Henry the Lion was a member of the Guelph dynasty and
Duke of SaxonyThis article lists Dukes, Electors, and Kings ruling over territories named Saxony from the beginning of the Saxon Duchy in the 9th century to the end of the Saxon Kingdom in 1918.-Dukes of Saxony:...
, as
Henry III, from 1142, and
Duke of Bavaria, as
Henry XII, from 1156, which duchies he held until 1180.
He was one of the most powerful German princes of his time, until the rival Hohenstaufen dynasty succeeded in isolating him and eventually deprived him of his duchies of Bavaria and Saxony during the reign of his cousin
Frederick IFrederick I Barbarossa was elected King of Germany at Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March, crowned King of Italy in Pavia in 1154, and finally crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Adrian IV on 18 June 1155. He was crowned King of Burgundy at Arles on 30 June 1178...
and of Frederick's son and successor
Henry VIHenry VI was King of Germany from 1190 to 1197, Holy Roman Emperor from 1191 to 1197 and King of Sicily from 1194 to 1197.-Early years:Born in Nijmegen,...
.
At the height of his reign, Henry ruled over a vast territory stretching from the coast of the
NorthThe North Sea is a marginal, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf. The Dover Strait and the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Sea in the north connect it to the Atlantic Ocean. It is more than long and wide, with an area of around...
and
Baltic SeaThe Baltic Sea is a brackish inland sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and the...
s to the
AlpsThe Alps are one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east; through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany; to France in the west....
, and from
WestphaliaWestphalia is a region in Germany, centred on the cities of Arnsberg, Bielefeld, Bochum, Detmold, Dortmund, Gelsenkirchen, Hagen, Minden and Münster and included in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia....
to
PomeraniaPomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East. It is inhabited...
. Henry achieved this great power in part by his political and military acumen and in part through the legacies of his four grandparents.
Biography
Born in
RavensburgRavensburg is a town in Upper Swabia in Southern Germany, capital of the district of Ravensburg, Baden-Württemberg. Population: 48,000 ....
, he was the son of
Henry the Proudthumb|right|Henry X in a much later engraving.Henry the Proud was the Duke of Bavaria , Duke of Saxony , and Margrave of Tuscany .-Life and reign:...
, Duke of Bavaria and Saxony, who was the son of Duke
Henry the BlackHenry IX , called the Black, a member of the House of Welf, was duke of Bavaria from 1120 to 1126.-Life and reign:...
and an heiress of the
BillungThe House of Billung was a dynasty of Saxon noblemen in the 9th through 12th centuries.The first known member of the house was Count Wichmann, mentioned as a Billung in 811...
s, former dukes of Saxony. Henry's mother was Gertrud, only daughter of Emperor
Lothair IIILothair III of Supplinburg , was Duke of Saxony , King of Germany , and Holy Roman Emperor from 1133 to 1137. He was the son of Count Gebhard of Supplinburg.-A note on the ordinal:...
and his wife
Richenza of NortheimRichenza of Northeim was a member of the dynasty of the Counts of Northeim, and a German Empress.She was the daughter of Henry the Fat of Northeim and Gertrud of Brunswick of the Brunonen dynasty....
, heiress of the Saxon territories of
NortheimNortheim is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, seat of the district of Northeim, with a population of 31,000 . It's located on the German Framework Road.-History:...
and the properties of the Brunones, counts of
BraunschweigBraunschweig , known as Brunswiek in Low German, is a city of 245,810 people , located in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located north of the Harz mountains at the farthest navigable point of the Oker river, which connects to the North Sea via the rivers Aller and Weser...
.
