Henry (
Portuguese: ''Henrique'',
French: ''Henri''; 1066 – 22 May 1112),
Count of Portugal
The County of Portugal (Galician-Portuguese: ''Comtato de Portugalle''; referred to as Portugalia in contemporary documents) refers to two successive medieval counties in the region around Guimarães and Porto, today corresponding to litoral Nor ...
, was the first member of the
Capetian House of Burgundy to rule Portugal and the father of the country's first king,
Afonso Henriques.
Biographical sketch
Family relations
Born in about 1066 in
Dijon
Dijon (, ; ; in Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Digion'') is a city in and the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Côte-d'Or Departments of France, department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in eas ...
,
Duchy of Burgundy
The Duchy of Burgundy (; ; ) was a medieval and early modern feudal polity in north-western regions of historical Burgundy. It was a duchy, ruled by dukes of Burgundy. The Duchy belonged to the Kingdom of France, and was initially bordering th ...
, Count Henry was the youngest son of
Henry, the second son of
Robert I, Duke of Burgundy. His two older brothers,
Hugh I and
Odo I, inherited the duchy. No contemporary record of his mother has survived. She was once thought to have been named Sibylla based on an undated obituary reporting the death of "''Sibilla, mater ducus Burgundie''" (Sibylla, mother of the Duke of Burgundy), under the reasoning that she was not called duchess herself and hence must have been the wife of Henry, the only father of a duke who never himself held the ducal title, yet this was probably a reference to her daughter-in-law,
Sibylla, mother of the then-reigning
Hugh II. Historian
Jean Richard suggested that she might instead have been called Clémence. Whatever her name, her son Henry was kinsman (''congermanus'') of his brother-in-law,
Raymond of Burgundy, and this relationship may have come through either, or both, of their mothers, who are both of undocumented parentage. It has been suggested that Henry's mother may have been the daughter of
Reginald I Reginald I may refer to:
* Reginald I, Count of Burgundy (968–1057), Count of the Free County of Burgundy from 1026
* Reginald I, Count of Bar (died 1149), called "the One-eyed", Count of Bar from 1105
* Reginald I of Guelders (1255–1326), Count ...
, which would make her the maternal aunt of Raymond who would then be Henry's first cousin. This solution is problematic, as Henry's brother
Odo I, Duke of Burgundy married Raymond's sister,
Sibylla, and though marriages between close kin sometimes took place through
dispensation, the prohibition against first-cousin marriages in church law makes it likely that the relationship between Odo and Sibylla, and hence that between Henry and Raymond, was more distant. Based on the relationship between Henry and Raymond and the apparent introduction of the
byname ''Borel'' into the family of the dukes of Burgundy through this marriage, genealogist
Szabolcs de Vajay suggested Henry's mother was a daughter of
Berenguer Ramon I, Count of Barcelona, and his wife Guisla de Lluçà.
One of his paternal aunts was
Constance of Burgundy, the wife of
Alfonso VI of León
Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century ( Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic Kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula. ...
, and one of his great-uncles was
Hugh,
Abbot of Cluny, one of the most influential and venerated personalities of his time. Count Henry's family was very powerful and governed many cities in
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
such as Chalon,
Auxerre
Auxerre ( , , Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Auchoirre'') is the capital (Prefectures in France, prefecture) of the Yonne Departments of France, department and the fourth-largest city in the Burgundy historical region southeast of Par ...
,
Autun
Autun () is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Saône-et-Loire Departments of France, department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region of central-eastern France. It was founded during the Principate era of the e ...
,
Nevers
Nevers ( , ; , later ''Nevirnum'' and ''Nebirnum'') is a city and the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Nièvre Departments of France, department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in central France. It was the pr ...
, Dijon,
Mâcon
Mâcon (), historically Anglicization, anglicised as Mascon, is a city in east-central France. It is the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Saône-et-Loire in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. Mâcon is home t ...
and
Semur.
Reconquista
After the defeat of the Christian troops in the
Battle of Sagrajas in October 1086, in the early months of the following year, King Alfonso VI appealed for aid from Christians at the other side of the
Pyrenees. Many French nobles and soldiers heeded the call, including
Raymond of Burgundy, Odo I (Henry's brother), and
Raymond of St. Gilles. Not all of them arrived at the same time in the
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...
and it is most likely that Raymond of Burgundy came in 1091. Although some authors claim that Count Henry came with the expedition which arrived in 1087, even though ''"documentary evidence here is much more slight"'', his presence is confirmed only as of 1096 when he appears confirming the ''
forais'' of
Guimarães and
Constantim de Panoias.
Three of these French nobles married daughters of King Alfonso VI: Raymond of Burgundy married ''
infanta'' Urraca, later Queen
Urraca of León; Raymond of St. Gilles married
Elvira; and Henry of Burgundy married
Teresa of León, illegitimate daughter, as her sister Elvira, of the king and his mistress
Jimena Muñoz.
