Baldwin II of Constantinople

Baldwin II
Seal of Baldwin II
Latin Emperor of Constantinople
Reign	1228-1273
Coronation	15 April 1240
Predecessor	Robert of Courtenay
Successor	Michael VIII Palaiologos as Byzantine Emperor of Constantinople Philip of Courtenay as titular Latin Emperor of Constantinople
Born	c. 1217 Constantinople
Died	October 1273 Naples
Spouse	Marie of Brienne
Issue	Philip of Courtenay
House	House of Flanders
Father	Peter II of Courtenay
Mother	Yolanda of Flanders
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Baldwin II, also known as Baldwin of Courtenay (French: Baudouin de Courtenay) (late 1217 – October 1273), was the last monarch of the Latin Empire ruling from Constantinople.

Baldwin II was born in Constantinople (the only Latin emperor to be born there), a younger son of Yolanda of Flanders, sister of the first two emperors, Baldwin I and Henry of Flanders. Her husband, Peter of Courtenay, was third emperor of the Latin Empire, and had been followed by his son Robert of Courtenay, on whose death in 1228 the succession passed to Baldwin, then an 11-year-old boy.

The barons chose John of Brienne (titular king of the Kingdom of Jerusalem) as emperor-regent for life. Baldwin was also to marry Marie of Brienne, daughter of John and his third wife Berenguela of Leon, and on John's death to enjoy the full imperial sovereignty. The marriage contract was carried out in 1234. Since the death of Baldwin's uncle, Emperor Henry of Flanders in 1216, the Latin Empire had declined and the Byzantine (Nicene) power advanced; and the hopes that John of Brienne might restore it were disappointed.

The realm Baldwin governed was little more than the city of Constantinople. He adopted the Byzantine title of porphyrogenetos. His financial situation was desperate, and his life was chiefly occupied in begging at European courts. He went to the West in 1236, visited Rome, France and Flanders, trying to raise money and men to recover the lost territory of his realm. In 1237, with the support of the King of France and the Countess of Flanders, he chased his sister Margaret from power to become the next Count of Namur. But Baldwin was practically never present, and after the invasion and conquest of Namur by Henry V, Count of Luxembourg in 1256, he sold the rights on the County to his cousin Guy, Count of Flanders.