Godfrey III (, ; 1142 – 21 August 1190) was count of Louvain (or Leuven),

landgrave of Brabant The Landgraviate of Brabant (Modern , Modern ) was a small imperial 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 belonge ...

margrave of Antwerp The Margraviate of Antwerp (or March 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 w ...

, and

duke of Lower Lorraine The kings and dukes 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 k ...

(as Godfrey VIII) from 1142 to his death.

Origins

Godfrey was the son of Godfrey II and Luitgarde of Sulzbach. He was still an infant at his succession (therefore called ''dux in cunis'') of which a few Brabantian vassals sought to take advantage to become independent of the duke (Wars of

Grimbergen Grimbergen () is a Municipalities in Belgium, municipality in the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Brabant, in the Flemish region of Belgium, north of the capital Brussels. The municipality comprises the towns of Beigem, Grimbergen, Hu ...

, 1141–1159).

Career

On 30 March 1147, Godfrey was present at the coronation of

Henry Berengar Henry Berengar: ''Heinrich-Berengar''. (1136/7–1150), sometimes numbered Henry (VI), was the eldest son of Conrad III of Germany and his second wife, Gertrude of Sulzbach. He was named after his father's maternal grandfather, Emperor Henry IV, an ...

, son of

Conrad III of Germany Conrad III (; ; 1093 or 1094 – 15 February 1152) of the Hohenstaufen dynasty was from 1116 to 1120 Duke of Franconia, from 1127 to 1135 anti-king of his predecessor Lothair III, and from 1138 until his death in 1152 King of the Romans in t ...

, in

Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...

. When Conrad left on Crusade, war began anew in 1148. Peace was elusive until the election of Conrad's successor,

Frederick Barbarossa Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (; ), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death in 1190. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March 115 ...

. By marriage to Margaret, daughter of Henry II of Limburg, Godfrey united two powerful and antagonistic houses in the region. In 1159 Godfrey ended the war with the Berthout, lords of

, by burning their impressive

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

at Grimbergen. In 1171, Godfrey was at war with Hainaut, but was defeated. In 1172, he bought the County of Aarschot from its wayward count Godfried III, which in future generations would give rise to the dynasty of the dukes of Aarschot that remain to this day. In 1179, he gave his son

Henry Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...

in marriage to a niece of

Philip of Alsace Philip I (1143 – 1 August 1191), commonly known as Philip of Alsace, was count of Flanders from 1168 to 1191. During his rule Flanders prospered economically. He took part in two crusades and died of disease in the Holy Land. Count of Flanders ...

Count of Flanders The count of Flanders was the ruler or sub-ruler of the county of Flanders, beginning in the 9th century. Later, the title would be held for a time, by the rulers of the Holy Roman Empire and Spain. During the French Revolution, in 1790, the c ...

. Between 1182 and 1184 Godfrey went on a Jerusalem campaign. In the interim, Barbarossa granted

the title "

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, Duke of Brabant, Henry I of the House of Reginar, son of Godfrey III of Le ...

". Godfrey died in 1190, on 10 or 21 August. He left an increased territory and built the fortress of Nedelaer (near

Vilvoorde Vilvoorde (; ; ; historically known as ''Filford'' in English) is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality and City status in Belgium, city in the Halle-Vilvoorde district (''arrondissement'') of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Bra ...

). The ducal title was transmitted to his son at the

Diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

Schwäbisch Hall Schwäbisch Hall (; 'Swabian Hall'; from 1802 until 1934 and colloquially: ''Hall'') is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg located in the valley of the Kocher river, the longest tributary (together with its headwater Lein) of the N ...

(September 1190).

Marriages and children

Godfrey married twice: *Firstly, to Margaret of Limbourg, daughter of

Henry II, Duke of Limburg Henry II ( – August 1167) was the duke of Duchy of Limburg, Limburg from 1139 and count of Arlon from 1147 to his death. He was the son of Waleran, Duke of Lower Lorraine, and Jutta of Guelders, daughter of Gerard I of Guelders. He succeeded ...

, in 1158, by whom he had two children: **

Henry I, Duke of Brabant Henry I (, ; c. 1165 – 5 September 1235), named "The Courageous", was a member of the House of Reginar and first duke of Brabant from 1183/84 until his death. Early life Henry was possibly born in Leuven (Louvain), the son of Count Godf ...

(1165 – 5 September 1235). Henry was installed in 1180 as

until 1222. He was made count of Louvain in 1183, until 1198. He was installed as Duke of Brabant in 1191. ** Albert de Louvain (1166 – 24 November 1192). Albert was elected Bishop of Louvain (Liege) in 1191, but assassinated in Reims in 1192. *Secondly, Godfrey married Imagina of Loon, daughter of Louis I, Count of Loon, by whom he had two children: ** William of Louvain, Lord of Perwez en Ruysbroek. He married Marie of Orbais, daughter of Enguerrand of Orbais. ** Godfrey of Louvain (d. 1226), who went to England in 1196 and became

Seneschal The word ''seneschal'' () can have several different meanings, all of which reflect certain types of supervising or administering in a historic context. Most commonly, a seneschal was a senior position filled by a court appointment within a royal, ...

of the Honour of Eye. He married Alice de Hastings, daughter and heiress of Robert de Hastings (d. c. 1190),

feudal baron A feudal baron is a vassal holding a heritable fief called a ''barony'', comprising a specific portion of land, granted by an overlord in return for allegiance and service. Following the end of European feudalism, feudal baronies have largely be ...

Little Easton Little Easton is a village and civil parish in Essex, England. The village is situated approximately east from the town of Bishop's Stortford, and north-west from the county town of Chelmsford. Little Easton parish is defined at the west by t ...

in Essex,Sanders, I.J., ''English Baronies: A Study of their Origin and Descent 1086-1327'', Oxford, 1960, p.130, Little Easton by whom he had: *** Matthew de Lovaine, Lord of Little Easton, Seneschal of the Honour of Eye (b. about 1202 in Little Easton – d. 1 June 1258 in Little Easton)

Origins

Career

Marriages and children

References

Further reading