Henry I ( nl, Hendrik, french: Henri; c. 1165 – 5 September 1235), named "The Courageous", was a member of the
House of Reginar
The Reginarids (or Regnarids, Regniers, Reiniers, etc.) were a family of magnates in Lower Lotharingia during the Carolingian and Ottonian period. Their modern name is derived from the personal name which many members of the family bore, and whic ...
and first
duke of Brabant
The Duke of Brabant (, ) was the ruler of the Duchy of Brabant since 1183/1184. The title was created by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in favor of Henry I of the House of Reginar, son of Godfrey III of Leuven (who was duke of Low ...
from 1183/84 until his death.
Early life
Henry was possibly born in
Leuven
Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the historic ...
(Louvain), the son of Count
Godfrey III of Louvain
Godfrey III ( nl, Godfried; c. 1142 – 21 August 1190) was count of Louvain (or Leuven), landgrave of Brabant, margrave of Antwerp, and duke of Lower Lorraine (as Godfrey VIII) from 1142 to his death.
Origins
He was the son of Godfrey II and ...
and his wife Margaret, daughter of Duke Henry II of Limburg. His father also held the title of a
landgrave of Brabant
The Landgraviate of Brabant (1085–1183) was a small medieval fiefdom west of Brussels, consisting of the area between the Dender and Zenne rivers in the Low Countries, then part of the Holy Roman Empire.
Before 1085 the land had belonged ...
,
duke of Lower 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 ...
and
margrave of Antwerp
The Margraviate of Antwerp (or Mark of Antwerp) consisted since the eleventh century of the area around the cities of Antwerp and Breda.
Origin
Under Otto II, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, several marches were created along the border wi ...
. Henry early appeared as a co-ruler of his father. In 1180, he married
Matilda of Boulogne
Matilda (c.1105 – 3 May 1152) was Countess of Boulogne in her own right from 1125 and Queen of England from the accession of her husband, Stephen, in 1136 until her death in 1152. She supported Stephen in his struggle for the English throne ...
Matthew of Alsace
Matthew, Count of Boulogne, also known as ''Matthew of Alsace'' (–1173) was the second son of Thierry, Count of Flanders and Sibylla of Anjou. Matthew forcibly abducted the nun Marie de Boulogne, daughter of Stephen, King of England, and cons ...
and on this occasion received the County of
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
from his father. He acted as a
regent
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 ...
while Count Godfrey III went on a pilgrimage to
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
from 1182 to 1184.
Career
In 1183 Henry took the title of duke of Brabant. Upon the death of his father in 1190, King Henry VI confirmed the elevation of Brabant, while he ''
de facto
''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...
'' abolished the Duchy of
Lower Lorraine
The Duchy of Lower Lotharingia, also called Northern Lotharingia, Lower Lorraine or Northern Lorraine (and also referred to as '' Lothier'' or '' Lottier''
by creating the empty title of a
Duke of Lothier
Lothier refers to the territory within the Duchy of Lower Lotharingia, governed by the dukes of Brabant and their successors after 1190 until the end of the Ancien Régime in 1796.
In 1190, at the Diet of Hall in the abbey of Comburg, the German ...
. Duke Henry sought to expand his power and soon picked several quarrels with the Count
Baldwin V of Hainaut
Baldwin V of Hainaut (1150 – 17 December 1195) was count of Hainaut (1171–1195), margrave of Namur as Baldwin I (1189–1195) and count of Flanders as Baldwin VIII (1191–1195).
History
He was the son of Baldwin IV, Count of Hainaut. In the ...
. He also was in opposition to the German king (emperor from 1191) when his brother
Albert of Louvain
Albert of Louvain (1166 – 24 November 1192) was a cardinal of the Catholic Church and the Prince-Bishop of Liège. He was canonized as a saint on 9 August 1613 and his feast falls on the date of his death.
Biography
Albert de Louvain was born ...
was elected
bishop of Liège
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 ...
and murdered shortly afterwards.
