Early & Fictional Flemish Genealogy

The earliest recorded ruler of Flanders and ancestor of its later rulers was Baudouin Bras de Fer (840-879). Later legend provided him with a string of ancestors who were "Foresters of Flanders." The earliest form of this legend was recorded in the Genealogia Comitum Flandriæ Bertiniana, dated to the second decade of the 12th century,

1. Lydéric, fictitious. The inspiration for this name might have been the legendary Lydéric, founder of Lille, who lived 200 years earlier.
2. Ingelram or Enguerrand, fictitious, said to be son of Lydéric. The inspiration for this name might have been an Engeurrand who might have ruled in Flanders, and might have been the ruler displaced by the historical Baudouin.
3. Odacre or Otger, probably fictitious, said to be son of Ingelram
4. Baudouin Iron Arm, attested historically, said to be son of Otger

There is no contemporary record of these men bit Baudouin could have been son of a man named Odacer, about whom nothing further is known. Modern research shows most of the stories about the ancestors of Baudouin are mythical, written by monks searching for heroic origins. Such fictitious early generations were a common feature of genealogies compiled from the 12th century forward.

Foresters of Flanders

The ancestry of the early counts of Flanders was elaborated in later legend, with the intervening generations between Baudouin and the first Lydéric being titled counts of Harlebecque or Harlebeke (modern Harelbeke) and foresters of Flanders:

1. Salvaert, prince of Dijon, fictitious
2. Lydéric I, 1st Forester of Flanders (d.676), fictitious, son of Salvaert
3. Antoine, fictitious, son of Lydéric I
4. Burchard (d.690), fictitious, brother of Antoine
5. Estored (d.709), fictitious, son of Burchard
6. Lydéric II (d.734), fictitious, son of Estored
7. Lydéric III (d.776), fictitious, son of Lydéric II
8. Lydéric IV (d.808), fictitious, son of Lydéric III
9. Lydéric II or V (d.837), fictitious, son of Lydéric IV
10. Ingelram (d.853), fictitious, son of Lydéric V
11. Odoacer, (d. 864), fictitious, son of Ingelram
12. Baudouin Bras de Fer (d. 879), historically attested, supposed son of Odoacer

Lineage Variations

Lineage variations are a common feature of medieval genealogy. There are several standard variations of this line.

• Otger is also identified as Odakar III des Morins a/k/a Anachar.
• Otger, son of Ingelram, married a daughter of Anselme de St.Pol & de St.Omer.
• Otger, son of Charles the Younger and grandson of Charlemagne, married a daughter of Ingelram.
• Ingelram, father of Otger, is the same person as Charles the Younger who was a son of Charlemagne.
• Charles the Younger married Juliana, who was a daughter of Charlemagne's nephew Roland (son of Milo and Charlemagne's sister Bertha), an iconic medieval hero.

Sources

• James Anderson, Royal Genealogies (1732), page 212.
• Alexander Golovanov, "Lyderic" in GEN-MEDIEVAL-L, Sept. 5, 2000.
• Medlands: Counts of Flanders - Origins.
• Pierre d'Oudegherst, Annales de Flandre (1789).
• Wikipedia: List of forest keepers of Flanders.