Godfrey III of Louvain

Godfrey III of Louvain

count of Louvain, margrave of Brabant, duke of Lower Lorraine

Leuven, Belgium

1183

Godfrey III's journey to Jerusalem in 1183 was recorded by the chronicler Gislebert of Mons, who noted that it precipitated an uprising against him. A remarkable charter 1183 recording his intention to give his hospital at Coudenberg in Brussels to the hospital of St. John of Jerusalem. He made the gift inspired by his own visit to the hospital in Jerusalem, having "taken the sign of the crucified Savior upon my heart and my shoulders." The extraordinary dating clause (referring to the conquest of Jerusalem in 1099) is followed by a witness list naming those who had crossed the sea with him. It is very likely that Godfrey is the "Henry, Duke of Louvain" described by William of Tyre as having joined the army that confronted Saladin during his incursion into the kingdom at La Fève.

https://www.diplomata-belgica.be/charter_details_en.php?dibe_id=2944

Alphonse Wauters, "Don fait à l'ordre de Saint-Jean de Jérusalem de l'église de Saint-Jacques-sur-Caudenberg et pèlerinage du duc de Brabant Godefroid III en Palestine," Revue d'histoire et d'archéologie 1 (1859), 481-485.

Alphonse Wauters, "Exploration des chartes et des cartulaires Belges existants a la Bibliothèque nationale, à Paris," Comptes rendu des séances de la Commission Royale d'Histoire, 4eme série 1 (1873), p. 168 n. 2.