John III, Marquis of Namur
Encyclopedia
John III, marquis of Namur (? – 10 March 1429) was between 1418 and 1429 the last independent Marquis of Namur
Marquis of Namur
Namur was a county of the Carolingian and later Holy Roman Empire in the Low Countries. Its territories largely correspond with the present-day Belgian arrondissement Namur plus the northwestern part of the arrondissement Dinant....

.

He was the youngest son of William I, Marquis of Namur
William I, Marquis of Namur
William I, Marquis of Namur, the Rich, was Count of Namur from 1337 until his death.He was the fifth son of John I and Mary of Artois....

 and Catherine of Savoy († 1388), daughter of Louis II of Savoy, baron of Vaud, and Isabella of Châlon.

When his father died in 1391, he inherited Wijnendale
Wijnendale
Wijnendale is a village located in the Belgian province of West Flanders.It belongs to the municipality of Torhout. Wijnendale is situated at 4 km from the city center of Torhout, halfway in between this city center and Ichtegem....

 and Ronse
Ronse
Ronse is a Belgian city and a municipality in the Flemish province of East Flanders. The municipality only comprises the city of Ronse proper.- Early settlements to 14th century :...

. He succeeded his elder brother William II
William II, Marquis of Namur
William II, marquis of Namur inherited the marquisate of Namur from his father William I in 1391 and held it until his own death....

 as Marquis of Namur, when William died without children in 1418.

John never married, but had an illegitimate son with his cousin Cécile of Savoy: Philip of Namur, seigneur de Dhuy (died 1449).

John III lead a very luxurious life, and he had to raise taxes to finance his expenses. This led to revolts and high debts, which forced John to sell his County to Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy
Duke of Burgundy
Duke of Burgundy was a title borne by the rulers of the Duchy of Burgundy, a small portion of traditional lands of Burgundians west of river Saône which in 843 was allotted to Charles the Bald's kingdom of West Franks...

. Philip the Good incorporated Namur into the Burgundian Netherlands
Burgundian Netherlands
In the history of the Low Countries, the Burgundian Netherlands refers to a number of Imperial and French fiefs ruled in personal union by the House of Valois-Burgundy and their Habsburg heirs in the period from 1384 to 1482...

, thus ending the existence of an independent County of Namur.
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