Gothelo I, Duke of Lorraine
Gothelo( or Gozelo)( – 19 April 1044), called the Great, was the duke of Lower Lorraine from 1023 and of Upper Lorraine from 1033.
He was also the margrave of Antwerp from 1005( or 1008) and count of Verdun.
Gothelo was the youngest son of Godfrey I, Count of Verdun, and Matilda Billung, daughter of Herman, Duke of Saxony.
On his father's death, he received the march of Antwerp and became a vassal of his brother, Godfrey II, who became duke of Lower Lorraine in 1012.
He succeeded his brother in 1023 with the support of the Emperor Henry II, but was opposed until Conrad II forced the rebels to submit in 1025.
When the House of Bar, which ruled in Upper Lorraine, became extinct in 1033, with the death of his cousin Frederick III, Conrad made him duke of both duchies, so that he could assist in the defence of the territory against Odo II, count of Blois, Meaux, Chartres, and Troyes( the later Champagne).
In the battle at Bar on 15 November 1037, Gothelo dealt a decisive blow to Odo, who was trying to create an independent state between France and Germany.
Odo died in the battle.
Gothelo died on 19 April 1044 and was buried in the Abbey Church of Bilzen.
His son Godfrey succeeded in Upper Lorraine, but the Emperor Henry III refused to give him the duchy of Lower Lorraine as well.
When Godfrey showed disagreement with the imperial decision, Henry III threatened to pass the duchy to Godfrey's incompetent brother Gothelo.
This caused a long rebellion in Lotharingia between the allies of Godfrey( the counts of Flanders and Leuven) and imperial forces( 1044 – 1056).
Godfrey II, Duke of Lower Lorraine
Godfrey II (965–1023), called the Childless, son of Godfrey I, Count of Verdun, was the duke of Lower Lorraine after the death in 1012 of the Carolingian Otto, who left no sons.
He was appointed duke by Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor, on the advice of Gerard of Florennes, bishop of Cambrai.
His selection was based on the need for a strong military hand to pacify the duchy and stabilise the French border.
It also benefitted that Godfrey was from Upper Lorraine and thus had no stake in the feudal strife of the baronage, he was loyal to the Ottonians.
He also had the support of his brothers: Gothelo, margrave of Antwerp, and Herman, margrave of Ename (Brabant).
In 1012, he gave Verdun to his brother Frederick.
He had to combat several opponents to his ducal claim, however:
Lambert I, Count of Leuven, brother-in-law of Otto, and Reginar IV, count of Mons.
At Florennes, on 12 September 1015, Godfrey defeated both of them, killing Lambert and forcing Reginar to make peace.
Reginar later married Godfrey's niece Matilda (daughter of Herman of Ename, count in the shire of Brabant) and succeeded his father-in-law in the southern part of the shire Brabant (later on part of county of Hainault).
Later, Godfrey fell into combat with Gerard, count of Metz.
On 27 August 1017, he defeated him despite numerical inferiority.
He was the leader of the imperial army which was defeated at Vlaardingen by Dirk III of Holland in 1018.
He was succeeded by his younger brother Gothelo.
Godfrey III, Duke of Lower Lorraine
Godfrey III (–1069), called the Bearded, was the eldest son of Gothelo I, Duke of Upper and Lower Lorraine.
By inheritance, he was Count of Verdun and he became Margrave of Antwerp as a vassal of the Duke of Lower Lorraine.
The Holy Roman Emperor Henry III authorized him to succeed his father as Duke of Upper Lorraine in 1044, but refused him the ducal title in Lower Lorraine, for he feared the power of a united duchy.
Instead Henry threatened to appoint a younger son, Gothelo, as Duke in Lower Lorraine.
At a much later date, Godfrey became Duke of Lower Lorraine, but he had lost the upper duchy by that point in time.
Godfrey rebelled against his King and devastated land in Lower Lorraine, as well as the City of Verdun; which, though his by inheritance, Henry had not given him.
He was soon defeated by an imperial army, deposed and imprisoned together with his son (Gibichenstein, 1045).
When his son died in prison, the war recommenced.
