Henry IV (Luxembourg)

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Henry IV , called the Blind , (* 1112 ; † 14 August 1196 in Echternach ) was Count of Luxembourg from 1136 to 1196 , Count of Namur from 1139 to 1188 , Count of La Roche and Count of Durbuy from 1152 to 1194 1161 (?) To 1194. He was the son of Gottfried , Count of Namur and of Ermesinde I of Luxembourg , the daughter of Conrad I , Count of Luxembourg. Heinrich or Heng de Blannen in Luxembourgish was born in 1112 and died on August 14, 1196 in Echternach.

Transfer to the Namur House

After the death of Konrad I in 1086, his son Heinrich III. Graf, who died in 1096, single and childless. He was succeeded by the second son of Conrad I, Wilhelm I. When he died in 1131, he left only one son: Konrad II. However, Konrad II died in 1136 without leaving any descendants. In the ranking were now the two surviving descendants of Konrad I: Luitgard (1120-1170), the sister of Konrad II, married to Heinrich II. Count of Grandpré , and Ermesinde, the daughter of Konrad I, who was in her second marriage Count Gottfried von Namur (1068–1139) was married.

Conrad III. , Hohenstaufen antagonist to Lothar III. , then transferred the county of Luxembourg to Heinrich the Blind as the eldest son of the latter couple - thus preventing the county from falling to the French Counts of Grandpré, as well as the claims of Heinrich's older half-brother Hugo von Dagsburg .

Domination

Three years later, in 1139, Heinrich took over the county of Namur after the death of his father. In 1141 he supported Albero II, Bishop of Liège, to recapture the Belgian town of Bouillon from Rainald I, Count of Bar .

As Count of Luxembourg he was also Vogt of the Abbeys of St. Maximin of Trier and St. Willibrord of Echternach. As a result, as with his predecessor, there were disputes with the Archbishop of Trier . In 1147 he was forced to give up the St. Maximin Abbey . After the death of Archbishop Adalberon von Munsterol in 1152, however, he registered his claims again. The new Archbishop Hillin von Fallemanien then left the city of Grevenmacher to him in 1155 as compensation .

In 1157, Heinrich married Laurette von Elsass († 1175), daughter of Dietrich von Elsass , Count of Flanders and Sybille von Anjou. In 1163 they separated again. But since he was childless at that time, he appointed his brother-in-law Baldwin IV of Hainaut, who was married to his sister Alix, as heir. With him he waged two wars against Count Heinrich III in 1170 and 1172 . from Limburg.

In 1171 he married Agnes von Geldern , daughter of Heinrich, Count von Geldern and Agnes von Arnstein. This connection also did not produce an heir, so that he also expelled his second wife (1184). However, when he became seriously ill and went blind, he took it back. In 1186 they had a daughter, Ermesinde .

This birth called Heinrich's inheritance planning into question: He was convinced that his promise to Baldwin IV was invalid. Since Heinrich was already 76 years old, he engaged his daughter - also to protect her - at the age of two to Heinrich von Champagne (1166–1197).

Baldwin V had meanwhile taken over the inheritance of his father and wanted to assert the inheritance right granted to him. Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa was then forced to arbitrate:

  • Baldwin V should be the county of Namur,
  • Ermesinde should inherit the counties of Durbuy and La Roche,
  • The county of Luxembourg was to fall to the emperor as there were no male heirs.

Heinrich von der Champagne wanted to take part in the crusades and therefore renounced the engagement to Ermesinde; instead she was betrothed to Theobald I , Count von Bar; the wedding took place in 1197.

Henry the Blind was again at war with Heinrich III. forced by Limburg, but suffered a heavy defeat on August 1, 1194 in Noville-sur-Mehaigne (near Éghezée ).

Heinrich died in Echternach in 1196 and was buried in Floreffe Abbey.

See also

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Noville-sur-Mehaigne.
predecessor Office successor
Konrad II. Count of Luxembourg
1136–1196 		Ermesinde II.
Gottfried Count of Namur
1139–1188 		Baldwin V of Hainaut
personal data
SURNAME Henry IV.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES the blind
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Count of Luxembourg, Namur, La Roche and Durbuy
DATE OF BIRTH 1112
DATE OF DEATH August 14, 1196
Place of death Echternach (Luxembourg)