Godfrey I, Count of Louvain

Godfrey I
Godfrey I
Joceline of Louvain
Father	Henry II, Count of Louvain
Mother	Adèle of Orthen (Verdun)

Godfrey I (

Margrave of Antwerp

from 1106 to his death.

Biography

Godfrey was the son of

Henry III who died wounded in a tournament in 1095, and only had young daughters. His widow Gertrude married Theodoric II, Duke of (upper) Lorraine

.

He first came into conflict in 1096 with

Henry III of Luxembourg and Arnold I, Count of Loon, over the appointment of the abbot of Sint-Truiden

.

Godfrey was in favour with the emperor and defended his interests in Lorraine. In 1102, he stopped

Cambraisis. After the death of the emperor in 1106, his son and successor, Henry V, who had been in rebellion, decided to avenge himself on his father's partisans. Duke Henry of Lower Lorraine was imprisoned and his duchy confiscated and given to Godfrey. After Henry escaped from prison, he tried to retake his duchy and captured Aachen

, but ultimately failed.

In 1114, during a rift between the emperor and

Baldwin VII of Flanders died heirless and Flanders was contested between several claimants, one of whom, William of Ypres, had married a niece of Godfrey's second wife. Godfrey supported William, but could not enforce his claim against that of Charles the Good

. Also dead in that year was Otbert. Two separate men were elected to replace him and Godfrey again sided with the loser.

By marrying his daughter

duchy of Lower Lorraine and granted it to Waleran of Limburg (c. 1085 – 1139), the son of Henry, whom Henry V had deprived in 1106. Nonetheless, Godfrey maintained the margraviate of Antwerp and retained the ducal title (which would in 1183 become Duke of Brabant

).

After the assassination of Charles the Good in 1127, the Flemish succession was again in dispute.

Namur

.

Godfrey spent his last years in the abbey of Affligem. He died of old age on 25 January 1139 and was buried in the left aisle of the abbey church. He is sometimes said to have passed in 1140, but this is an error.

Family and children

He married Ida of Chiny (1078–1117), daughter of Otto II, Count of Chiny, (c. 1065 – after 1131) and Adelaide of Namur. They had several children:

Henry I, King of England and later William d'Aubigny, 1st Earl of Arundel
(1109 – before 1151).

Louvain. He married Lutgardis of Sulzbach (d.a. 1163), daughter of Berenger I of Sulzbach
.

Clarissa (d. 1140).

Henry (d. in the abbey of Affligem, 1141), monk.
Ida (d. 1162) married to
Arnold I, Count of Cleves
(d. 1147).

Later, he married Clementia of Burgundy (c. 1078 – c. 1133), daughter of William I, Count of Burgundy, and widow of Robert II, Count of Flanders. They had no children.

By an unknown mistress he had one son:

Joscelin of Louvain, married Agnes De Percy and had issue.

References

Notes

Sources

Collins's Peerage of England, ed.
S.E. Brydges
IX vols, London 1812.
Académie royale de Belgique, Biographie Nationale, v. 7, Brussels, 1883.

Regnal titles
Preceded by Henry III	Landgrave of Brabant 1095–1139	Succeeded by Godfrey II
Preceded by Henry	Margrave of Antwerp 1106–1139	Succeeded by Godfrey II
Preceded by Henry	Duke of Lower Lorraine 1106–1128	Succeeded by Walram

Authority control databases
International	VIAF
National	Germany
People	Deutsche Biographie

Biography

Family and children

See also

References

Notes

Sources