Baldwin V of Flanders joined Godfrey and Henry gave Thierry, Bishop of Verdun, the eponymous county.
Godfrey surprised the Bishop (who escaped) and sacked Verdun, burning the cathedral.
On 11 November 1048 at Thuin, Godfrey fell on Adalbert, his replacement in Upper Lorraine, and defeated him, killing him in battle.
Henry immediately nominated the young Gerard of Chatenoy to replace Adalbert at the Diet of Worms.
In his subsequent campaigns to take the Moselle region, Godfrey met with stiff resistance from Gerard and was forced to renounce his claims and reconcile with the Bishop.
He even assisted in rebuilding the cathedral he had destroyed.
In 1053, his first wife Doda having died, Godfrey remarried Beatrice of Bar, the widow of Boniface III of Tuscany and mother of Matilda, Boniface's heir.
Henry arrested Beatrice and her young son Frederick and imprisoned her in Germany, separate from either husband or son, who died within days.
The emperor claimed the marriage had been contracted without his consent and was invalid.
Young Frederick died a short while later.
Nevertheless, Godfrey took over the government of the Tuscany in right of Beatrice and Matilda.
Baldwin V then rebelled, carrying the war to Trier and Nijmegen.
Henry responded by devastating Flanders and ravaging Lille and Tournai (1054).
In this war, Godfrey captured Frederick of Luxembourg, Duke of Lower Lorraine, who had received that duchy, including Antwerp, from Henry III.
In 1055, Godfrey besieged Antwerp, but Frederick was delivered by the Lorrainers, no longer loyal to Godfrey.
Henry died in 1056 and his successor, Henry IV, was only six years old.
In that year, Baldwin made peace and did homage to the new King.
In 1056 and 1059, by the treaties of Andernach, Baldwin received the March of Ename in the Landgraviate of Brabant, probably in exchange for giving up the March of Valenciennes, which was confiscated by Emperor Henry III in 1045.
In 1057, Godfrey was exiled to Tuscany, where he joined Beatrice and co-governed with her.
He was enfeoffed with the Duchy of Spoleto (1057) by Pope Stephen IX, his brother.
In January 1058, Leo de Benedicto Christiano threw open the city gates to him and Beatrice after the election of Pope Nicholas II.
Possessing the Tiber and assaulting the Lateran, Godfrey succeeded in expelling the antipope Benedict X on 24 January.
During the papal reign of his brother and his brother's reforming successors, he played an important role in the politics of central and northern Italy, including Sardinia, where he interfered on behalf of Barisone I of Logudoro against the Republic of Pisa, indicating his authority over both.
In 1065, he was recalled to become Duke of Lower Lorraine after the death of Frederick.
He was also given Antwerp again.
He installed his court at Bouillon and died on Christmas Eve 1069.
Gothelo II of Lower Lorraine
Gothelo II( also Gozelo)( 1008 – 1046), variously called" the Cowardthe Sluggardthe Indolent", or" the Lazy"( Latin" ignavus"), has been often said to be Duke of Lower Lorraine after the death of his father Gothelo I, Duke of both Lower and Upper Lorraine( 1044) until his own death in 1046.
When Gothelo I died in 1044, Godfrey III, his eldest son, who had been co-ruling in Lower Lorraine for several years, was not given Lower Lorraine by the Emperor Henry III.
Henry first threatened to give Lower Lorraine to the second son Gothelo( not known for his courage or competency and who was perhaps mentally deficient).
Godfrey rebelled and was imprisoned.
Henry appointed Frederick of Luxembourg to succeed in Lower Lorraine.
The date of Gothelo II's death has been disputed.
The homonymy between father and son and the imprecision of the documents( including the fact that not all mention him) have made his role in the duchy of Lower Lorraine debatable.
Richar, Duke of Lower Lorraine
Richar( or Richer)( died 973) was the count of Mons from 963 or 964 and vice- duke of Lower Lorraine from 968.
He was also Count of Liege.
After the death of Godfrey I, count of Hainault and vice- duke of Lower Lorraine, the Emperor Otto I gave Richar half of the county of Hainault( Mons) with the title of count of Hainault.
