Duke Geoffrey Louvain BRABANT

   Other names for Geoffrey were LOWER LORRAINE Duke, LOUVAIN Count and BRABANT Duke.

   General Notes:

Count of LOUVAIN, Duke of LOWER LORRAINE, Duke of BRABANT.

BOOKS
The Political History of England, Vol II, George Burton Adams Longmans Green and Co, 1905 Ch VIII p169:
[1120] "But if Henry could no longer look forward to the permanence in the second generation of the empire which he had created, he was not the man to surrender even to the blows of fate. The succession to his dominions of Robert's son William, who had been so recently used by his enemies against him, but who was now the sole male heir of William the Conqueror, was an intolerable idea. In barely more than a month after the death of his son, the king took counsel with the magnates of the realm, at a great council in London, in regard to his marriage. In less than another month the marriage was celebrated. Henry's second wife was Adelaide daughter of Geoffrey, Duke of Lower Lorraine, a vassal of his son-in-law, the emperor, and his devoted supporter, as well as a prince whose alliance might be of great use in any future troubles with France or Flanders. This marriage was made chiefly in hope of a legitimate heir, but it was a childless marriage, and Henry's hope was disappointed."

A History of the Plantagenets, Vol I, The Conquering Family, Thomas B Costain, Doubleday & Co, Garden City, 1949, p4:
"The wife selected for him was Adelicia, daughter of the Count of Louvain, and eighteen-year-old girl of such beauty that she was called the Fair Maid of Brabant. Rhyming Robert of Gloucester said of her, `no woman so fair as she was seen on middle earth.' Adelicia was gentle and understanding and she strove to be a good wife to the melancholy Henry, but she failed in the most important respect: she did not bear him children..."

   Marriage Information: