Henry IV, Count of Luxembourg

Henry the Blind ( – 14 August 1196; French Henri l'Aveugle, Dutch Hendrik de Blinde), sometimes called Henry IV of Luxembourg, was his father's heir as count of Namur from 1136 until his death, and heir of his mother's family as count of Luxembourg from 1139 until his abdication in 1189. He also inherited the smaller lordships of Longwy, La Roche-en-Ardenne and Durbuy. Henry is an important figure in the history of the southern Netherlands and the modern countries of Belgium and Luxembourg. He was especially important to the history of the county of Namur, where he was the last member of the first line of counts, and the most powerful of them. His important inheritances were divided again after his death, bringing Namur and Luxembourg to different families. His daughter, who was born when he was old, kept Luxembourg and the smaller Ardennes lordships, while descendants of his sister Alice, who were also counts of Flanders and Hainaut, added possession of Namur to their dominion. Henry lost the use of his eyes in 1182, but was not referred to as "the blind" until much later. Modern historians use that byname in order to distinguish him from a later count Henry of Namur, Henry I, Count of Vianden. Life Henry was the second known son of Count Godfrey I of Namur and Ermesinde, and a daughter of Count Conrad I of Luxembourg. He was born about 1113. He first appears in the written record in the foundation charter for the abbey of Floreffe in 1121. His elder brother Albert died young, about 1127, leaving Henry as next in line, and he subsequently started being associated with the government of the county of Namur from 1131. In 1136 Henry was active in his father's conflict against Count Godfrey I of Louvain, which followed the death of Anselm, the abbot of Gembloux.