Albert III ( 1027 – 22 June 1102) was the Count of Namur from 1063 until his death. He was the son of Count Albert II and Regelinde of Verdun. Although he was not formally a duke, Albert is considered to have played the role of an acting

Duke of Lower Lotharingia The kings and dukes of Lorraine have held different posts under different governments over different regions, since its creation as the kingdom of Lotharingia by the Treaty of Prüm, in 855. The first rulers of the newly established region were ...

, or "vice duke", during part of his lifetime, while the king's young son Conrad was named as Duke. However he lost this position when

Godfrey of Bouillon Godfrey of Bouillon (; ; ; ; 1060 – 18 July 1100) was a preeminent leader of the First Crusade, and the first ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem from 1099 to 1100. Although initially reluctant to take the title of king, he agreed to rule as pri ...

was given the duchy.See Margue.

Biography

From 1071 to 1072, he helped Richilde, Countess of Hainaut and Flanders fight against Robert the Frisian, but the Countess was beaten and lost Flanders. In 1076, supported by

Matilda of Tuscany Matilda of Tuscany (; or ; – 24 July 1115), or Matilda of Canossa ( ), also referred to as ("the Great Countess"), was a member of the House of Canossa (also known as the Attonids) in the second half of the eleventh century. Matilda was on ...

, he claimed the Duchy of Bouillon, claiming to have rights by his mother, and fought against

to assert his claims. During a battle near

Dalhem Dalhem (; ) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. On 1 January 2012 Dalhem had a total population of 6,996. The total area is 36.06 km² which gives a population density of 180 inhabitants per km². Th ...

, he killed Hermann II, Count Palatine of Lotharingia (20 September 1085), making him fall out of favor with the German emperor. Finally, with the

Truce of God The Peace and Truce of God () was a movement in the Middle Ages led by the Catholic Church and was one of the most influential mass peace movements in history. The goal of both the ''Pax Dei'' and the ''Treuga Dei'' was to limit the violence o ...

in 1086, the

Bishop of Liège A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of dioceses. The role ...

succeeded in making peace between the warring parties in favor of Godfrey. In 1099, Otbert, Bishop of Liege gave him the county of Brunengeruz, territory which had been contested by the counts of Leuven, but the counts of Namur were not able to hold this territory in the long run.

Marriages and issue

In 1065 Albert married Ida (d. 1102), widow of Frederick of Luxembourg, Duke of Lower Lorraine, and daughter of

Bernard II, Duke of Saxony Bernard II (c. 995 – 29 June 1059) was the Duke of Saxony between 1011 and 1059, the third of the Billung dynasty as a son of Bernard I and Hildegard. Besides his position in Saxony, he had the rights of a count in Frisia. Bernard expanded ...

. They had 5 children * Godfrey I, Count of Namur (1068–1139) * Henry, Count of La Roche (1070–1138) * Frederick, Bishop of Liège (d. 1121) * Albert, Count of Jaffa (d. 1122) * Adelaide (1068–1124), married Otto II, Count of Chiny

Notes

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Albert 03, Count of Namur Counts of Namur House of Namur 1020s births 1102 deaths Year of birth uncertain Counts of the Holy Roman Empire 11th-century nobility from the Holy Roman Empire 11th-century counts in Europe