Matthias II ( 1193 – 9 February 1251) was

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 1220 to his death. He was the son of Duke Frederick II and Agnes of

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

and succeeded his brother, Theobald I. He immediately had to give away Nancy to his brother's widow,

Gertrude of Dagsburg Gertrude of Dagsburg (died 30 March 1225) was the reigning countess of Metz and County of Dagsburg, Dagsburg (Dabo) between 1212 and 1225. She was duchess consort of Lorraine by marriage to Theobald I, Duke of Lorraine, Theobald. She was a trouvè ...

, who remarried to

Theobald IV of Champagne 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 ...

, whose suzerainty Matthias had to recognise, due to the fruitless wars his brother had waged against an imperial coalition. Theobald had hoped to get his hands on the county 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 ...

, but failing that, he repudiated Gertrude. Gertrude had no children by a third marriage and Nancy reverted to the duchy on her death in 1225. Matthias accompanied Emperor Frederick II on the

Sixth Crusade The Sixth Crusade (1228–1229), also known as the Crusade of Frederick II, was a military expedition to recapture Jerusalem and the rest of the Holy Land. It began seven years after the failure of the Fifth Crusade and involved very little actua ...

in 1228 and into

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

in 1235. By this, he reinitiated the close alliance with the Holy Roman Emperors which his forefathers had had for over a century from the appointment of

Adalbert Adalbert is a German given name which means "noble bright" or "noble shining", derived from the words ''adal'' (meaning noble) and ''berht'' (shining or bright). Alternative spellings include Adelbart, Adelbert and Adalberto. Derivative names inclu ...

until the war between his brother and Frederick, which had ruptured that long friendship. Matthias faced several unruly barons, especially the Count of

Lunéville Lunéville ( ; German, obsolete: ''Lünstadt'' ) is a commune in the northeastern French department of Meurthe-et-Moselle. It is a subprefecture of the department and lies on the river Meurthe at its confluence with the Vezouze. History Lun ...

, who had the discreet support of the

Count of Bar The County of Bar, later Duchy of Bar, was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire encompassing the ''Barrois, pays de Barrois'' and centred on the city of Bar-le-Duc. It was held by the County of Montbéliard, House of Montbéliard from the 11t ...

. He was victorious and reattached Lunéville to the duchy in an exchange. However, peace was not achieved. In 1230,

Henry II of Bar Henry II of Bar in French ''Henri II de Bar'', in German ''Heinrich II von Bar'' (1190–13 November 1239) was a Count of Bar who reigned from 1214 to 1239. He was son of Count Theobald I of Bar and his first wife, Ermesinde of Bar-sur-Seine. Hen ...

was at it again, with Hugh II of Vaudémont and the

Bishop of Toul The Diocese of Toul was a Roman Catholic diocese seated at Toul in present-day France. It existed from 365 until 1802. From 1048 until 1552 (''de jure'' until 1648), it was also a state of the Holy Roman Empire. History The diocese was erect ...

, ravaged his ducal territories and took a few castles. On Henry of Bar's death in 1240, Matthias tried to retake those lost castles from

Theobald II of Bar Theobald II (1221– October 1291) was a count of Bar. He was the son of Henry II of Bar and Philippa of Dreux. He became count of Bar when his father was killed during the Barons' Crusade in 1239, but news of Henry's death did not reach him un ...

, the old count's young son, but he failed and a peace was signed in 1245 which lasted several decades. That same year, the emperor was excommunicated and Matthias distanced himself from the Imperial camp before joining the papal party of

Pope Innocent IV Pope Innocent IV ( la, Innocentius IV; – 7 December 1254), born Sinibaldo Fieschi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 June 1243 to his death in 1254. Fieschi was born in Genoa and studied at the universitie ...

in 1247. He died only a few years thence after having negotiated the profitable marriage of his son with the daughter of 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 ...

Family

In 1225, he married Catherine of Limburg (died 1255), daughter of Waleran III of Limburg,

Duke of Limburg The counts of Limburg ruled a medieval county with its capital at Limbourg-sur-Vesdre, lying between Liège and Aachen. They rose to prominence when one of them was appointed Duke of Lower Lorraine. Though Lorraine was later confiscated, the ...

and

Count of Luxembourg The territory of Luxembourg has been ruled successively by counts, dukes and grand dukes. It was part of the medieval Kingdom of Germany, and later the Holy Roman Empire until it became a sovereign state in 1815. Counts of Luxembourg House of A ...

, and

Ermesinde of Luxembourg Ermesinde (July 1186 – 12 February 1247) ruled as the Counts, Dukes and Grand Dukes of Luxembourg, countess of Luxembourg from 1197 until her death. She was the only child of Henry IV, Count of Luxembourg, Count Henry IV and his second wife Agn ...

. They had the following issue: *

Frederick Frederick may refer to: People * Frederick (given name), the name Nobility Anhalt-Harzgerode *Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670) Austria * Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria from 1195 to 1198 * Frederick ...

(1240–1302), his successor in Lorraine *Laure, married in 1250 to Jean de Dampierre (died 1258), viscount of

Troyes Troyes () is a commune and the capital of the department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within the Champagne wine region and is near to ...

, and then to Guillaume de Vergy, lord of Mirebeau and Autrey *Isabella (died 1266), married Guillaume de Vienne (died 1255), then, in 1256, Jean de Chalon (1243–1309) *Catherine, married in 1255 to Richard de Montfaucon (died 1279), son of Thierry III, Count of

Montbéliard Montbéliard (; traditional ) is a town in the Doubs Departments of France, department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in eastern France, about from the border with Switzerland. It is one of the two Subprefectures in F ...

*Adeline (died c. 1278), married

Louis of Savoy Ludovico I or Louis I (Italian: Lodovico; 24 February 1413 – 29 January 1465) was Duke of Savoy from 1440 until his death in 1465. Life He was born at Geneva the son of Amadeus VIII, Duke of Savoy and Mary of Burgundy; he was the first to ho ...

(died 1302), baron of Vaud

Family

See also