Godfrey III Count of Louvain, Duke of Lorraine ^{1 2}

   Other names for Godfrey were Godfrey III of Leuven and Godfrey VIII.

  Research Notes:

Count of Leuven and Brussels, Landgrave of Brabank, Margrave of Antwerp and Duke of Lower Lorraine (as Godfrey VIII).

From Wikipedia - Godfrey III, Count of Leuven :

Godfrey III (died August 21 , 1190 ) was count of Leuven (or Louvain), landgrave of Brabant , margrave of Antwerp , and duke 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). On 30 March 1147 , Godfrey was present at the coronation of Henry Berengar , son of Conrad III of Germany , in Aachen . 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 of Henry 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 at Grimbergen . In 1171, Godfrey was at war with Hainaut , but was defeated. In 1179, he gave his son Henry in marriage to a niece of Philip 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 (near Vilvoorde ). The ducal title was transmitted to his son at the Diet of Schwäbisch Hall (September 1190).

  Death Notes:

Ancestral Roots Line 155-25 has b. 1142, d. 10 Aug. 1190. Wikipedia says he died on the 10th or 21st of August, 1190.

  Noted events in his life were:

• Landgrave of Brabant.

• Duke of Lower Lorraine: (as Godfrey VIII), 1142-1190.

Godfrey married Margaret of Limbourg, daughter of Henry II Count of Limbourg and Matilda of Saffenberg, in 1158. (Margaret of Limbourg died in 1173.)