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____ Henry ("the Fat")
Birth: ABT 1055
Death: 1101
Cause of Death: in battle
Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry,_Margrave_of_Frisia
Henry the Fat (c.?1055 – 1101), also known as Henry of Nordheim or Northeim, was
from 1083 Count in Rittigau and Eichsfeld and from 1099 the Margrave of Frisia. He
was the eldest son of Otto of Nordheim and Richenza of Swabia.
He was, by his patrimony of Rittigau and Eichsfeld, one of the most influential Saxon
princes of his age. In 1086 he married the widow Gertrude of Brunswick and united
the lands of the Counts of Katlenburg and the Brunonen to the Nordheimer Länderei.
From the counts of Bilstein he inherited parts of the Werra Valley, where he became
the sole landholder. Further, he was the Vogt of Helmarshausen and founded a
Benedictine monastery at Bursfelde in 1093.
During the civil wars of the early 1080s Henry sided with the anti-king Herman of
Salm, to whom he was related by marriage. In 1086 he and his brothers changed sides
to support the Emperor Henry IV.
Henry's wife, Gertrude, was the only sister of Egbert II, Margrave of Meissen, whose
own marriage remained childless. By the right of inheritance Henry stood to receive
Egbert's counties in Frisia on the margrave's death in 1090, though Meissen was
granted by the emperor to another Henry. These Frisian counties, however, had been
annexed from Egbert during the latter's rebellion in 1089 and were being administered
by Conrad, Bishop of Utrecht. When Conrad was assassinated in 1099 the Emperor
finally bestowed the counties on Henry. He immediately tried to regulate Frisian
shipping and ignored the privileges granted to the town of Staveren. The Church,
feeling threatened by Henry, allied with the merchant class and the townsmen. Though
they received him on seeming friendly terms, he perceived their threat and tried to flee
by boat. His ship was attacked at sea and sunk, though his wife escaped the assault.
The day of his death is not known precisely, but he was buried in Bursfelde on 10
April 1101.
Henry's only son, Otto III of Nordheim inherited his patrimony, while his daughter
Richenza inherited the Katlenburger and Brunonen territories and united them to the
House of Welf by her marriage to the future Emperor Lothair II. Henry's youngest
daughter, Gertrude (c. 1090 – bef. 1165), was heiress of Bentheim and Rheineck. She
married first Siegfried I of Weimar-Orlamünde and then Otto I, Count of Salm. Henry's
widow, Gertrude, married the aforementioned Henry, Margrave of Meissen.
Parents
VON NORTHEIM Otto I (ABT 1020 - 11 Jan 1083)
OF SWABIA Richenza (ABT 1025 - BEF 1083)
Siblings
____ Henry ("the Fat") (ABT 1055 - 1101)
VON NORTHEIM Ida (ABT 1057 - )
Marriage To VON BRAUNSCHWEIG Gertrude (ABT 1060 - 9 Dec 1117)
m. 1086
Notes
Parents
VON BRAUNSCHWEIG Egbert I (Eckbert) (ABT 1025 - 11 Jan 1068)
OF TURIN Immilla (ABT 1020 - 21 Jan 1078)
Children by VON BRAUNSCHWEIG Gertrude ABT 1060 - 9 Dec 1117
VON NORTHEIM Richensa (ABT 1087 - 10 Jun 1141)
VON NORTHEIM Gertrude (ABT 1088 - AFT 1154)
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