Henry III "the Great" (? – 1246) was the count of

Sayn Sayn was a small German county of the Holy Roman Empire which, during the Middle Ages, existed within what is today Rheinland-Pfalz. There have been two Counties of Sayn. The first emerged in 1139 and became closely associated with the County o ...

(1202–1246), a county located near the

Sieg River The Sieg is a river in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a right tributary of the Rhine. The river is named after the Sicambri. It is in length. The source is located in the Rothaargebirge mountains. From here t ...

in northern

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Henry III shared the first year of his reign with his uncle, count Henry II, as he and his father Eberhard II had co-ruled the county. Gottfried II (Count of

Sponheim Sponheim is a municipality in the district of Bad Kreuznach in Rhineland-Palatinate in western Germany. History Sponheim was the capital of the County of Sponheim. Sponheim Abbey There was a Benedictine abbey which was founded in 1101 by Step ...

) had been a regent from 1181 and continued until his death in 1220. John, count of Sponheim-Starkenburg, was regent from 1226 until Henry's death in 1246. In 1233, Conrad of Marburg, Conrad Dorso and John the One-Eyed accused Henry of indulging in satanic orgies. Henry pleaded his case successfully to an assembly of bishops in

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...

and was acquitted.See

Robert I. Moore Robert Ian "Bob" Moore (born 1941), most commonly known as R. I. Moore, is a British historian who is Professor Emeritus of History at Newcastle University. He specialises in medieval history and has written several influential works on t ...

, ''The War on Heresy. Faith and Power in Medieval Europe'', London, Profile Books, 2014, p. 280-281. Conrad, however, refused to accept the verdict, but eventually left Mainz. While passing near

Marburg Marburg ( or ) is a university town in the German federal state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district (''Landkreis''). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has a population of approximate ...

, Conrad was ambushed and killed by a group of knights. It is unknown whether they were in the service of Henry. Henry died in 1246. His county was inherited by his brother-in-law, count Eberhard III of Sponheim-Eberstein.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henry 3, Count Of Sayn Counts of Sayn 12th-century births 1246 deaths People from former German states in Rhineland-Palatinate Year of birth unknown