Matthew I (Lorraine)

Matthew I (around 1110 - 13 May 1176 ) was Duke of Lorraine from 1139 until his death. He was the son of Duke Simon I ( House of Châtenois ) and Adelheid von Löwen .

biography

He followed his father at the time when the Hohenstaufen dynasty took power in Germany. Matthäus married Bertha von Schwaben, niece of King Konrad III. and sister of the future emperor Friedrich Barbarossa , and thereby strengthened the ties between Lorraine and the Holy Roman Empire .

Matthew I accompanied Barbarossa on many of his trips, especially in 1155 to Rome for the imperial coronation by Pope Hadrian IV , and took part in the battles between the emperor and the antipope Viktor IV on the one hand and Pope Alexander III. and the kings of France and Sicily on the other hand.

In his duchy he succeeded in expanding the ducal domain through illegal encroachments on the diocese of Toul , which also earned him an excommunication . At the same time, he made extensive donations to the church and founded several monasteries, including Clairlieu Abbey , where he and his wife were buried.

progeny

He married Bertha von Schwaben around 1138, in any case before March 25, 1139, † between October 18, 1194 and March 25, 1195, daughter of Friedrich II of Staufen , Duke of Swabia , and Judith of Bavaria . He had at least seven children with her:

• Sophia, * 1163, † 1217; ⚭ Heinrich Ostertag von Windstein
• Alix, † 1200; ⚭ Hugo III. , Duke of Burgundy
• Simon II , Duke of Lorraine
• Judith, * 1140, † 1173; ⚭ 1170 Stephan II (Étienne II), Count of Auxonne
• Ferry (Friedrich) I. von Bitsch , Duke of Lorraine
• Matthew, † 1208, Count of Toul
• Dietrich IV. , † 1181, Bishop of Metz 1174–1179
• Daughter , † young

literature

• Ronald Neumann:  Matthäus I .. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 16, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1990, ISBN 3-428-00197-4 , p. 392 f. ( Digitized version ).

Web link

• material collection

predecessor	Office	successor
Simon I.	Duke of Lorraine 1139–1176	Simon II