Baldwin III, Count of Hainaut

Baldwin III, Count of Hainaut
Spouse(s)	Yolande of Guelders
Noble family	House of Flanders
Father	Baldwin II, Count of Hainaut
Mother	Ida of Louvain
Born	1088
Died	1120
Buried	Mons, Belgium

Baldwin III (1088–1120) was count of Hainaut from 1098 to his death. He was son of Baldwin II, Count of Hainaut and Ida of Louvain.

Baldwin succeeded to the county of Hainaut in 1102. Baldwin married Yolande of Guelders at a young age. He had been betrothed to Adelaide of Maurienne, a niece of Countess Clemence of Flanders. The broken betrothal caused a scandal, and Countess Clemence brought the issue before her brother Pope Calixtus II. The pope declared that the marriage was legal and could not be dissolved.

Baldwin died at a young age of c. 33 in 1120, and was buried in Mons, Belgium. His eldest son Baldwin succeeded him as Baldwin IV, Count of Hainaut. His younger son Gerard inherited the counties of Dodewaard and Dale, which had been in the possession of his mother. Countess Yolande held Hainaut by rights of dower for a while, and as a regent for her son.

He was married with Yolande of Guelders, daughter of Gerard I, Count of Guelders. Their children were:

After Baldwin's death, Countess Yolande married Godfrey II, Lord of Ribemont and Bouchain, Castellan of Valenciennes and the son of Anselm of Ribemont in ca 1120. Yolande and Godfrey II had two children:

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