- Godfrey III of Leuven
Godfrey III (died
August 21 1190 ) wascount of Leuven (or Louvain), landgrave of Brabant,margrave ofAntwerp , andduke of Lower Lorraine (as Godfrey VIII) from 1142 to his death.He was the son of Godfrey II and Lutgarde of Sulzbach. He was still an infant at his succession (therefore called "dux in cunis") of which a few Brabantian vassals sought to take advantage to get independent from the duke (Wars of
Grimbergen , 1141-1159). On30 March 1147 , Godfrey was present at the coronation ofHenry Berengar , son ofConrad III of Germany , inAachen . When Conrad left on Crusade, war began anew in 1148. Peace was elusive until the election of Conrad's successor,Frederick Barbarossa . By marriage to Margaret, daughter ofHenry II of Limburg , Godfrey united two powerful and antagonistic houses in the region.In 1159 Godfrey ended the war with the Berthout, lords of
Grimbergen , by burning their impressive motte atGrimbergen . In 1171, Godfrey was at war with Hainaut, but was defeated. In 1179, he gave his son Henry in marriage to a niece ofPhilip of Alsace ,Count of Flanders .Between 1182 and 1184 Godfrey went on a Jerusalem campaign. In the interim, Barbarossa granted Henry the title "
Duke of Brabant ". Godfrey died in 1190, on 10 or 21 August. He left an increased territory and built the fortress of Nedelaer (nearVilvoorde ). The ducal title was transmitted to his son at the Diet ofSchwäbisch Hall (September 1190).###@@@KEY@@@###
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