Henry's father died in 1139, aged 32, when Henry was still a child. King
Conrad IIIConrad III was the first King of Germany of the Hohenstaufen dynasty. He was the son of Frederick I, Duke of Swabia, and Agnes, a daughter of the Salian Emperor Henry IV.-Life and reign:...
had dispossessed Henry the Proud, who had been his rival for the crown in 1138, of his duchies in 1138 and 1139, handing Saxony to Albert the Bear and Bavaria to Leopold of Austria. Henry, however, did not relinquish his claims to his inheritance, and Conrad returned Saxony to him in 1142. A participant in the 1147
Wendish CrusadeThe Wendish Crusade was an 1147 campaign, one of the Northern Crusades and also a part of the Second Crusade, led primarily by the Kingdom of Germany inside the Holy Roman Empire and directed against the Polabian Slavs ....
, Henry also reacquired Bavaria by a decision of the new Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in 1156.
Henry is the founder of
MunichMunich is the capital city of Bavaria, Germany. It is located on the River Isar north of the Bavarian Alps. Munich is the third largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg...
(1157/58;
München) and
LübeckThe Hanseatic City of Lübeck is the second largest city in Schleswig-Holstein, in northern Germany, and one of the major ports of Germany. It was for several centuries the "capital" of the Hanseatic League and because of its Brick Gothic architectural heritage is on UNESCO's list of World...
(1159); he also founded and developed the cities of
StadeStade is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany and part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region . It is the seat of the district named after it...
,
LüneburgLüneburg, also known as Lueneburg and Lunenburg in English, is a town in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is located about 45 km — a thirty-minute train ride — southeast of fellow Hanseatic city Hamburg. It is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region, and one of Hamburg's inner...
and
BraunschweigBraunschweig , known as Brunswiek in Low German, is a city of 245,810 people , located in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located north of the Harz mountains at the farthest navigable point of the Oker river, which connects to the North Sea via the rivers Aller and Weser...
. In Braunschweig, his capital, he had a bronze lion, his heraldic animal, erected in the yard of his castle Dankwarderode in 1166 — the first bronze statue north of the
AlpsThe Alps are one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east; through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany; to France in the west....
. Later, he had
Brunswick CathedralThe Brunswick Cathedral, in the City of Braunschweig , Germany, is a large Lutheran church dedicated to Saint Blaise and was built by Henry the Lion from 1173 to 1195...
built close to the statue.
In 1147 Henry married Clementia of
ZähringenZähringen is the name of an old and influential German noble family, taken from the castle and villageof that name. Zähringen today is part of the city of Freiburg, which the dukes founded in 1120.-History:...
, thereby gaining her hereditary territories in
SwabiaSwabia, Suabia, or Svebia is both a historic and linguistic region in Germany. Swabia consists of much of the present-day state of Baden-Württemberg , as well as the Bavarian administrative region of Swabia...
. He divorced her in 1162, apparently under pressure from Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, who did not cherish Guelphish possessions in his home area and offered Henry several fortresses in Saxony in exchange. In 1168 Henry married Matilda (1156 -1189), the daughter of
Henry II of EnglandHenry II, called Curtmantle ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France...
and
Eleanor of AquitaineEleanor of Aquitaine was one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in Western Europe during the High Middle Ages...
and sister of Richard Lionheart.
Henry long and faithfully supported his older cousin, Emperor Frederick I (Barbarossa), in his attempts to solidify his hold on the Imperial Crown and his repeated wars with the cities of
LombardyLombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region...
and the Popes, several times turning the tide of battle in Frederick's favor with his fierce Saxon knights. But in 1174, Henry refused to aid Frederick in a renewed invasion of Lombardy because he was preoccupied with securing his own borders in the East. He did not consider these Italian adventures worth the effort, unless Barbarossa presented Henry with the Saxon imperial city Goslar: a request Barbarossa refused.
Barbarossa's expedition into Lombardy ended in utter failure. He bitterly resented Henry for failing to support him. Taking advantage of the hostility of other German princes to Henry, who had successfully established a powerful and contiguous state comprising Saxony, Bavaria and substantial territories in the north and east of Germany, Frederick had Henry tried
in absentia for insubordination by a court of bishops and princes in 1180. Declaring that Imperial law overruled traditional German law, the court had Henry stripped of his lands and declared him an outlaw. Frederick then invaded Saxony with an Imperial army to bring his cousin to his knees. Henry's allies deserted him, and he finally had to submit in November 1181 at a
ReichstagThe Reichstag was the parliament of the Holy Roman Empire, and subsequently of the North German Confederation, and of Germany until 1945...
in
ErfurtErfurt is the capital city of Thuringia and is the main city nearest to the geographical centre of Germany, located 100 km SW of Leipzig, 150 km N of Nürnberg and 180 km SE of Hannover. Erfurt Airport can be reached by plane via Munich. It lies in the southern part of the Thuringian...
