LATIN RULERS OF CONSTANTINOPLE. Henry of Flanders ( 1178-1216). Seal or Bulla.

Obv: The emperor seated facing on a throne with lion supporters, wearing low crown and elaborate robes, holding cross-tipped scepter in his right hand and globus cruciger in his left.

Rev: The emperor, wearing full armor covered by a surcoat and a closed helmet, riding horse galloping to right, holding an upraised sword in his right, the reins in his left, and with his shield over his left chest.

Condition: Very fine.
Weight: 62.41 g.
Diameter: 42 mm.

When his elder brother, Emperor Baldwin, was captured at the Battle of Adrianople in April 1205 by the Bulgarians, Henry was chosen regent of the empire, succeeding to the throne when the news of Baldwin's death arrived. He was crowned 20 August 1206.

Upon Henry's ascension as Latin emperor, the Lombard nobles of the Kingdom of Thessalonica refused to give him allegiance. A two-year war ensued and after defeating the Templar-supported Lombards, Henry confiscated the Templar castles of Ravennika and Zetouni (Lamia).

Henry was a wise ruler, whose reign was largely passed in successful struggles with Tsar Kaloyan of Bulgaria and with his rival Emperor Theodore I Lascaris of Nicaea. He later fought against Boril of Bulgaria (1207–1218) and managed to defeat him in the Battle of Philippopolis. Henry campaigned against the Nicean Empire, expanding a small holding in Asia Minor (at Pegai) with campaigns in 1207 (at Nicomedia) and in 1211–1212 (with the Battle of the Rhyndacus), where he captured important Nicean possessions at Nymphaion. Though Theodore I Laskaris could not oppose this later campaign, it appears that Henry decided it best to focus on his European problems, for he sought a truce with Theodore I in 1214, and amicably divided Latin from Nicean possessions to the favour of Nicea.
Henry (c.1178 – 11 June 1216) was Latin emperor of Constantinople from 1205 until his death in 1216. He was one of the leaders of the Fourth Crusade in which the Byzantine Empire was conquered and Latin Empire formed.
Henry appears to have been brave but not cruel, and tolerant but not weak, possessing "the superior courage to oppose, in a superstitious age, the pride and avarice of the clergy." The emperor died, poisoned, it is said, by Oberto II of Biandrate, ex-regent of Thessaloniki, on 11 June 1216.