Henry III "the Great" (? – 1246) was the count of Sayn (1202–1246), a county located near the

Sieg River The Sieg is a river in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a right tributary of the Rhine. The river is named after the Sicambri. It is in length. The source is located in the Rothaargebirge mountains. From here t ...

in northern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Henry III shared the first year of his reign with his uncle, count Henry II, as he and his father Eberhard II had co-ruled the county. Gottfried II (Count of

Sponheim Sponheim is a municipality in the district of Bad Kreuznach in Rhineland-Palatinate in western Germany. History Sponheim was the capital of the County of Sponheim. Sponheim Abbey There was a Benedictine abbey which was founded in 1101 by Step ...

) had been a regent from 1181 and continued until his death in 1220. John, count of Sponheim-Starkenburg, was regent from 1226 until Henry's death in 1246. In 1233, Conrad of Marburg, Conrad Dorso and John the One-Eyed accused Henry of indulging in satanic orgies. Henry pleaded his case successfully to an assembly of bishops in Mainz and was acquitted.See

Robert I. Moore Robert Ian "Bob" Moore (born 1941), most commonly known as R. I. Moore, is a British historian who is Professor Emeritus of History at Newcastle University. He specialises in medieval history and has written several influential works on t ...

, ''The War on Heresy. Faith and Power in Medieval Europe'', London, Profile Books, 2014, p. 280-281. Conrad, however, refused to accept the verdict, but eventually left Mainz. While passing near Marburg, Conrad was ambushed and killed by a group of knights. It is unknown whether they were in the service of Henry. Henry died in 1246. His county was inherited by his brother-in-law, count Eberhard III of Sponheim-Eberstein.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henry 3, Count Of Sayn Counts of Sayn 12th-century births 1246 deaths People from former German states in Rhineland-Palatinate Year of birth unknown