William the Conqueror to go on pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Although some of his supporters tried to dissuade him from undertaking the journey, Robert convened a council in January 1035 and had the assembled Norman magnates swear fealty to William as his heir before leaving for Jerusalem. He died in early July at Nicea, on his way back to Normandy. William faced several challenges on becoming duke, including his illegitimate birth and his youth: the evidence indicates that he was either seven or eight years old at the time. He enjoyed the support of his great-uncle, Archbishop Robert, as well as the king of
Engelbert, Duke of Carinthia Engelbert, Duke of Carinthia Engelbert II (died 13 April 1141), a member of the House of Sponheim, was Margrave of Istria and Carniola from about 1103/07 until 1124. In 1123, he succeeded his elder brother Henry as Duke of Carinthia and Margrave of Verona which he held until his retirement in 1135. Engelbert II was the son of Count Engelbert I of Sponheim (d. 1096) and his wife Hedwig of uncertain descent, maybe a daughter of the Billung duke Bernard II of Saxony. His grandfather Count Siegfried I of Sponheim (d. 1065) came to Carinthia about 1035 as an attendant