Elisabeth was the second child and oldest daughter of her father; she had an elder brother named Hugh from his first marriage to Eleanor of Champagne.

As his marriage to Margaret had proved childless, Elisabeth inherited the County of Vermandois,[4] which she ruled over jointly with her husband; this pushed Flemish authority further south, to its greatest extent thus far, and threatened to completely alter the balance of power in northern France.

In 1175, Philip discovered that Elisabeth was committing adultery[5][6] and had her lover, Walter de Fontaines, beaten to death.

In 1177, when Philip left for the Holy Land, he designated his sister Margaret and her second husband, Baldwin V, Count of Hainaut, as his heirs.

Elisabeth died at Arras on 28 March 1183 aged thirty-nine or forty, prompting King Philip II of France to seize Vermandois on behalf of her sister, Eleonore, who succeeded her.