Albert III, Count of Gorizia
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Albert III | |
|---|---|
| Count of Gorizia | |
 | |
| Died | c. 1365 |
| Noble family | Meinhardiner |
| Spouse(s) | Helen Catherine of Celje |
| Father | Albert II of Gorizia |
| Mother | Elisabeth of Hesse |
Albert III (died: c. 1365), a member of the House of Gorizia (Meinhardiner dynasty), ruled as Count of Gorizia from 1338 until his death.
Life
Albert III was a son of Count Albert II of Gorizia (1261–1325) and his first wife Elizabeth, a daughter of Landgrave Henry I of Hesse. From 1329 to 1338, he served as governor of Gorizia, Friuli, and Istria for his minor nephew Count John Henry IV.
In 1338, he inherited the County of Gorizia (Görz) upon the early death of John Henry IV. Albert ruled jointly with his younger half-brothers Henry V and Meinhard VI. In 1339, they agreed that Albert would be the sole count palatine of Carinthia. Three years later, he waived his rights to Gorizia and went on to rule in Istria (Mitterburg), the adjacent Windic March, and White Carniola.
Albert III married a noblewomen named Helen and later, in 1353, with Catherine (born between 1284 and 1308), a daughter of Count Frederick I of Celje. Both marriages were childless. Shortly before his death about 1365, Albert bequested his vast Istrian and Carniolan possessions to the Habsburg duke Rudolf IV of Austria. The remaining Gorizia estates were inherited by his surviving half-brother Meinhard IV, who was elevated to a Prince of the Holy Roman Empire by Emperor Charles IV.