Herman, Count of Verdun
Herman of Ename( d. 28 May 1029), Count of Verdun( 1022- 1024) and Count of Brabant, was part of the Ardennes- Verdun dynasty.
He was the third son of Godfrey I the Prisoner, Count of Verdun, and Matilda, daughter of Herman, Duke of Saxony, of the Billung family, a widow of Baldwin III of Flanders.
He succeeded his brother Frederick as Count of Verdun in 1022.
Little is known about Herman other than he fought valiantly at his father ’s side when Lothair of France attacked Verdun in 985, resulting in the capture of his father and brother Frederick.
Herman and his brother Adalberon are credited with repulsing further progress of Lothair.
Herman ’s father was Margrave of Ename and some credit Herman with the title Count of Ename.
He was also Count of Brabant.
Little is known about these positions or any successors.
Herman first married Mathilde of unknown origins.
Herman and Mathilde had three children: Herman married secondly Goda, again of unknown origins.
They had three children only one of which lived to adulthood: Herman had one illegitimate son by an unknown mistress: Herman retired to the Abbey of Saint- Vanne in 1024 and was succeeded by Louis, son of Otto I, Count of Chiny.
Rudolfe II, Count of Ivois
Rudolfe II( Rudolf, Raoul)( died 963), Count of Ivois and Count of Verdun( as Raoul), was son of Rudolfe I, Count of Ivois, and Eva. Rudolfe succeeded his father as Count of Ivois and was installed as Count of Verdun after the death of Otto, Duke of Lorraine, in 944.
After his death in 963, Godfrey the Prisoner was installed as count.
An estimate that his rule as Count of Verdun ended in 960 is based on a reference to Godfrey as a count in 960.
However, Godfrey was also count of Bidgau and Methingau from 959, so there is no reason to believe that Rudolfe was not count until his death in 963.
Rudolfe was overthrown as Count of Ivois by Étienne, Count of Porcien( year unknown), and replaced as Count of Verdun in 963 by Godfrey.
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.
Louis, Count of Verdun
Louis I (murdered September 29, 1025), Count of Chiny (987-1025) and Count of Verdun (as Louis) (1024-1025), son of Otto I, Count of Chiny, and an unknown mother.
Upon Otto’s death, Louis became the second Count of Chiny.
Virtually nothing is known about his rule in Chiny.
In 1024, Reginbert, the Bishop of Verdun, appointed Louis as Count of Verdun when Count Herman of Ename, son of Godfrey the Prisoner, retired to a monastery.
Herman's nephew, Godfrey the Bearded, coveted the position, and Gothelo (Herman’s brother and Godfrey’s father) invaded the city and murdered Louis.
Louis married Adelaide (d. after 1025), of unknown parentage.
They had two children:
Louis’ son Louis II assumed the position of Count of Chiny after his father’s death, and Godfrey the Bearded was appointed Count of Verdun.
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).
Megingoz of Guelders
Megingoz( c. 920 – 998/1001)( nicknamed the Brown) was of unknown origin.
At the end of the 10th century, he played a part in the history of what later came to be known as the county of Guelders.
He is also named as Count of Avalgau.
He married Gerberga of Lorraine.
She was a daughter of Godfrey, Count Palatine of Lotharingia from the family of Matfrieden, and Ermentrude, possibly the oldest daughter of King Charles the Simple.
They had the following children:
Frederick, Count of Verdun
Frederick( Frédéric)( ca. 970- 6 January 1022), Count of Verdun( 988-1022), Count of Castres( 1000- 1022), and Provost of Saint- Vaast, was part of the Ardennes- Verdun dynasty.
He was the eldest son of Godfrey I the Prisoner, Count of Verdun, and Matilda, daughter of Herman, Duke of Saxony, of the Billung family, a widow of Baldwin III of Flanders.
Frederick was among those captured along with his father in 985 when Lothair of France attacked Verdun in 985.
He was released in 987 by family ally Hugh Capet, then Duke of the Franks(" dux et princeps Francorum").
In 988, Frederick worked to bring the body of his brother Adalberon, Bishop of Verdun, who died in Italy, to be buried in the Verdun Cathedral.
It is uncertain how long Frederic remained as Count in Verdun as the charter dated 17 Aug 1156 of Emperor Friedrich I Barbarossa indicates that the County of Verdun was transferred to the Bishop of Verdun during the reign of Emperor Otto III.
However, a charter dated 1020, under which Haimont, Bishop of Verdun, confirmed an exchange of property, names" domni Frederici… comes nostre civitatis", which suggests that Frederic continued as count at least in part of the county.
A 1020 charter of Abbot Richard demonstrates that Frederick must have resigned the countship soon after, as it refers to" temporis dominus Fredericus qui comes Virdunensis civitatis fuerat".
Frederick was also Count of Castres, as shown by the charter dated 5 May 1005 under which Henry II, then King of Germany, granted market rights at" Doncheria … in comitatu…Frederici comitis…Castricensis" to the Abbey Saint- Médard de Soissons.
It is not known who his wife or wives were.
He apparently had a daughter Sophie( b. ca 1010) who married Louis II, Count of Chiny.
Louis' father, a successor of Frederick ’s as count, was murdered by Frederick ’s brother Gothelo.
In 1020, near the end of his life, Frederick gave up his title and became a monk at Saint- Vanne Abbey.
He was succeeded as Count of Verdun by his brother Herman.
It is unclear who, if anyone, succeeded him as Count of Castres.
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.
Albert, Count of Chiny
Albert( Albert I)( before 1131 – 29 September 1162), Count of Chiny, son of Otto II, Count of Chiny, and Adélaïs of Namur.
He succeeded his father before 1131 and spent most of his time in Chiny, not taking part in the various conflicts which shook the region.
He married Agnes, daughter of Renaud I, Count of Bar and Gisèle Vaudémont, daughter of, Count of Vaudémont.
Their children were: Arnulf was killed by an arrow to the head in front of the castle of Saint Manehulde during an attack on the bishopric of Verdun.
Alix and Mannases were the parents of Albert II of Hierges, Bishop of Verdun( 1186–1208).
Ida and Gobert were the grandparents of John I of Aspremont, Bishop of Verdun( 1217–1224).
Albert was succeeded as Count of Chiny by his son Louis.
Gozlin, Count of Bidgau and Methingau
Gozlin (911 – between 19 Oct 942 and 16 Feb 943), was count of the Ardennes and the Bidgau, and army commander for his brother, Adalbero I of Metz.
Gozlin was a son of Count Palatine Wigeric of Lotharingia and Cunigunda of France.
In 930, he married Oda of Metz (905 – 10 Apr 963), a daughter of Count Gerard of Metz and Oda of Saxony.
Through her mother Oda was a cousin of King Henry the Fowler of East Francia (Germany).
Gozlin and Oda had the following children:

Question: Who is Godfrey I, Count Of Verdun's paternal grandfather?
Answer: Wigeric of Lotharingia