Henry VI (1376–1454), a member of the

House of Gorizia The Counts of Gorizia (german: Grafen von Görz; it, Conti di Gorizia; sl, Goriški grofje), also known as the Meinhardiner, were a comital, princely and ducal dynasty in the Holy Roman Empire. Named after Gorizia Castle in Gorizia (now in I ...

(''Meinhardiner'' dynasty), ruled as Count of Gorizia from 1385 until his death. He was also

Count Palatine A count palatine (Latin ''comes palatinus''), also count of the palace or palsgrave (from German ''Pfalzgraf''), was originally an official attached to a royal or imperial palace or household and later a nobleman of a rank above that of an or ...

of Carinthia (a hereditary title),

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of Belluno-Feltre and '' Landeshauptmann'' of Carniola. Through his first marriage with Elizabeth of Cilli, he was the brother-in-law of Sigismund of Luxembourg, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Hungary.

Life

Henry's parents were Count Meinhard VI and his wife, Utehild of Mätsch. His father had outlived his elder brother and became sole ruler in 1365. Upon his death about 1385, Henry succeeded him as Count of Gorizia (''Görz''). His estates went into a rapid decline, as he turned out to be an "incurable drunkard and gambler". Since Henry's cousin Countess Margaret had bequeathed her Tyrolean estates to the Habsburg duke

Rudolf IV of Austria Rudolf IV (1 November 1339 – 27 July 1365), also called Rudolf the Founder (german: der Stifter), was a scion of the House of Habsburg who ruled as duke of Austria (self-proclaimed archduke), Styria and Carinthia from 1358, as well as count ...

in 1363, the Counts of Gorizia were thrown back on their original possessions around

Gorizia Gorizia (; sl, Gorica , colloquially 'old Gorizia' to distinguish it from Nova Gorica; fur, label= Standard Friulian, Gurize, fur, label= Southeastern Friulian, Guriza; vec, label= Bisiacco, Gorisia; german: Görz ; obsolete English ''Gori ...

and

Lienz Lienz (; Southern Bavarian: ''Lianz'') is a medieval town in the Austrian state of Tyrol. It is the administrative centre of the Lienz district, which covers all of East Tyrol. The municipality also includes the cadastral subdivision of ''Pat ...

( Bruck Castle). Henry likewise concluded an inheritance treaty with the Habsburg dynasty; this didn't go down well with his other neighbours, the

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 ...

dukes of

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

and the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...

. After the death of his younger brother John Meinhard VII in 1430, he also inherited the Swabian county of Kirchberg from the estate of his mother.

Marriages and issue

Henry was engaged with Elizabeth (d. 1392), a daughter of the Habsburg duke Leopold III of Austria. However, on 31 January 1400 he married another Elizabeth (d. 1426), a younger daughter of Count Herman II of Celje. Through this marriage, he eventually became the brother in law of the Emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg. With Elisabeth, he had two daughters: * Anna, married to Brunoro

della Scala The Della Scala family, whose members were known as Scaligeri () or Scaligers (; from the Latinized ''de Scalis''), was the ruling family of Verona and mainland Veneto (except for Venice) from 1262 to 1387, for a total of 125 years. History Wh ...

(d. 1437) * Margaret (d. 1450), married Count John of

Oettingen-Wallerstein The House of Oettingen was a high-rank noble Franconian and Swabian family. It ruled various estates that composed the County of Oettingen between the 12th century and the beginning of the 19th century. In 1674 the house was raised to the rank of ...

(d. 1449) After Elizabeth's death, Henry married Catherine (''Katalin''; d. 1471/83), a daughter of the Hungarian palatine

Nicholas II Garai Nicholas II Garai ( hu, Garai II Miklós, hr, Nikola II Gorjanski; c. 1367 – December 1433) was a powerful Hungarian baron who served as the Palatine of Hungary from 1402 until 1433 and the ban of Macsó, Usora, Só, Slavonia, Croatia and Da ...

. He was described as a "rugged opponent" of Catherine, as she was politically inclined to side with the Habsburgs, while he was siding with the Celje relatives of his first wife. He had three sons with Catherine: *

John II John II may refer to: People * John Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg (1455–1499) * John II Casimir Vasa of Poland (1609–1672) * John II Comyn, Lord of Badenoch (died 1302) * John II Doukas of Thessaly (1303–1318) * John II Komnenos (1087–1 ...

(1438–1462), succeeded his father as Count of Gorizia in 1454 *

Leonhard Leonhard may refer to: *Leonhard Euler (1707–1783), Swiss mathematician and physicist *Leonhard Hutter (1563–1616), German theologian *Karl Leonhard (1904–1988), German psychiatrist *Jim Leonhard (1982– ), American football safety * LEONHA ...

(1440–1500), succeeded his elder brother in 1462, last Count of Gorizia * Louis (d. 1457)

External links

Genealogy of the Middle Ages
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henry 06 Gorizia Counts of Gorizia 1376 births 1454 deaths 14th-century German nobility 15th-century German nobility