Heinrich I (Count Limburg)

According to the traditional genealogy, Heinrich is considered the son of Valeran (Walram), Count of Limburg and Arlon. However, there is another version of its origin. In the act of the monastery of St. Albert in Aachen , dating from 1061 , the Count of Udburg is mentioned by the Count of Limburg ( Lat. Comes Udo de Lemborch ), which is called the heir to the Duke of Lower Lorraine Frederick II of Luxembourg ^[1] . This report is contradicted by the Chronicle of Alberic de Trois-Fontaine , which indicates that the county of Limburg ( lat. Castrum de Lemborch ) was created by Walram. To explain this, the historian Ernst, who wrote the “History of Limburg” in the 19th century, after a detailed review of the sources put forward the version according to which Count Udo and Count Walram are one and the same person ^[2] . However, there are other hypotheses about the origin of Udo, according to which he was either the son of the Duke Frederick, unnamed in other sources, or the husband of Frederick's unnamed eldest daughter. According to the version given in Europäische Stammtafeln , there were two Earls of Limburg, Walram and Udo, moreover, Heinrich was shown to be Udo’s son and Valeran’s son-in-law, husband of his daughter.

At the beginning of his reign, Heinrich came into conflict with the archbishop of Trier Egilbert about church property, transferred in his time to the Church of Trier by Countess Adelheida of Lorraine, the mother of Valeran I of Limburg. Egilbert demanded the return of the property, and after Henry refused to do so, he excommunicated him, which led to armed clashes between them. As a result, the struggle between them ended in the defeat of Henry, who was forced to cede to the Archbishop, after which the excommunication was lifted.

Heinrich also had a conflict over Saint-Truiden Abbey , the custody of which he inherited from Valeran. Heinrich tried to interfere in the internal affairs of the abbey, which caused outrage Abbe Hermann, appointed Bishop Metz Poppo , who complained to the Duke of Lower Lorraine Gottfried of Bouillon . As a result, Emperor Henry IV resolved this conflict by transferring the abbey to the care of Arnulf , Count Looz .

In 1095, Lorraine Henry II von Laach , Palatine Count, died. He did not leave his sons and the emperor Henry IV transferred the title of the palatine count to his relative Heinrich Limburg. However, the title of Palatine Count Lorraine also claimed the rights of the son of Count Ballenstedt Adalbert II , Siegfried I , whose mother, Adelheida, was the widow of the late Palatine Count . The winner in the end by the year 1099 came Siegfried.

In 1096, the Duke of Lower Lorraine , Gottfried IV of Bouillon , laid his domain to Emperor Henry IV to raise funds for the First Crusade . The ducal title remained vacant until 1101 . At this very time there was a struggle between the emperor Henry IV and his son Henry V for power in the Holy Roman Empire . As a result, Henry of Limburg took the side of Henry IV, for which the emperor transferred to him the title of duke of Lower Lorraine as the grandson of Frederick II of Luxembourg .

Heinrich of Limburg remained a loyal supporter of the emperor until his death in 1106. After this, Henry V attacked the possessions of his father's supporters. Limburg was taken, and Heinrich Limburg was imprisoned, but he managed to escape, and he again entered the fight for Lower Lorraine, but without success. As a result, he had to make peace with Henry V and Count Louvain Gottfried , to whom Henry V bestowed the title of Duke of Lorraine. As a result, Heinrich retained the ducal title and became known as the duke of Limburg . This did not prevent Heinrich from continuing the struggle against Gottfried Louvinsky, but he did not achieve particular success. The descendants of Heinrich Limburg continued his struggle and argued for the title of Duke of Lower Lorraine with representatives of the Louvain House until 1191 .

Later, Heinrich of Limburg participated in revolts against Emperor Henry V, where he acted as an ally of the Duke of Saxony, Lothar Supplinburg . He participated in the battle of Andenach ( 1114 ) and Welfesholtz ( February 11, 1115 ), which ended with the defeat of the emperor.

Heinrich Limburg died in 1119 , his son inherited the son of Valeran II .

Wife: Adelgeida von Pottenstein (Bottenstein) ^[3] (died after August 13, 1106), the daughter of Boto , Count von Bottenstein and the Palatine of Bavaria, and Judith Schweinfurth. Children:

• Agnes (died after June 13, 1129); husband: from 1110 Friedrich IV von Putelendorf (1085-1125), palatine of Saxony
• Adelheida (died before 1146); 1st husband: Friedrich (died 1124), Count von Werl-Arnsberg ; 2nd husband: Kuno II (d. July 30, 1139), Count von Horburg-Lechsgemünd ; 3rd husband: Conrad II (d. November 18, 1159), Count von Dachau
• Valeran (Walram) II Pagan (c. 1085 - July 16, 1139), Duke of Limburg and Count of Arlon (Valeran III) from 1119, titular Duke of Lower Lorraine (Valeran I) 1125—1138
• Matilda (died after 1148); husband: Henry I of Namur (d. before 1138), Count da La Roche
• (?) Heinrich (died after 1131), 1st Abbot of Averboden

• Yans M. Henri Ier // Biographie nationale. - Bruxelles: Établissements Émile Bruylant (Académie royale de Belgique), 1938. - V. 27. - P. 146-149.
• Detlev Schwennicke. Europäische Stammtafeln. - T. I.2. - Tafel 229.

• GRAFEN van LIMBURG (English) . Foundation for Medieval Genealogy. The appeal date is December 22, 2011. Archived April 9, 2012.
• Heinrich I, Graf von Limburg (German) . Genealogie des Mittelalters. The appeal date is December 24, 2011. Archived on April 13, 2012.