Henry I (german: Heinrich; d.1061), was

Count Palatine of Lotharingia The counts palatine of Lotharingia /counts palatine of the Rhine /electors of the Palatinate (german: Kurfürst von der Pfalz) ruled some part of Rhine area in the Kingdom of Germany and the Holy Roman Empire from 915 to 1803. The title was a kind ...

from 1045 until 1060. He was the son of

Hezzelin I Hezzelin I (also called Hezilo or Hermann), Count in Zülpichgau (died 1033), son of count palatine Hermann I of Lotharingia. He married a daughter of Duke Conrad I of Carinthia and had: * Heinrich I Count Palatine of Lotharingia The counts p ...

, Count in Zülpichgau, and a member of the Ezzonid dynasty. Historians have given several nicknames to Heinrich: ''Furiosus'' (the Violent/the Insane), because he murdered his wife, and ''Monachus'' (the Monk), because he was confined into an abbey to treat his insanity.

Life

Henry was the son of

and his unnamed wife, who was probably a daughter of Conrad I of

Carinthia Carinthia (german: Kärnten ; sl, Koroška ) is the southernmost States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is German language, German. Its regional dialects belong to t ...

. Around 1048 Henry married Mathilda of Verdun (born abt 1025, died 27 July 1060), daughter of Duke Gozelo of Lotharingia, and sister of pope

Stephen IX Pope Stephen IX ( la, Stephanus, christened Frederick; c. 1020 – 29 March 1058) was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 3 August 1057 to his death in 29 March 1058. He was a member of the Ardenne-Verdun family, ...

. He received the Mosellan castle of

Cochem Cochem is the seat of and the biggest town in the Cochem-Zell district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. With just over 5,000 inhabitants, Cochem falls just behind Kusel, in the Kusel district, as Germany's second smallest district seat. Since 7 J ...

from his niece, Queen Richeza of Poland. He was elected as successor for the German kingdom during Emperor Henry III's illness. Shortly after 1058, Henry began to show signs of insanity, for which he was confined to the abbey of

Gorze Gorze (; german: Gorz) is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. Sites and monuments Gorze Abbey was confiscated as public property during the French Revolution; it has since been restored and utilised for a v ...

. He escaped however, and thinking that his wife Matilda had been unfaithful to him, he killed her (27 July 1060). Henry then was definitely enclosed into the

abbey of Echternach The Abbey of Echternach is a Benedictine monastery in the town of Echternach, in eastern Luxembourg. The Abbey was founded in the 7th century by St Willibrord, the patron saint of Luxembourg. For three hundred years, it benefited from the pat ...

, where he died in 1061. His office and counties were confiscated by

Anno II, archbishop of Cologne Anno II ( – 4 December 1075) was Archbishop of Cologne from 1056 until his death. From 1063 to 1065 he acted as regent of the Holy Roman Empire for the minor Emperor Henry IV. Anno is venerated as a saint of the Catholic Church. Life He was b ...

, who became the guardian of their only son, the later count palatine Hermann II (1064-1085).''Vita Annonis Archiep. Coloniensis'', ch. 32, p. 480.
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References

* *Boehmer, J. F. (1868) ''Fontes Rerum Germanicarum'', vol. IV (Stuttgart)

Notes

{{Authority control Counts Palatine of Lotharingia Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown