House Dampierre

The Dampierre family played an important role during the Middle Ages. They were Count of Flanders and later also Count of Nevers, Rethel, Artois and Franche-Comté. The senior line of the House died out with Margaret III. She was succeeded in Flanders, Artois, Nevers and Franche-Comté by her eldest son John the Fearless and in Rethel by her younger son Anthony, which marked the start of the House of Valois-Burgundy. The junior line, springing from a younger son of Guy I reigning in Namur, ended in 1429.

The members of House of Dampierre had an antagonistic relation with the House of Avesnes.

Legacy

The main line of the House of Dampierre, originally only counts of Flanders, had through to a clever marriage policy managed to inherit the counties of Nevers (1280) and Rethel (1328). Through Louis II's mother, a daughter of King Philip V of France, the counties of Artois and Burgundy (the "Franche Comté") were added to this. These lands were to provide the core of the dominions of the House of Valois-Burgundy, which were, together with the Duchy of Burgundy, to provide them with a power base to challenge the rule of their cousins, the Valois kings of France in the 15th century.