Henry of Burgundy

Henry of Burgundy, Count of Portugal

Henry of Burgundy ( port. Dom Henrique de Borgonha or, as in Portugal is usually the case, Conde Dom Henrique , * 1069 in Dijon , Duchy of Burgundy ; † 1. November 1112 in Astorga , Kingdom of León ) was from 1093 until his death in the first Count from Portugal or historically Portucale / Portucalia and ancestor of the House of Burgundy , the first Portuguese royal family.

Life

Heinrich was born in Dijon, France, the royal seat of Burgundy, as the youngest son of Henry of Burgundy (1035-1074) and grandson of the reigning Duke of Burgundy Robert I (1011-1076) and was thus a descendant of the French royal family of the Capetians . Since after the death of his father and then his grandfather, the previous duke, his eldest brother Hugo I and in 1078 his brother Odo I each became Duke of Burgundy, as a younger son he had no prospects of the ducal throne and chose a military career: Heinrich became a knight and so came to the court of King Alfonso VI. of Castile . There were already family connections there, because Alfonso VI. was married to an aunt of Heinrich. Around 1093 he married Theresia von León , the illegitimate favorite daughter of Alfonso VI. As a dowry he received in 1096 or 1097 the re-established county of Portucale or Portucalia plus the areas of northern Portugal, which Alfons had just recaptured from the Moors , as a hereditary fief as part of the Reconquista . Heinrich assumed the title of Count of Portucale / Portugal. He also restored the Archdiocese of Braga , which had not been occupied since 1091, and installed Geraldo de Moissac as archbishop in 1096 . When Alfons died in 1109, Heinrich took the opportunity to free the county of Portucale or Portucalia further and further from the fiefdom of Castile. He made decisive preparatory work so that his son and successor Alfons I was finally able to declare Portugal's independence from Castile in 1139 and proclaim himself the first king of Portugal.

family

His brothers were Hugo I and Odo I of Burgundy , his great-uncle Saint Hugo of Cluny . His cousin was Raymond of Burgundy .

With Theresia von León he had the following children:

• Afonso Henriques (* 1094; † 1108)
• Urraca Henriques (* 1095), she married Bermudo Peres de Trava in 1120
• Sancha Henriques (* 1097, † 1163), she married Sancho Nunes de Celanova in her first marriage and Ferdinand Mendes, Lord of Braganza, in her second marriage (approx. 1147)
• Theresa Henriques (* 1098)
• Heinrich (Henrique) (* 1106; † 1110)
• Alfons I or Alfonso Henriques (* June 25, 1109 - December 6, 1185),

literature

• Peter Feige: Heinrich of Burgundy . In: Lexicon of the Middle Ages (LexMA). Volume 4, Artemis & Winkler, Munich / Zurich 1989, ISBN 3-7608-8904-2 , Sp. 2075.

Web links

• Portugal, Kings. In: Medievel Lands. Foundation for Medieval Genealogy, accessed February 15, 2012 . 

See also: History of Portugal , Timeline of Portugal , Portugal under the Burgundian rulers , Hugo von Cluny

predecessor	Office	successor
-	Count of Portugal 1093–1112	Alfons I.