Pact with his cousin Raymond of Burgundy
Between the years 1096 and 1105, count Raymond, seeing that his influence in the ''
curia regis'' was diminishing, reached an agreement with his cousin Henry of Burgundy. The birth of King Alfonso's only son,
Sancho Alfónsez, was also perceived as a threat by the two cousins. They agreed to share power, the royal treasury, and to support each other. Under this agreement, which counted with the blessings of their relative, the
Abbot of Cluny, Raymond ''"promised his cousin under oath to hand him over the
Kingdom of Toledo and one third of the royal treasury upon the death of King Alfonso VI"''. If he could not deliver Toledo, he would give him
Galicia. Henry, in turn, promised to help Raymond ''"obtain all the dominions of King Alfonso and two thirds of the royal treasury"''.
Historians who date the pact closer to 1096 surmise that news of this agreement might have reached the king who, in order to counter the initiative of his two sons-in-law, appointed Henry governor of the region extending ''a flumine mineo usque in tagum'' (from the
Minho river to the banks of the
Tagus
The Tagus ( ; ; ) is the longest river in the Iberian Peninsula. The river rises in the Montes Universales between Cuenca and Teruel, in mid-eastern Spain, flows , generally westward, and empties into the Atlantic Ocean in Lisbon.
Name
T ...
). Until then, this region had been governed by count Raymond who saw his power limited to just Galicia, thereby nullifying the terms of the pact.
Other historians however have shown that the pact could not have been made before 1103, several years after the two counts had been granted their respective title, implying that their alliance must have prevailed over their hypothetical rivalry.
After the death of Alfonso VI
After Raymond's death, Queen Urraca (Teresa's half-sister) married
Alfonso the Battler for political and strategic reasons. Henry took advantage of the family conflicts and political unrest to serve on both sides and aggrandize his domains at the cost of the squabbling royal couple.
Caught under siege in
Astorga by the King of Aragon, then at war with Urraca, Henry held the city with the help of his sister-in-law. Henry died on 22 May 1112, from wounds received during the siege. His remains were transferred, following his previous orders, to
Braga
Braga (; ) is a cities of Portugal, city and a Municipalities of Portugal, municipality, capital of the northwestern Portugal, Portuguese Braga (district), district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality ...
where he was buried in a chapel at
Braga Cathedral, the building of which he had promoted. After his death, his widow ruled alone.
Legacy
Count Henry was the leader of a group of gentlemen, monks, and clerics of French origin who exerted great influence in the Iberian Peninsula, promoted many reforms and introduced several institutions from the other side of the Pyrenees, such as the customs of Cluny and the
Roman Rite
The Roman Rite () is the most common ritual family for performing the ecclesiastical services of the Latin Church, the largest of the ''sui iuris'' particular churches that comprise the Catholic Church. The Roman Rite governs Rite (Christianity) ...
. They occupied relevant ecclesiastical and political positions which provoked a strong backlash during the last years of the reign of King Alfonso VI.
Marriage and issue
He married
Teresa of León around 1095. From Teresa, Henry had the following issue:
*
Urraca Henriques ( 1095 – 1173), the wife of
Bermudo Pérez de Traba,
tenente in
Trastámara,
Viseu
Viseu () is a city and municipality in the Centro Region of Portugal and the capital of the Viseu District, district of the same name, with a population of 100,105 inhabitants in the entire municipality, and center of the Viseu Dão Lafões Interm ...
,
Seia, and Faro in
A Coruña
A Coruña (; ; also informally called just Coruña; historical English: Corunna or The Groyne) is a city and municipality in Galicia, Spain. It is Galicia's second largest city, behind Vigo. The city is the provincial capital of the province ...
;
* Sancha Henriques ( 1097 – 1163), married firstly
Sancho Nunes de Celanova, with issue. After becoming a widow, married secondly Fernando Mendes de Bragança, with no issue from this marriage;
* Teresa Henriques (born c. 1098);
*
Afonso Henriques (1109 – 1185). He was named after his maternal grandfather, King Alfonso VI, perhaps ''"as a way of remembering that the blood of the Emperor of all Hispania also ran through his veins"''. Afonso became Count of Portugal in 1112 and
King of Portugal
This is a list of Portuguese monarchs who ruled from the establishment of the Kingdom of Portugal, in 1139, to the deposition of the Portuguese monarchy and creation of the Portugal, Portuguese Republic with the 5 October 1910 revolution.
Thro ...
in 1139.
Ancestry
See also
*
Portugal in the Middle Ages
Notes
References
Bibliography
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Henry, Count of Portugal
People of the Reconquista
House of Burgundy
Burials at Braga Cathedral
1060s births
1112 deaths
Year of birth uncertain
11th-century counts of Portugal (Asturias-León)
12th-century counts of Portugal (Asturias-León)