Frederick III () (1240 – 31 December 1302) was the

Duke of Lorraine The rulers 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 kings of t ...

from 1251 to his death. He was the only son and successor of Matthias II and

Catherine of Limburg Catherine of Limburg (1215-1255) was a duchess consort of Lorraine by marriage to Matthias II, Duke of Lorraine.Georges Poull, La Maison ducale de Lorraine, Nancy, Presses Universitaires de Nancy, 1991, étail de l’édition(ISBN 2-86480-517-0) Sh ...

. He was not yet thirteen years of age when his father died, so his mother assumed the

regency A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

for a few years. In 1255, he married Margaret, the daughter of King

Theobald I of Navarre Theobald I (french: Thibaut, es, Teobaldo; 30 May 1201 – 8 July 1253), also called the Troubadour and the Posthumous, was Count of Champagne (as Theobald IV) from birth and King of Navarre from 1234. He initiated the Barons' Crusade, was famous ...

and Margaret of Bourbon.(FR)Jean-Luc Fray, ''Villes et bourgs de Lorraine: réseaux urbains et centralité au Moyen Âge'', (Presses Universitaires Blaise-Pascal, 2007), 270. Frederick's father-in-law was the

Count of Champagne The count of Champagne was the ruler of the County of Champagne from 950 to 1316. Champagne evolved from the County of Troyes in the late eleventh century and Hugh I was the first to officially use the title count of Champagne. Count Theobald I ...

as well, and the marriage of Margaret with Frederick signified the Gallicization of Lorraine and the beginnings of tension between French and German influences which characterises its later history. When

Joan I of Navarre Joan I (14 January 1273 – 31 March/2 April 1305) ( eu, Joana) was Queen of Navarre and Countess of Champagne from 1274 until 1305; she was also Queen of France by marriage to King Philip IV. She founded the College of Navarre in Paris in 1305. ...

, Margaret's niece, (the daughter of her brother,

Henry I of Navarre Henry the Fat (Basque: ''Henrike I.a, Gizena'', French: ''Henri le Gros'', Spanish: ''Enrique el Gordo'') (c. 1244 – 22 July 1274) was King of Navarre (as Henry I) and Count of Champagne and Brie (as Henry III) from 1270 until his death. E ...

), married

Philip the Fair Philip IV (April–June 1268 – 29 November 1314), called Philip the Fair (french: Philippe le Bel), was King of France from 1285 to 1314. By virtue of his marriage with Joan I of Navarre, he was also King of Navarre as Philip I from 1 ...

, the future

king of France France was ruled by monarchs from the establishment of the Kingdom of West Francia in 843 until the end of the Second French Empire in 1870, with several interruptions. Classical French historiography usually regards Clovis I () as the first ...

, in 1284, the ties to France grew. The long-held loyalty of the dukes of Lorraine to the

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...

had waned in the first half of the thirteenth century and French influence was pervasive, leading to its permanent attachment to France in 1766. During Frederick's reign, he fought the bishops of

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand E ...

until

Pope Clement IV Pope Clement IV ( la, Clemens IV; 23 November 1190 – 29 November 1268), born Gui Foucois ( la, Guido Falcodius; french: Guy de Foulques or ') and also known as Guy le Gros ( French for "Guy the Fat"; it, Guido il Grosso), was bishop of Le P ...

excommunicated him and put his duchy under an

interdict In Catholic canon law, an interdict () is an ecclesiastical censure, or ban that prohibits persons, certain active Church individuals or groups from participating in certain rites, or that the rites and services of the church are banished from ...

. In 1257, after the elections following the death of King William of Holland resulted in the contested election of both

Richard, Earl of Cornwall Richard (5 January 1209 – 2 April 1272) was an English prince who was King of the Romans from 1257 until his death in 1272. He was the second son of John, King of England, and Isabella, Countess of Angoulême. Richard was nominal Count of Po ...

and

Alfonso X of Castile Alfonso X (also known as the Wise, es, el Sabio; 23 November 1221 – 4 April 1284) was King of Castile, León and Galicia from 30 May 1252 until his death in 1284. During the election of 1257, a dissident faction chose him to be king of Germ ...

, Frederick of Lorraine sided with Alfonso, who through his mother Beatrix was the grandson of the Hohenstaufen

Philip of Swabia Philip of Swabia (February/March 1177 – 21 June 1208) was a member of the House of Hohenstaufen and King of Germany from 1198 until his assassination. The death of his older brother Emperor Henry VI in 1197 meant that the Hohenstaufen rule (whi ...

. The rivalry between the two kings led to little actual combat and after Richard's death the 1273 election of

Rudolf of Habsburg Rudolf I (1 May 1218 – 15 July 1291) was the first King of Germany from the House of Habsburg. The first of the count-kings of Germany, he reigned from 1273 until his death. Rudolf's election marked the end of the Great Interregnum which h ...

and the subsequent withdrawal of Alfonso reestablished unity.

Family

By his marriage to Margaret, he had the following issue: *

Theobald Theobald is a Germanic dithematic name, composed from the elements '' theod-'' "people" and ''bald'' "bold". The name arrived in England with the Normans. The name occurs in many spelling variations, including Theudebald, Diepold, Theobalt, Tybal ...

(1263–1312), his successor in Lorraine *Matthias (died 1282), lord of Beauregard *Frederick (died 1299),

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

(1297–1299) *Frederick (died c. 1320), lord of Plombiéres,

Romont Romont (; frp, Remont ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality and capital of the district of Glâne (district), Glâne in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Fribourg (canton), Fribourg in Switzerland. History Romont is first ment ...

, and

Brémoncourt Brémoncourt () is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in northeastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Meurthe-et-Moselle department The following is a list of the 591 Communes of France, communes of the Meurthe-et-Mo ...

*Gerard (known 1317) *Isabelle (died 1335), married (1287) Louis III, Duke of Lower Bavaria, of the Royal

House of Wittelsbach The House of Wittelsbach () is a German dynasty, with branches that have ruled over territories including Bavaria, the Palatinate, Holland and Zeeland, Sweden (with Finland), Denmark, Norway, Hungary (with Romania), Bohemia, the Electorate ...

; then Lord Henry of Sully-sur-Loire, Sully; and then (1306) Count (died 1348) *Catherine, lady of

, married (1290) Conrad II (died 1350), count of Fribourg *Agnes, married John II (died 1302), sire of House of Harcourt, Harcourt *Margaret, married Eberhard I, Count of Württemberg, of the Royal House of Württemberg

Family

References

See also