The regions of Valenciennes was given to Amaury.
He was also given the county of Liège.
He appears in a charter of 2 June 965 donating money in memory of Godfrey.
He was a relation of both the emperor and his brother, Bruno of Cologne, the duke of Lorraine.
He last appears in charters in 972.
The name of Richar's wife is unknown.
They had at least one child: Upon his death, Richar, was succeeded as Count of Mons by Renaud.
The next recorded Duke of Lower Lorraine is Charles, who began his rule in 977.
The position of Duke of Lower Lorraine remained vacant between Richar's death and Charles' ascent.
Godfrey I, Count of Verdun
Godfrey I (died 1002), called the Prisoner or the Captive ("le Captif"), sometimes the Old ("le Vieux"), was the count of Bidgau and Methingau from 959 and the count of Verdun from 963 to his death.
In 969, he obtained the Margraviate of Antwerp and Ename.
Between 974 and 998, he was also the count of Hainault and Mons.
He was the son of Gozlin, Count of Bidgau and Methingau, and Oda of Metz.
He was the brother of Adalberon, Archbishop of Reims, who crowned Hugh Capet the king of France.
He was the founder of the House of Ardennes-Verdun, a cadet branch of the House of Ardennes.
He was always loyal to the Ottonians, whom he was related through his maternal grandmother.
Gerberga of Lower Lorraine
Gerberga of Lower Lorraine, Countess of Louvain, was the daughter of Charles, Duke of Lower Lorraine, himself the son of Louis IV of France and Gerberga of Saxony.
Frederick, Duke of Lower Lorraine
Frederick, Duke of Lower Lorraine, also known as" Frederick of Luxembourg"( – 18 May 1065) was the count of Malmedy from 1035 and Duke of Lower Lorraine from 1046.
He was a younger son of Frederick, Lord of Gleiberg.
In 1044, Gothelo I, duke of both Lorraines, died and his eldest son, Godfrey, succeeded in only the upper duchy while the Emperor Henry III first threatened to give the other duchy to his younger( incompetent) brother, Gothelo II.
Because of the rebellion of Godfrey, Henry III appointed Frederick, a relative of the reigning duke of Upper Lorraine, Adalbert.
With the aid of Adalbero III, Bishop of Metz, his brother, Frederick imposed his authority in the duchy and made war on the continuing rebel Godfrey.
He was loyal to the emperor, but unsuccessful in the field and Henry began parcelling out portions of the duchy to more capable warriors.
He died in war with Anno II, Archbishop of Cologne, after which King Henry IV gave the duchy to Godfrey.
His first wife was Gerberga( died), daughter of Eustace I, Count of Boulogne.
They had a daughter named Jutta, who married Waleran, Count of Arlon.
His second wife( 1055) was Ida( died 1102), daughter of Bernard II, Duke of Saxony, who remarried with Albert III, Count of Namur, on Frederick's death.
Ida of Lorraine
Ida of Lorraine( also referred to as Blessed Ida of Boulogne)( c. 1040 – 13 April 1113) was a saint and noblewoman.
She was the daughter of Godfrey III, Duke of Lower Lorraine and his wife Doda.
Ida's grandfather was Gothelo I, Duke of Lorraine and Ida's brother was Godfrey IV, Duke of Lower Lorraine.
Lambert I, Count of Louvain
Lambert I of Louvain nicknamed" The Bearded"( born in Louvain, Duchy of Lotharingia, East Francia c. 950, died in Florennes, County of Namur, Duchy of Lower Lorraine, Holy Roman Empire on 12 September 1015) was the first Count of Louvain in 1003.
He was killed by Godfrey II, Duke of Lower Lorraine in battle for Godfrey's claim of Count of Verdun.
He was the son of Reginar III, Count of Hainaut and Adela d' Eguisheim, daughter of Hugh V, Count of Eguisheim.
His brother was Reginar IV, Count of Mons.
He was the husband of Gerberga of Lower Lorraine, and father of:

Question: Who is Godfrey Ii, Duke Of Lower Lorraine's uncle?