Further conflicts with Duke
Henry III of Limburg
Henry III ( – 21 June 1221) was the Duke of Limburg and Count of Arlon from 1165 to his death. He was the son and successor of Henry II and Matilda of Saffenberg.
In 1172, he fought against the Count of Luxembourg, Henry IV the Blind, and ...
and Count
Otto I of Guelders
Otto I of Guelders (1150–1207) was a Count of Guelders and Zutphen from 1182 until his death in 1207. He was a son of Duke Hendrik of Guelders and Agnes of Arnstein. He married Richardis of Bavaria in 1184. Richardis was a daughter of Otto I W ...
followed, before in mid-1197 Henry of Brabant joined the Crusade of Henry VI as one of the leaders. In October of the same year he took part in the recapture of
Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
and, then moved to
Jaffa
Jaffa, in Hebrew Yafo ( he, יָפוֹ, ) and in Arabic Yafa ( ar, يَافَا) and also called Japho or Joppa, the southern and oldest part of Tel Aviv-Yafo, is an ancient port city in Israel. Jaffa is known for its association with the b ...
with the crusaders: however, before reaching the city he got news of the death of the King of Jerusalem,
Henry II, Count of Champagne
Henry II of Champagne (or Henry I of Jerusalem) (29 July 1166 – 10 September 1197) was count of Champagne from 1181 to 1197, and king of Jerusalem from 1192 to 1197 by virtue of his marriage to Queen Isabella I of Jerusalem.
Early life
Henry ...
, and he returned to
Acre
The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial
Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism.
Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to:
Places
United States
* Imperial, California
* Imperial, Missouri
* Imp ...
. Here he acted as regent until the arrival of the new king, Amalric II.
Back in Germany after the emperor's death in September 1197, Duke Henry supported the
election
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...
of the
Welf Welf is a Germanic first name that may refer to:
*Welf (father of Judith), 9th century Frankish count, father-in-law of Louis the Pious
*Welf I, d. bef. 876, count of Alpgau and Linzgau
*Welf II, Count of Swabia, died 1030, supposed descendant of W ...
candidate
Otto IV
Otto IV (1175 – 19 May 1218) was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1209 until his death in 1218.
Otto spent most of his early life in England and France. He was a follower of his uncle Richard the Lionheart, who made him Count of Poitou in 1196 ...
, the fiancé of his daughter
Maria
Maria may refer to:
People
* Mary, mother of Jesus
* Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages
Place names Extraterrestrial
* 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877
* Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...
, who rivalled with the
Hohenstaufen
The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynasty ...
scion
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 ...
. He fought against Philip's seconders Count
Dirk VII of Holland
Dirk VII (died 4 November 1203, in Dordrecht) was the count of Holland from 1190 to 1203. He was the elder son of Floris III and Ada of Huntingdon.
Life
Due to a civil war in the Holy Roman Empire, Emperor Henry VI had to find ways to make fri ...
and Count Otto of Guelders, however, he switched sides in 1204, when he and King
Philip II of France
Philip II (21 August 1165 – 14 July 1223), byname Philip Augustus (french: Philippe Auguste), was King of France from 1180 to 1223. His predecessors had been known as kings of the Franks, but from 1190 onward, Philip became the first French ...
backed Philip against Otto. In 1208, after the assassination of Philip, Henry was proposed as successor by King Philip II. In the war which followed, he finally reached a reconciliation with Emperor Otto IV. Together they fought against King Philip in the 1214
Battle of Bouvines
The Battle of Bouvines was fought on 27 July 1214 near the town of Bouvines in the County of Flanders. It was the concluding battle of the Anglo-French War of 1213–1214. Although estimates on the number of troops vary considerably among mo ...
, but the two were defeated.
In 1213, Duke Henry also suffered a heavy defeat against the Bishopric of Liège in the
Battle of Steppes
The Battle of Steppes was fought in modern-day Belgium on 13 October 1213 between Hugh Pierrepont, Bishop of Liège, and Henry I, Duke of Brabant.
Cause
In 1212, Albert II, Count of Dagsburg, the last ruler of the County of Moha, died with ...
