 Bef 1142 - 1190 (> 48 years)
-
| Name |
LORRAINE Godefroi |
| Birth |
Bef 1142 |
| Gender |
Male |
| Death |
21 Aug 1190 |
Louvain, France  |
| Notes |
- In the twelfth century, the term Brabant came to refer to the possessions of the house of Louvain; in the thirteenth, the title ‘duke of Brabant’ replaced the designation ‘duke of (Lower) Lorraine’. [1][2]
Godfrey III, Count of Louvain was count of Louvain (or Leuven), landgrave of Brabant, Margrave of Antwerp, and Duke of Lower Lorraine (as Godfrey VIII) from 1142 until his death.[3]
Birth and Parentage
Godefroi III, Duc de Louvain, was the son of Godefroi (Godfrey II) "Duke of Lower Lotharingia and Louvain," a descendant of Charlemagne. His uncle was Joscelin of Louvain (1121–1180), who married Agnes de Percy, and his aunt was Queen Adeliza, wife of Henry I, King of England. [3]
His mother, Luitgarde von Sulzbach was descended from the noble family of Wettin.
Godfrey, who was born in about 1141, became Duke of Lorraine at the age of about 1, on 13 June 1142, when his father died of a disease of the liver. He was put into the care of four barons as regents until his majority.[4]
Taking government into his own hands in about 1155, he expanded his realm and subjected competitors like the Grimbergen family.
Marriages
Through an advantageous marriage to the only daughter of Henry II of Limburg, Margaret of Limburg, Godfrey united two influential noble houses in the region, previously antagonistic toward each other. Two children were born to them:
Henry I, Duke of Brabant (1165 – 5 September 1235).
Albert de Louvain (1166 – 24 November 1192). (Elected Bishop of Louvain (Liege) in 1191, but assassinated in Reims in 1192.)[3]
His second marriage was to the third daughter of Louis I, Count of Loon, Imaine, or Imagina, by whom he had two sons:
William of Louvain, Lord of Perwez en Ruysbroek.
Godfrey of Louvain (d. 1226), who went to England in 1196, becoming Senechal of the Honour of Eye. [3]
He was installed in 1142 as Duke of Lower Lotharingia in succession to his father. The Oude Kronik van Brabant records that "Henricus comes Lymburgensis" attempted to deprive "Godefridi junioris" of his duchy, which "Henricus avus suus et Walramus pater suus" held previously, in the second year of his reign. Duke of Louvain 1147. Comte de Brabant 1153. The Annales Blandinienses record "Godefridus dux Lovaniensis" taking part with Philippe Count of Flanders and his brother Mathieu Comte de Boulogne in a military expedition against Holland in 1166. Vogt von Tengerloo 1175. "Godefridus dux Lotharingie" returned property to Aachen St Maria, in the presence of "filiis meis Heinrico milite, Alberto clerico", by charter dated Sep 1185.[3]
Sources
↑ W. Kienast, Der Herzogstitel in Frankreich und Deutschland (Munich, 1968), pp. 395-404.
↑ Morby, John E, (2002), Dynasties of the world: a chronological and genealogical handbook, (p.94). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Internet Archive. Accessed 2 May 2025.
↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Cawley, Charles. Medieval Lands.: A prosopography of medieval European noble and royal families, Foundation for Medieval Genealogy (FMG). Chapter 3. DUKES of LOWER LOTHARINGIA, DUKES of LOUVAIN., A. DUKES of LOWER LOTHARINGIA 1106-1222, DUKES of LOUVAIN 1141-1198. MedLands. Accessed 2 May 2025.
↑ ed.: Edward Smedley, Henry John Rose, Hugh James Rose., Contributor: Samuel Taylor Coleridge. (1845), Encyclopædia Metropolitana; or, Universal Dictionary of Knowledge ...Comprising the Twofold Advantage of a Philosophical and an Alphabetical Arrangement, with Appropriate Engravings, Vol. 13, (p.560). Internet Archive. Accessed 2 May 2025.
Cawley, Charles. "Medieval Lands": A prosopography of medieval European noble and royal families © by Charles Cawley, hosted by Foundation for Medieval Genealogy (FMG). See also WikiTree's source page for MedLands
Rubincam, Milton. The House of Brabant, Ancestry of Philippa of Hainault, Wife of Edward III, The American Genealogist (1949) Vol. 25, Page 229
Weis, Frederick Lewis, Sheppard, Walter Lee, Beall, William Ryland, Beall, Kaleen E. (2004), Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists who Came to America Before 1700 - Lineages from Alfred the Great, Charlemagne, Malcolm of Scotland, Robert the Strong, and Other Historical Individuals. Genealogical Publishing Company. Google Books. Accessed 2 May 2025.
Künker Auktion 121 - The De Wit Collection of Medieval Coins. Duchy Brabant. (p.356). Numismatischer Verlag Fritz Rudolf Künker. Google e-Books. Accessed 2 May 2025.
Ataviae Regiae: Consisting of Sixty Copies Only, Compiled for Private Use by Samuel Egerton Brydges (1820). Google e-Books. Accessed 2 May 2025.
Carson, R. A. G., (1962), Coins of the World, (p.277). New York, Harper & Brothers. Internet Archive. Accessed 2 May 2025.
Gilliat-Smith, Ernest, (1906), The story of Brussels. (p.30). London: Dent. Internet Archive. Accessed 2 May 2025.
Louda, Jiřı́, MacLagan, Michael, (1999), Lines of Succession., UK: Little, Brown & Company. Internet Archive. Accessed 2 May 2025.
|
| Person ID |
I58883 |
Freeman-Smith |
| Last Modified |
27 Jan 2026 |
| Family |
LIMBURG Margaret, b. 1139, Lorraine, France d. 1172, Austria, Hungary (Age 33 years) |
| Marriage |
1155 |
Brabant, Belgium |
| Children |
| | 1. BRABANT Henri, b. Abt 1165, Brabant, België d. 05 Sep 1235, Köln, Deutschland (Age 70 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural] |
|
| Family ID |
F26195 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Last Modified |
27 Jan 2026 |
|
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