View source for Godfrey I, Count of Louvain

{{Short description|Count of Louvain (c. 1060–1139)}}
{{no footnotes|date=November 2018}}
{{Infobox nobility|
| name                 = Godfrey I
| title                = [[Duke of Lower Lorraine]]<br>[[Landgraviate of Brabant|Landgrave of Brabant]]<br>[[Counts of Louvain|Count of Louvain]]<br>[[Counts of Brussels|Count of Brussels]]
| image                = File:Godfrey I of louvain.jpg
| caption = Effigy of Godfrey on his seal
|CoA=|tenure=|predecessor=| spouse               = Ida of Chiny<br>[[Clementia of Burgundy|Clementia of Bourgogne]]
| issue                = [[Adeliza of Louvain| Adeliza, Queen of England]]<br>[[Godfrey II of Louvain]]<br>Clarissa<br>Henry<br>Ida<br>[[Joceline of Louvain]]
| noble family         = [[House of Reginar|Reginar]]
| father               = [[Henry II, Count of Louvain]]
| mother               = Adèle of Orthen ([[Verdun]])
|successor=| birth_date           = 1060
| birth_place          =
| death_date           = 25 January 1139 (aged 79)
| death_place          =
| place of burial      = [[Affligem Abbey]]
}}

'''Godfrey I''' ({{langx|nl|Godfried}}, {{circa}} 1060 – 25 January 1139), called '''the Bearded''', '''the Courageous''', or '''the Great''', was the [[Landgraviate of Brabant|Landgrave of Brabant]], Count of [[Brussels]] and [[Leuven]] (Louvain) from 1095 to his death and [[Duke of Lower Lorraine]] from 1106 to 1129. He was also [[Margrave of Antwerp]] from 1106 to his death.

==Biography==
Godfrey was the son of [[Henry II, Count of Louvain|Henry II]] (c. 1020–1078) and Adela of Orthen (or Betuwe), a daughter of Count [[Everard of Orthen]]. He succeeded his brother [[Henry III of Louvain|Henry III]] who died wounded in a [[tournament]] in 1095, and only had young daughters. His widow [[Gertrude of Flanders, Duchess of Lorraine|Gertrude]] married [[Theodoric II, Duke of Lorraine|Theodoric II, Duke of (upper) Lorraine]].

He first came into conflict in 1096 with [[Otbert, Bishop of Liège]], over the county of [[Brunengeruz]] that both claimed. In 1099, [[Emperor Henry IV]] allotted the county to the bishop, who entrusted it to [[Albert III, Count of Namur]]. Godfrey arbitrated a dispute between [[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 [[Robert II of Flanders]] "the Crusader", who was invading the [[Cambraisis]]. After the death of the emperor in 1106, his son and successor, [[Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry V]], who had been in rebellion, decided to avenge himself on his father's partisans. [[Henry, Duke of Lower Lorraine|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 [[Pope Paschal II]], Godfrey led a revolt in Germany. In 1118, the emperor and the duke were reconciled. In 1119, [[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 [[Adeliza of Louvain|Adeliza]] to [[Henry I of England]], who was also the father-in-law of the emperor, he greatly increased his prestige. However, Henry V died in 1125 and Godfrey supported [[Conrad III of Germany|Conrad of Hohenstaufen]], the [[duke of Franconia]], against [[Lothair of Supplinburg]]. Lothair was elected. Lothair withdrew the [[duchy of Lower Lorraine]] and granted it to [[Waleran, Duke of Lower Lorraine|Waleran]] of [[Duchy of Limburg|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. [[William Clito]] prevailed, but was soon fraught with revolts. Godfrey intervened on behalf of [[Theodoric of Alsace]], who prevailed against Clito. Godfrey continued to war against [[Liège]] and [[Namur (city)|Namur]].

Godfrey spent his last years in the abbey of [[Affligem Abbey|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==
Godfrey married Ida of Chiny (1078–1117),{{sfn|Honeycutt|2024|p=30}} daughter of [[Otto II, Count of Chiny]], (c. 1065 – after 1131) and [[Adelaide of Namur]].  They had several children:

* [[Adeliza of Louvain]] (b. 1103 – d. abbey of Affligem, 23 April 1151) married [[Henry I, King of England]]{{sfn|Honeycutt|2024|p=30}} and later [[William d'Aubigny, 1st Earl of Arundel]] (1109 – before 1151).
* [[Godfrey II of Louvain]] (b. 1107 – d. 13 June 1142), [[Duke of Lower Lorraine|Duke of Lower Lotharingia (Lower Lorraine)]], [[Duke of Brabant|Landgrave of Brabant]], [[Count of Brussels]] and [[Count of Louvain|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:<ref>Early Yorkshire Charters Percy by C T Clay ed Publication date 1963 https://archive.org/details/YASES9/page/6/mode/2up </ref>

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

==See also==
*[[Dukes of Brabant family tree]]
*[http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k119172c Chronique des Ducs de Brabant, Adrian van Baerland, Antwerp (1612)].

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===
*''Collins's Peerage of England'', ed. [[Samuel Egerton Brydges|S.E. Brydges]] IX vols, London 1812.
*Académie royale de Belgique, ''Biographie Nationale'', v. 7, Brussels, 1883.
*{{cite book |chapter=The Rise of Administrative Queenship in the Anglo-Norman realm? |first=Lois |last=Honeycutt |title=How Medieval Europe was Ruled |editor-first=Christian |editor-last=Raffensperger |publisher=Routledge |year=2024 }}

{{s-start}}
{{s-reg}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Henry III of Louvain|Henry III]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Count of Louvain]]<br>[[Landgrave of Brabant]]
       |years= 1095–1139}}
{{s-aft|rows=2|after=[[Godfrey II, Count of Louvain|Godfrey II]]}}
{{s-bef|rows=2|before=[[Henry, Duke of Lower Lorraine|Henry]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Margraviate of Antwerp|Margrave of Antwerp]]
       |years=1106–1139}}
{{s-break}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Duke of Lower Lorraine]]
       |years=1106–1128}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Walram, Duke of Lower Lorraine|Walram]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Dukes of Lower Lorraine]]
[[Category:Counts of Louvain]]
[[Category:Margraves of Antwerp]]
[[Category:1060s births]]
[[Category:1139 deaths]]
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]
[[Category:House of Reginar]]
[[Category:12th-century dukes in Europe]]
[[Category:12th-century counts in Europe]]