Ida, Countess of Boulogne


Ida of Boulogne was suo jure Countess of Boulogne from 1173 until her death.

Life

Ida was the eldest daughter of Matthew of Alsace and Marie I, Countess of Boulogne. Her maternal grandparents were King Stephen of England and Matilda I of Boulogne. Her mother, a nun, had been abducted from a convent and forced into marriage by Matthew. As a consequence, her parents' marriage was rather controversial, and was finally annulled in 1170.

Reign

Her father continued to rule until his death in 1173, when she succeeded. Upon the advice of her uncle, Philip I, Count of Flanders, she married first in 1181, to Gerard of Guelders, but he died the same year. She next married Berthold IV, Duke of Zähringen, but he too died in 1186.
This relationship came to naught when Ida was abducted in 1190 by Count Renaud de Dammartin, who carried her off to Lorraine. She and Renaud had a daughter, Matilda II of Boulogne.