page_title: Henry the Lion
section_title: Family
hierarchical_section_title: Henry the Lion / Family
context_page_description: Henry the Lion was a member of the Welf dynasty and Duke of Saxony, as Henry III, from 1142, and Duke of Bavaria, as Henry XII, from 1156, the duchies which 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 I Barbarossa and of Frederick's son and successor Henry VI.
  At the height of his reign, Henry ruled over a vast territory stretching from the coast of the North and Baltic Seas to the Alps, and from Westphalia to Pomerania. Henry achieved this great power in part by his political and military acumen and in part through the legacies of his four grandparents.
context_section_description: Henry had the following known children:
  By his first wife, Clementia of Zähringen (divorced 1162), daughter of Conrad I, Duke of Zähringen and Clemence of Namur:
  Gertrude of Bavaria (1155–1197), married firstly to Frederick IV, Duke of Swabia, and then secondly to King Canute VI of Denmark.
  Richenza of Bavaria (c. 1157–1167)
  Henry of Bavaria, died young.
  by his second wife, Matilda of England (married 1168), daughter of King Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine:
  Matilda (or Richenza) (1172–1204), married firstly to Godfrey, Count of Perche, and secondly to Enguerrand III, Lord of Coucy.
  Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227)
  Lothar of Bavaria (c. 1174–1190)
  Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor and Duke of Swabia (c. 1175–1218)
  William of Winchester, Lord of Lüneburg (1184–1213)
  Three other children are listed, by some sources, as having belonged to Henry and Matilda:
  Eleanor of Bavaria (born 1178); died young
  Ingibiorg of Bavaria (born 1180); died young
  Infant Son (b. & d. 1182)
  And by his lover, Ida von Blieskastel, he had a daughter:
  Matilda, married Henry Borwin I, Lord of Mecklenburg
caption: Henry's duchies Saxony and Bavaria
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