. From 1217 to 1218 he joined the
Fifth Crusade
The Fifth Crusade (1217–1221) was a campaign in a series of Crusades by Western Europeans to reacquire Jerusalem and the rest of the Holy Land by first conquering Egypt, ruled by the powerful Ayyubid sultanate, led by Al-Adil I, al-Adil, brothe ...
to
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
.
Under Henry I, there was town policy and town planning. His attention went out to those regions that lent themselves to the extension of his sovereignty and in some locations he used the creation of a new town as an instrument in the political organisation of the area. Among the towns to which the duke gave city rights and trade privileges were
's-Hertogenbosch
s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a city and municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 157,486. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant and its fourth largest by population. The city is south of th ...
and
Eindhoven
Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,Stedinger Crusade.
In 1235
Emperor Frederick II
Frederick II (German: ''Friedrich''; Italian: ''Federico''; Latin: ''Federicus''; 26 December 1194 – 13 December 1250) was King of Sicily from 1198, King of Germany from 1212, King of Italy and Holy Roman Emperor from 1220 and King of Jerusa ...
appointed Henry to travel to
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
to bring him his fiancée
Isabella
Isabella may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Isabella (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters
* Isabella (surname), including a list of people
Places
United States
* Isabella, Alabama, an unincorpor ...
, daughter of
King John of England
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
. Henry fell ill on his way back and died at
Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...
. He was buried in St. Peter's Church at Leuven where his Late Romanesque effigy can still be seen.
Maria
Maria may refer to:
People
* Mary, mother of Jesus
* Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages
Place names Extraterrestrial
* 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877
* Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...
(c. 1190–1260), married in
Maastricht
Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...
after May 19, 1214
Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor
Otto IV (1175 – 19 May 1218) was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1209 until his death in 1218.
Otto spent most of his early life in England and France. He was a follower of his uncle Richard the Lionheart, who made him Count of Poitou in 1196 ...
, married July 1220
William I, Count of Holland
William I (c. 1167 – 4 February 1222) was count of Holland from 1203 to 1222. He was the younger son of Floris III and Ada of Huntingdon.
Early life
William was born in The Hague, but raised in Scotland. He participated in the Third Crus ...
#
Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
Count of Looz
The County of Loon ( , , ) was a county in the Holy Roman Empire, which corresponded approximately with the Belgian province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg. It was named after the original seat of its count, Loon, which is today called Borgloon. D ...
, married 1225 William X of Auvergne (c. 1195–1247), married before April 21, 1251 Arnold van Wesemaele (d. aft. 1288), ancestor of Joan of Boulogne, second wife of
John, Duke of Berry
John of Berry or John the Magnificent (French: ''Jean de Berry'', ; 30 November 1340 – 15 June 1416) was Duke of Berry and Auvergne and Count of Poitiers and Montpensier. He was Regent of France during the minority of his nephew 1380-1388 ...
Aachen
Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th- ...
in 1212
Henry VI, Count Palatine of the Rhine
Henry VI "the Younger" of Brunswick ( – 16 or 26 April 1214), of the House of Welf, was Count Palatine of the Rhine from 1212 to 1214.
Henry was born around 1196, the only son of Count Palatine Henry V and Agnes, daughter of Conrad, Count Palati ...
(d. 1214), married on December 6, 1214
Floris IV, Count of Holland
Floris IV (24 June 1210 – 19 July 1234) was the count of Holland from 1222 to 1234. He was born in The Hague, a son of William I of Holland and his first wife, Adelaide of Guelders.
Floris succeeded his father in 1222. His regent was Baldwin ...
#
Henry II of Brabant
Henry II of Brabant ( nl, Hendrik, french: Henri; 1207 – February 1, 1248) was Duke of Brabant and Lothier after the death of his father Henry I in 1235. His mother was Matilda of Boulogne.
Henry II supported his sister Mathilde's son, ...
