the other powerful families of
Bruges and that none was particularly upset by it until Charles raised the issue.
Indeed, after discovering the problem with the Erembalds, Charles summoned his
councilors, many of whom were related to the Erembalds which meant that there were
other non-nobles in the Count's council and Charles knew it. Charles was bent upon
reducing the Erembald's status and the Erembalds were having none of it.

In 1127 a feud broke out between Provost Bertulf Erembald and Count Charles. The
Count burnt Bertulf's nephew's house to the ground. Borsiard, Bertulf's nephew and
others, plotted with the Erembald clan and assassinated Charles on March 2, 1127 Ash Wednesday. A week later citizens of Bruges led by Gervaise de Praet besieged
the castle, and barons swore to support them in a league. King Louis VI of France
summoned the barons to Arras, and they elected William Clito as count. Count William
granted charters to towns and had Bertulf Erembald put to death. A siege of Ypres
captured William of Ypres, and Borsiard was left to die nailed to a tree. England's king
Henry I opposed William and sent money to oppose his cause. Thierry d' Alsace
gained the support of the people at Ghent by promising to support the privileges of the
Burghers. In March 1128 Count Thierry d' Alsace was elected count by the barons and
burghers at Bruges. France's Louis still supported William Clito, and a partisan
struggle raged in Flanders until William was killed in the siege of Aalst in June 1128.
Count Thierry visited the towns and was invested by the kings of France and England
with the fiefs and benefices that Charles had held.

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