. He was exiled from Germany in 1182 for three years, stayed with his father-in-law,
Henry II of EnglandHenry II, called Curtmantle ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France...
, in
NormandyNormandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is situated along the English Channel coast of Northern France between Brittany and Picardy and comprises territory in northern France and the Channel Islands.Normandy is divided between French and British...
before being allowed back into Germany in 1185. He was exiled again in 1188. His wife Matilda died in 1189.
When Frederick Barbarossa went on the Crusade of 1189, Henry returned to Saxony, mobilized an army of his faithful, and conquered and ravaged the rich city of
BardowickBardowick is a municipality in the district of Lüneburg in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is three miles north of Lüneburg on the navigable Ilmenau River. The town was first mentioned in AD 795 and was raised to city status in AD 972 by Otto I. The city was razed to the ground, with the exception of the...
as punishment for her disloyalty. Only the churches were left standing. Barbarossa's son, Emperor
Henry VIHenry VI was King of Germany from 1190 to 1197, Holy Roman Emperor from 1191 to 1197 and King of Sicily from 1194 to 1197.-Early years:Born in Nijmegen,...
, again defeated the Duke, but in 1194, with his end approaching, he made his peace with the Emperor, and returned to his much diminished lands around
BraunschweigBraunschweig , known as Brunswiek in Low German, is a city of 245,810 people , located in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located north of the Harz mountains at the farthest navigable point of the Oker river, which connects to the North Sea via the rivers Aller and Weser...
(Brunswick), where he finished his days as duke of Braunschweig, peacefully sponsoring arts and architecture. He died on 6 August 1195.
The picture at the top right, taken from his tomb in Braunschweig Cathedral constructed between 1230 and 1240, shows an idealized image. When the
NazisNazism, known officially in German as National Socialism , is the totalitarian ideology and practices of the Nazi Party or National Socialist German Workers’ Party under Adolf Hitler, and the policies adopted by the dictatorial government of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945.Nazism is often considered...
exhumed his corpse, they were disappointed to find a comparatively small man with black hair. This, presumably, was an inheritance from the northern Italian ancestors of the Guelphs, the counts of
EsteThe House of Este is a European princely dynasty. It is split into two branches; the elder is known as the House of Welf-Este or House of Welf, the younger, as the House of Fulc-Este or later simply as the House of Este...
.
Ancestors
Henry's ancestors in three generations
| Henry the Lion |
Father:
Henry X, Duke of Bavariathumb|right|Henry X in a much later engraving.Henry the Proud was the Duke of Bavaria , Duke of Saxony , and Margrave of Tuscany .-Life and reign:...
|
Paternal Grandfather:
Henry IX, Duke of BavariaHenry IX , called the Black, a member of the House of Welf, was duke of Bavaria from 1120 to 1126.-Life and reign:...
|
Paternal Great-grandfather:
Welf I, Duke of BavariaWelf I was duke of Bavaria from 1070 to 1077 and from 1096 to his death. He was the first member of the Welf branch of the House of Este. In the Welf genealogy he is counted as Welf IV.-Life and reign:...
|
Paternal Great-grandmother:
Judith of Flanders |
Paternal Grandmother:
Wulfhild |
Paternal Great-grandfather:
Magnus, Duke of SaxonyMagnus was the duke of Saxony from 1072 to 1106. Eldest son and successor of Ordulf and Wulfhild of Norway, he was the last member of the House of Billung....