(1207–1248)
# Godfrey (1209–1254), Lord of Gaesbeek, married Marie van Oudenaarde
His second marriage was at April 22, 1213 in
Soissons
Soissons () is a commune in the northern French department of Aisne, in the region of Hauts-de-France. Located on the river Aisne, about northeast of Paris, it is one of the most ancient towns of France, and is probably the ancient capital ...
to
Marie
Marie may refer to:
People Name
* Marie (given name)
* Marie (Japanese given name)
* Marie (murder victim), girl who was killed in Florida after being pushed in front of a moving vehicle in 1973
* Marie (died 1759), an enslaved Cree person in Tr ...
, daughter of King
Philip II of France
Philip II (21 August 1165 – 14 July 1223), byname Philip Augustus (french: Philippe Auguste), was King of France from 1180 to 1223. His predecessors had been known as kings of the Franks, but from 1190 onward, Philip became the first French ...
. They had two children:
# Ysabeau (Elizabeth) (d. 1272), married in
Leuven
Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the historic ...
March 19, 1233 Count Dietrich of
Cleves
Kleve (; traditional en, Cleves ; nl, Kleef; french: Clèves; es, Cléveris; la, Clivia; Low Rhenish: ''Kleff'') is a town in the Lower Rhine region of northwestern Germany near the Dutch border and the River Rhine. From the 11th century ...
, Lord of
Dinslaken
Dinslaken is a town in the district of Wesel, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is known for its harness racing track, its now closed coal mine in Lohberg and its wealthy neighborhoods ''Hiesfeld'' and ''Eppinghoven''.
Geography
Dinslaken ...
(c. 1214–1244), married 1246, Gerhard II, Count of
Wassenberg
Wassenberg (; li, Wasseberg ) is a town in the district Heinsberg, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated near the border with the Netherlands, on the river Rur, approx. 6 km north-east of Heinsberg and 15 km south-east of ...
(d. 1255)
# Marie, died young
Death, burial, and tomb
In 1235 Henry I was commissioned by the German emperor
Frederick II of Hohenstaufen
Frederick II (German: ''Friedrich''; Italian: ''Federico''; Latin: ''Federicus''; 26 December 1194 – 13 December 1250) was King of Sicily from 1198, King of Germany from 1212, King of Italy and Holy Roman Emperor from 1220 and King of Jerusal ...
to accompany the imperial fiancée Isabella Plantagenet from England to Germany. However, he died en route in Cologne, before he could complete his assignment.
His tomb in St. Peter's Church, Leuven is the oldest surviving of its kind. The image of Henry I has been idealized in the relief: he is depicted as a smiling young man. In addition, he lies on a high base, wears a long robe and the duke's cloak, and holds a scepter; his left hand plays with the cord of the mantle. The
archangel
Archangels () are the second lowest rank of angel in the hierarchy of angels. The word ''archangel'' itself is usually associated with the Abrahamic religions, but beings that are very similar to archangels are found in a number of other relig ...
s Raphaël and Michael wave the censer at his head. In addition to the tomb of Hendrik I van Brabant, there are also the tombs of his wife Mathilde van Boulogne and his daughter Maria van Brabant.
Originally, the tomb was at the altar. This was a privilege reserved only for prominent families and high clergy. The initially Romanesque church was replaced by a Gothic church in the fifteenth century. It was then that Hendrik's grave was moved and given a place of honor in front of the high altar. During the French occupation in the eighteenth century, the grave was destroyed and its remains were buried under the tower. Only in the mid-nineteenth century was the burial monument restored and placed in the chapel of Saint John of Latheran. The bones of Hendrik I were dug up in 1929 and only a few decades later, namely in 1998, were they put back in the tomb. In the meantime, the monument has been relocated and is back in its original place: in front of the high altar.'Grafmonument van hertog Hendrik I', Erfgoedplus.be (https://www.erfgoedplus.be/details/24062A51.priref.17497)
See also
*
Dukes of Brabant family tree
The Duke of Brabant (, ) was the ruler of the Duchy of Brabant since 1183/1184. The title was created by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in favor of Henry I of the House of Reginar, son of Godfrey III of Leuven (who was duke of Lowe ...