 Born around 1278/79 in Valenciennes, he was a son of Count Henry VI of Luxembourg and Béatrice from the House of Avesnes.Raised at the French court, he was the lord of comparatively small properties in a peripheral and predominantly French-speaking part of the Holy Roman Empire.It was symptomatic of the empire’s weakness that during his rule as the Count of Luxembourg, he agreed to become a French vassal, seeking the protection of King Philip the Fair of France.