|
Paternal Great-grandmother:
Sophia of Hungary |
Mother:
Gertrude of Süpplingenburg |
Maternal Grandfather:
Lothair III, Holy Roman EmperorLothair III of Supplinburg , was Duke of Saxony , King of Germany , and Holy Roman Emperor from 1133 to 1137. He was the son of Count Gebhard of Supplinburg.-A note on the ordinal:...
|
Maternal Great-grandfather:
Gebhard of Supplinburg |
Maternal Great-grandmother:
Hedwig von Formbach |
Maternal Grandmother:
Richenza of NortheimRichenza of Northeim was a member of the dynasty of the Counts of Northeim, and a German Empress.She was the daughter of Henry the Fat of Northeim and Gertrud of Brunswick of the Brunonen dynasty....
|
Maternal Great-grandfather:
Henry the Fat of Northeim |
Maternal Great-grandmother:
Gertrud of BrunswickGertrud of Brunswick was a member of the Brunonen dynasty and the Markgräfin of Meissen.Gertrude was the daughter of Egbert I, Margrave of Meissen, and Irmgard of Susa. She was married to Count Dietrich II of Katlenburg...
|
Family
Henry had the following known children:
- by his first wife, Clementia (divorced 1162), daughter of Conrad, Duke of Zähringen and Clemence of Namur:
- Gertrude of Bavaria
Gertrude of Bavaria and Saxony was a Danish Queen consort, spouse of King Canute VI of Denmark.Born to Henry the Lion of Bavaria and Saxony and Clementia of Zähringen. She was first married to Frederick IV, Duke of Swabia, and became a widow in 1167. In 1177, she married Prince Canute of Denmark....
(1155-1197), married first Frederick IV, Duke of SwabiaFrederick IV of Hohenstaufen was duke of Swabia, succeeding his cousin, Frederick Barbarossa, Holy Roman Emperor, in 1152....
, and then King Canute VI of DenmarkCanute VI was King of Denmark . Canute VI was the eldest son of King Valdemar I and Sophia of Polotsk.-Life:...
- Richenza (c. 1157 - 1167)
- by his second wife, Matilda, daughter of King Henry II of England
Henry II, called Curtmantle ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France...
(married 1168):
- Matilda (1171-1210), married Godfrey, Count of Perche, and Enguerrand III, Lord of Coucy
Enguerrand III, Lord of Coucy was the eldest son and successor of Ralph I, Lord of Coucy. He succeeded as Lord of Coucy in 1191, and held it until his death; he was also lord of Marle and Boves....
- Richenza (1172-1204), was engaged to King Valdemar II of Denmark
Valdemar II , called Valdemar the Conqueror or Valdemar the Victorious , was the King of Denmark from November 12, 1202 until his death in 1241...
- Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine
Henry was count palatine of the Rhine from 6 August 1195 to 1213.Henry was the eldest son of Duke Henry the Lion, from his marriage to Matilda of England, Duchess of Saxony. He grew up in England and became count palatine of the Rhine through his 1193 marriage to Agnes, heir to the Staufen count...
(c. 1173-1227)
- Lothar of Bavaria (c. 1174-1190)
- Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor
Otto IV of Brunswick was one of two rival kings of the Holy Roman Empire from 1198 on, sole king from 1208 on, and emperor from 1209 on. The only king of the Welf dynasty, he was deposed in 1215.-Biography:...
and Duke of SwabiaThe following is a list of Dukes of Swabia in southwest Germany. Swabia was one of the five stem duchies of the medieval German kingdom, and its dukes were thus among the most powerful magnates of Germany. The most notable family to hold Swabia were the Hohenstaufen, who held it, with a brief...
(c. 1175-1218)
- William of Winchester (1184-1213)
Three other children are listed, by some sources, as having belonged to Henry and Matilda;
- Eleanor (born 1178); died young
- Ingibiorg (born 1180); died young
- Infant Son (b.&d. 1182)
- by his lover, Ida of Blieskastel:
- Matilda, married Henry Borwin I, Prince of Mecklenburg
External links