thérèse de hemptinne & els de paermentier mentary addition to her first will of 1257 that, in investigating her wrongs, the executors did not have to proceed according to the law but instead could act in good faith and conscience, while not having to justify themselves to anyone about a specific bequest.57 In the case of Countess Margaret’s last will, the documentary outcome is particularly complex. Due to her two successive marriages to Bouchard d’Avesnes and Guillaume de Dampierre, both of which had produced sons, the counties of Flanders and Hainaut became involved in a succession war. The conflict was ultimately settled by the French king in 1256 through the so-called ‘Dit de Péronne’, which stipulated that after her death the county of Flanders would go to the Dampierre branch, while the eldest son of the Avesnes branch would succeed her in Hainaut. Margaret clearly did not hesitate to settle her inheritance in further detail. As early as November of the following year, she formalised her last will byascriptumin which she arranged the proportions for the repayment of her debts, the execution of her bequests, and the distribution of her movable and immovable goods by county.58 Her motivation for doing so is clearly recorded: besides the usual reasoning that she wanted to settle her debts and rectify her mistakes at the time of her death, she also added the phrase ‘and to avoid any dispute between our sons Jean and Baudouin d’Avesnes on the one hand, and Guy and Jean de Dampierre on the other’. Moreover, at the end of the text, the countess demanded that each of her four sons should pledge by oath on their faith that they would respect 461 57 Testamentary additions to Countess Margaret’s testament of 1257 (August 1258): Lille, ADN, B445/1208. 58 Lille, ADN, B445/1993. Duvivier 1894, II, pp. 508–510, n. 281. For the impact of this dispute on Margaret’s government and financial administration, see Luykx 1961, pp. 282– 294. In 1258, more additions and modifications to Margaret’s last will were added and confirmed by her sons. In 1259, several of these letters were in their turn confirmed by the pope. Duvivier 1894, II, pp. 519–542, n. 288, n. 299, n. 302, n. 303. – The testamentary dossier of Countess Margaret (1244–1280): a long-term strategic decision process
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