- published: 11 Apr 2014
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The House of Luxembourg was a late medieval German dynasty, which between 1308 and 1437 ruled the Holy Roman Empire, twice interrupted by the rivaling House of Wittelsbach.
It initially was a cadet branch of the ducal House of Limburg, when in 1247 Henry, younger son of Duke Waleran III inherited the County of Luxembourg upon the death of his mother Countess Ermesinde, a scion of the House of Namur. Her father, Count Henry IV of Luxembourg, was related on his mother's side with the Ardennes-Verdun dynasty (also called the Elder House of Luxembourg), which had ruled the county since the late 10th century.
Count Henry V's grandson Henry VII, Count of Luxembourg upon the death of his father Henry VI at the 1288 Battle of Worringen, was elected Rex Romanorum in 1308. The election was necessary after the Habsburg king Albert I of Germany had been murdered, and Henry, backed by his brother Archbishop-Elector Baldwin of Trier, prevailed against Count Charles of Valois. Henry arranged the marriage of his son John with the Přemyslid heiress Elisabeth of Bohemia in 1310, whereupon the House of Luxembourg gained the vast Kingdom of Bohemia as a significant power basis to compete with the Habsburg and Wittelsbach dynasties. One year after being crowned Holy Roman Emperor at Rome, Henry VII, still on campaign in Italy, died in 1313.
Luxembourg (i/ˈlʌksəmbɜrɡ/ LUKS-əm-burg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (Luxembourgish: Groussherzogtum Lëtzebuerg, French: Grand-Duché de Luxembourg, German: Großherzogtum Luxemburg, Dutch: Groothertogdom Luxemburg), is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland ("good country") in the south. Luxembourg has a population of over half a million people in an area of approximately 2,586 square kilometres (998 sq mi). A representative democracy with a constitutional monarch, it is ruled by a grand duke. It is now the world's only remaining sovereign grand duchy. The country has a highly developed economy, with the world's highest GDP (nominal) per capita according to the IMF. Its historic and strategic importance dates back to its founding as a Roman era fortress site and Frankish count's castle site in the Early Middle Ages. It was an important bastion along the Spanish Road when Spain was the principal European power influencing the whole western hemisphere and beyond in the 16th–17th centuries.
Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg (Guillaume Marie Louis Christian) born 1 May 1963 in Betzdorf Castle, is the third son and youngest child of Grand Duke Jean and Grand Duchess Josephine-Charlotte of Luxembourg.
Guillaume attended secondary school in Luxembourg and Switzerland, and received his baccalureate in Grenoble in 1982. He continued his studies at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, and later at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., where he graduated in 1987. Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg was presented the degree Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, at Sacred Heart University’s Academic Convocation and Induction of the Class of 2011 on 10 September 2007. The official ceremony welcomed the first-year students to SHU with a formal academic procession and messages from the faculty, student representatives, and President Anthony J. Cernera, PhD
The Laudatio, a tribute that is customarily read on behalf of an honorary degree recipient, was presented by Dr. Edmond Israel, founding chairman of Cedel International and the former chair of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. “Sacred Heart University is a blessing for those who are studying here and know how to listen also, as Dr. Cernera expressed it so splendidly the other day, with the ears of their heart. Prince Guillaume who is honoured today, is one of those human beings who listen with the ears of their heart, and that is why he is a source of inspiration for those who prepare their future,” he offered.