Henry III, Count of Louvain

Belgian noble (1060–1095)

Henry III
Landgrave of Brabant Count of Louvain Count of Brussels

Died	1095 Tournai
Noble family	House of Reginar
Spouse(s)	Gertrude of Flanders
Issue	Adelaide of Louvain Gertrude and others
Father	Henry II, Count of Louvain
Mother	Adela of Orthen

Henry III of Louvain (German: Heinrich, Dutch: Hendrik, French: Henri; died 1095), was Count of Louvain (Leuven) and Landgrave of Brabant, son of Henry II (c. 1020–1078), Count of Louvain and Brussels, and Adela of Orthen (or Betuwe),^[1] a daughter of Count Everard of Orthen.

Life

At his father Henry's death 1078 he became Count of Louvain.

He was allied by family marriages to most of the nearby lords: he was brother-in-law of Baldwin II of Hainaut, and son-in-law of Robert I of Flanders. The bishop of Liège, Henri I of Verdun, was peace-loving. Henry was able to concentrate on the internal affairs of his lands, without external threats. He supported religious foundations in the western parts, and legislated to reduce lawlessness.

After the death on 20 September 1085 of Hermann II, count palatine of Lotharingia, he became landgrave of Brabant, which was an imperial fief between the Dender and the Zenne.

In July 1095, he took part in a tournament in Tournai.^[2] Fighting in a joust against Gosuin de Forest, he was mortally wounded.^[2]

Family

About 1090 he married Gertrude of Flanders (1080–1117),^[1] daughter of Robert I of Flanders and Gertrude of Saxony.

A genealogy of the time attributes to him four daughters (not named). Since he was succeeded by his brother Godfrey I of Leuven, it is inferred that he did not leave a son as heir. It has been suggested that the daughters included:

Adelaide, wife of duke Simon I of Lorraine
Gertrude, wife to Lambert, count of Montaigu and Clermont.

Gertrude of Flanders, widowed, married in 1096 duke Theodoric II of Lorraine (died 1115) and was mother of Thierry of Alsace ("Theodoric").

Ancestry

Ancestors of Henry III, Count of Louvain^[3]

Reginar III, Count of Hainaut (c. 920 – 973)

Lambert I of Louvain (c. 950 – 1015)

Adela

Lambert II, Count of Louvain (d. 1054)

Charles, Duke of Lower Lorraine (953–993)

Gerberga of Lower Lorraine (c. 980 – 1018)

Adelaide

Henry II, Count of Louvain (c. 1020–1078)

Godfrey I, Count of Verdun (House of Ardennes-Verdun) (d. 1002)
Margrave of Antwerp and Ename, count of Hainault

Gothelo I, Duke of Lorraine (c. 967 – 1044)

Matilda Billung of Saxony (c. 940 – 1008)

Oda of Verdun (Lorraine)

Henry III of Leuven
landgrave of Brabant, Count of Louvain

Count Everard of Orthen

Adèle of Orthen (Verdun)

References

^ ^a ^b Ruffini-Ronzani 2020, p. 136.
^ ^a ^b Oksanen 2012, p. 118.
^ Parisse (1981), "Généalogie de la Maison d'Ardenne", La maison d'Ardenne Xe-XIe siècles. Actes des Journées Lotharingiennes, 24 - 26 oct. 1980, Centre Univ., Luxembourg: 9–41; Kupper, "Annexe 2", Liège et l’Église impériale

Sources

Oksanen, Eljas (2012). Flanders and the Anglo-Norman World, 1066-1216. Cambridge University Press.
Ruffini-Ronzani, Nicolas (2020). Church, Stephen D. (ed.). "The Counts of Louvain and the Anglo-Norman World, c.1100-c.1215". Anglo-Norman Studies XLII: Proceedings of the Battle Conference 2019. The Boydell Press.

Regnal titles
Preceded by Hermann II	Landgrave of Brabant 1085–1095	Succeeded by Godfrey I
Preceded by Henry II	Count of Louvain 1078–1095	Succeeded by Godfrey I