Medieval France
. The territory of Luxembourg, part of the duchy of Lorraine, became a distinct political entity in 963 under Sigefroid d’Ardenne. It remained in the imperial orbit until the end of the 12th century, almost completely disintegrating during the long rule of Count Henri IV l’Aveugle (r. 1136–96). His daughter, Ermesinde (r. 1196–1247), whose first husband was the count of Bar, was mainly French in culture and outlook. She and her son Henri V (r. 1247–81) did much to restore the integrity of the county of Luxembourg. Henri’s two sons, Henri VI and Waleran, lord of Ligny, died at the Battle of Worringen in 1288, contesting Limbourg against the duke of Brabant. Waleran’s descendants, the French branch of the family, were counts of Ligny and Saint-Pol. One of them, Waleran III, served as both Constable and Butler of France in the early 15th century under Charles VI. Another, Louis de Luxembourg, was executed for treason by Louis XI in 1475 after serving as constable.
The older branch of the Luxembourgs had a more glorious future. Of Henri VI’s sons, Henri VII (d. 1313) was elected emperor in 1308 and Baudouin became archbishop of Trier.
In 1309, Henri VII turned Luxembourg over to his son, Jean l’Aveugle (d. 1346), and the next year made him king of Bohemia. Among Jean’s children were the emperor Charles IV (r. 1347–78) and a daughter, Bonne, who married the future John II of France. Although she died before she could reign as queen, Bonne was the mother not only of Charles V but also of Louis I of Anjou, John of Berry, and Philip the Bold, duke of Burgundy and founder of the Burgundian state in the Low Countries.
Wenceslas I (1334–1383), the son of Jean l’Aveugle by his second wife, received Luxembourg from Charles IV in 1353. The emperor raised it to the rank of a duchy in 1354, and Jeanne, wife of Wenceslas, inherited Brabant the next year. Subsequently, he ruled as duke of Brabant and Luxembourg until his death without children. Luxembourg then passed successively to his nephews the emperors Wenceslas II and Sigismund, sons of Charles IV. They rarely appeared in Luxembourg and were chronically short of money. As early as 1388, Wenceslas II pawned the duchy to his nephew Jost of Moravia, who turned it over for awhile (1402–07) to Duke Louis of Orléans. A niece of the emperors, Elizabeth of Goerlitz (d. 1451), held the duchy after 1411 amid growing disorder and the counterclaims of her cousin Elizabeth, Sigismund’s daughter. She finally sold her rights to the duke of Burgundy, Philip the Good, who took over Luxembourg in 1443, incorporating it into the Burgundian Netherlands.
John Bell Henneman, Jr.
Gade, John A. Luxemburg in the Middle Ages. Leiden: Brill, 1951.
Goedert, Joseph. La formation territoriale du pays de Luxembourg depuis les origines jusqu’au milieu du XVe siècle. Luxembourg: Imprimerie Central, 1963.
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