Godfrey II was the count of Leuven, landgrave of Brabant

Duke of Brabant

The Duchy of Brabant was formally erected in 1183/1184. The title "Duke of Brabant" was created by the German Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in favor of Henry I, son of Godfrey III of Leuven . The Duchy of Brabant was a feudal elevation of the since 1085/1086 existing title of Landgrave of Brabant...

 by inheritance from 23 January 1139. He was the son of Godfrey I

Godfrey I of Leuven

Godfrey I , called the Bearded, the Courageous, or the Great, was the landgrave of Brabant, and count of Brussels and Leuven from 1095 to his death and duke of Lower Lorraine from 1106 to 1129...

 and Ida of Chiny. He was also the duke of Lower Lorraine (as Godfrey VII), and as such also margrave

Margrave

A margrave or margravine was a medieval hereditary nobleman with military responsibilities in a border province of a kingdom. Border provinces usually had more exposure to military incursions from the outside, compared to interior provinces, and thus a margrave usually had larger and more active...

 of Antwerp, by appointment in 1139 after the death of Duke Waleran

Waleran, Duke of Lower Lorraine

Waleran II , called Paganus meaning "the Pagan", probably due to a late baptism, was the Duke of Limburg and Count of Arlon from his father's death in about 1119 until his own twenty years later...

.

He was first associated with his father in 1136, when he first carried the ducal title. This was confirmed by Conrad III of Germany

Conrad III of Germany

Conrad III was the first King of Germany of the Hohenstaufen dynasty. He was the son of Frederick I, Duke of Swabia, and Agnes, a daughter of the Salian Emperor Henry IV.-Life and reign:...

, who had married the sister of Godfrey's wife. Waleran left a son, Henry II of Limburg

Henry II of Limburg

Henry II was the duke of Limburg from 1139 and count of Arlon from 1147 to his death. He was the son of Waleran, Duke of Lower Lorraine, and Jutta of Guelders, daughter of Gerard I of Guelders. He succeeded his father in Limburg with the title of duke, but Conrad III refused to grant him Lower...

, who asserted his father's ducal rights. Godfrey and Henry entered into a war in which the latter was decisively and quickly destroyed. Godfrey did not long enjoy his victory. He was killed by a disease of the liver two years thence. He was buried in St. Peter's Church

St. Peter's Church, Leuven

Saint Peter's Church of Leuven, Belgium, is situated on the city's Grote Markt , right across the ornate Town Hall...

 in Leuven

Leuven

Leuven is the capital of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region, Belgium...

.

He married Luitgarde, daughter of Berengar II of Sulzbach and sister of Gertrude von Sulzbach

Gertrude von Sulzbach

Gertrude of Sulzbach was German Queen . She was the second wife of Conrad III of Germany.-Family:...

, wife of Conrad III of Germany

Conrad III of Germany

Conrad III was the first King of Germany of the Hohenstaufen dynasty. He was the son of Frederick I, Duke of Swabia, and Agnes, a daughter of the Salian Emperor Henry IV.-Life and reign:...

, and Bertha

Bertha of Sulzbach

Bertha of Sulzbach was the first wife and Empress of Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Comnenus.-Family:...

, wife of Manuel I Comnenus, the emperor of Byzantium. He was succeeded by his son Godfrey III

Godfrey III of Leuven

Godfrey III was count of Leuven , landgrave of Brabant, margrave of Antwerp, and duke of Lower Lorraine from 1142 to his death.He was the son of Godfrey II and Lutgarde of Sulzbach...

 in both the counties and the duchy.

Sources

• Source (obsolete): Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America Before 1700 by Frederick Lewis Weis, Line 155-24.
• Chronique des Ducs de Brabant, Adrian van Baerland, Antwerp (1612). Available at the online library of Geneanet. http://www.geneanet.org