BALDWIN I., the first Latin emperor of Constantinople, was b. at Valenciennes in 1171 A. D., his parents being Baldwin, count of liainault, and Margaret, countess of Flan ders. In 1193, he succeeded to his mother's possessions, and in the year following, to the title and county of his father. In 1200, he appointed his brother Philip, along with other 'persons, to the regency of Ifainault and Flanders, and joined the fourth crusade. Part of the crusaders—B. among others—were induced to assist the Venetians in recon Zara, in Dalmatia, from the king, of Hungary. While at Zara, the young Alexis, son of Isaac 11., emperor of Constantinople. craved the assistance of the crusaders against his uncle Alexis Angelus, who, having deposed and blinded Isaac IL, had usurped the throne. In return for their aid, lie promised them a liberal sum of money, and also to help them to recover Palestine. The crusaders agreed, and soon defeated the usurper's forces, and restored the rightful emperor; but Alexis having some diffi culty in carrying out his promises, they turned their arms against him. A revolution breaking out in the city at the same time, Alexis the younger was murdered, and his father is said to have died of grief. Alexis Ducas Murzuphlus then usurped the throne,
but was defeated by the crusaders, and the city was sacked—the crusaders and Vene tians sharing the booty. B. was chosen emperor, and crowned on the 9th May, 1204; but he received only about a fourth part of the empire—Constantinople and Thrace— the Venetians obtaining the greater share of the provinces. A part also fell to the French adventurers who accompanied the expedition, and several provinces remained in the hands of Greek princes. The abilities of B.—and they appear to have been of a superior character—were not able to cope with the evils necessarily attending so anoma lous a position. The Greeks were discontented, and, backed by Calo-Joannes, king of Bulgaria, while B.'s brother, with the flower of his troops, was away on an expedition in Asia, they rose and massacred the Latins scattered throughout the towns of Thrace, and made themselves masters of Adrianople. B. laid siege to the town with the forces he had at his disposal; but he was defeated and taken prisoner by the Bulgarian king, and died about a year after (1206) in captivity. He was succeeded by his brother Henry.