Notes:

Gilbert (or Giselbert) (c. 890 - 2 October 939) was the duke of Lotharingia (or Lorraine) until 939.

The beginning of the reign of Gilbert is not clear. A dux Lotharingiae is mentioned in 910 and this may have been Gilbert. Lotharingia sided with Charles III in 911, who was deposed in West Francia in 922 by Robert but remained king in Lotharingia, from where he tried to reconquer West Francia until being imprisoned in 923.

In 925, Gilbert swore fealty to King Henry the Fowler of Germany as duke of Lotharingia. Gilbert married Henry's daughter Gerberga of Saxony by 930. For whatever reason, Gilbert rebelled when Henry died in 936 and changed allegiance to Louis IV of France, where the king had less authority. Gilbert managed to be practically independent for three years until he was defeated by the army of king Otto I of Germany in 939 at the Battle of Andernach. Gilbert was made prisoner, and succeeded in fleeing but drowned while trying to cross the Rhine. Lorraine was given to Henry I, Duke of Bavaria.

Gilbert married Gerberga of Saxony Bef 931. Gerberga (daughter of Henry, I the Fowler and Matilda of Ringelheim) was born Abt 913; died 05 May 984, Rheims, Marne, Champagne-Ardenne, France. [Group Sheet]

1. Alberade of Lorraine
2. Gerberge of Lorraine was born 935; died 978.

Notes:

Reginar I Longneck (c. 850 - 915) was the Duke of Lorraine from 910 until his death. He stands at the head of the clan of Reginarids, an important Lotharingian noble family.

He was the son of Gilbert, Count of the Maasgau, and a daughter of Lothair I of whom the name is not known (Hiltrude, Bertha, Irmgard, and Gisela are good candidates).

He succeeded his father in the Maasgau and was the lay abbot of Echternach between 897 and 915, of Maastricht from before May 898, and of Stablo and Malmedy between 900 and 902.

He was the Count of Mons when in 870 he and Franco, Bishop of Liège, led an army against the Vikings in Walacria. He, as Duke of Hesbaye and Hainault, and Radbold led a Frisian army with against the forces of Rollo a little later, but were forced back to his fortresses.

In an 877 capitulary from Quierzy, he appears alongside his father as one of the regents of the kingdom during Charles the Bald's absence on campaign in Italy. A Reginar appears at the Siege of Paris in 886, but this may be an uncle or nephew. The name "Reginar" or "Reginhar" (French: Régnier or Rainier) was commonplace in his family.

Reginar was originally a supporter of Zwentibold in 895, but he broke with the king in 898. He and some other magnates who had been key to Zwentibold's election three years earlier then took the opportunity provided by the death of Odo of West Francia to invite Charles the Simple to become king in Lotharingia. His lands were confiscated, but he refused to give them up and entrenched himself at Durfost, downstream from Maastricht. Representatives of Charles, Zwentibold, and the Emperor Arnulf met at Sankt Goar and determined that the succession should go to Louis the Child. Zwentibold was killed by the rebels in battle in August 900.

At first, Louis appeared to be opposed to Reginar when he appointed Gebhard as his deputy in Lotharingia, but the two were never at war. In 908, Reginar recuperated the Hainault after the death of Sigard. Then, after the death of Gebhard in 910, in battle with the Magyars, Reginar appears as his successor. He led the magnates in opposing Conrad I of Germany and electing Charles the Simple their king. He was given the title marchio by Charles in 915. He never appears as the Duke of Lorraine, but he was definitely the military commander of the region under Charles. He himself was succeeded by his son Gilbert; however, the Reginarids did not succeed in establishing their supremacy in Lotharingia like the Liudolfings or Liutpoldings did in the duchies of Saxony and Bavaria.

Family

By his wife Hersinda (or Alberada), who predeceased him, Reginar left the following children:

Gilbert, Duke of Lorraine
Reginar II, Count of Hainaut
Balderic, Bishop of Utrecht
Frederick, Archbishop of Mainz
a daughter, who married Berengar, Count of Namur

Reginar — Hersinda. Hersinda died Bef 915. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Hersinda (or Alberada), who predeceased Reginar. Possibly was a daughter of Charles the Bald and Ermentrude.

Notes:

Gilbert (Giselbert), Count of Maasgau, was a vassal of Charles the Bald. He was count of Maasgau on the lower Meuse.

Gilbert's background is not known. The similarity of his son's name to the name "Ragnar" has been used as an argument to suggest a Viking connection. Another possibility is that he was related to a man named Reginar, son of Meginhere (a nobleman from the court of Charlemagne). Gilbert had served King Lothair I, but defected to Lothair's half-brother Charles the Bald during the civil war of 840-843. Gilbert's lands eventually came under the rule of Lothair and his rights as count were revoked. In 846 Gilbert abducted an unnamed daughter of Lothair and his wife Ermengarde of Tours. He took her to Aquitaine and married her in an attempt to force Lothair to reinstate him. Rösch suggests that Gilbert's wife was named Ermengarde, but there is no conclusive evidence that this is correct.

Children may include:

Reginar, Duke of Lorraine (ca 850-916). There is no primary source unequivocally stating Reginar was Gilbert's son.
Albert is mentioned as a brother of Reginar.

Gilbert — Unknown. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

He married Irmengard, Comtesse de Tours. He was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 817. He was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 823. He succeeded to the title of Emperor Lothair I of the Holy Roman Empire in 840.

Lothair I or Lothar I (German: Lothar, French: Lothaire, Italian: Lotario, Dutch: Lotharius) (795 - 29 September 855) was the Emperor of the Romans (817-55), co-ruling with his father until 840, and the King of Bavaria (815-17), Italy (818-55) and Middle Francia (840-55). The territory of Lothringen (Lorraine in French and English) is named after him.

Lothair was the eldest son of the Carolingian emperor Louis the Pious and his wife Ermengarde of Hesbaye, daughter of Ingerman the duke of Hesbaye. On several occasions, Lothair led his full-brothers Pippin I of Aquitaine and Louis the German in revolt against their father to protest against attempts to make their half-brother Charles the Bald a co-heir to the Frankish domains. Upon the father's death, Charles and Louis joined forces against Lothair in a three year civil war (840-843). The struggles between the brothers lead directly to the breakup of the Frankish Empire assembled by their grandfather Charlemagne, and laid the foundation for the development of modern France and Germany.

Early Life and Reign

Little is known of Lothair's early life, which was probably passed at the court of his grandfather Charlemagne. Shortly after the accession of his father, Lothair was sent to govern Bavaria. He first comes to historical attention in 817, when Louis the Pious drew up his Ordinatio Imperii. In this, Louis designated Lothair as his principal heir and ordering that Lothair would be the overlord of Louis' younger sons Pippin of Aquitaine and Louis the German, as well his nephew Bernard of Italy. Lothair would also inherit their lands if they were to die childless. Lothair was then crowned joint emperor by his father at Aix-la-Chapelle. At the same time, Aquitaine and Bavaria were granted to his brothers Pippin and Louis, respectively, as subsidiary kingdoms. Following the murder of Bernard by Louis the Pious, Lothair also received the Kingdom of Italy. In 821, Lothair married Ermengarde (d. 851), daughter of Hugh the Count of Tours. In 822, he assumed the government of Italy, and at Easter, 5 April 823, he was crowned emperor again by Pope Paschal I, this time at Rome.

In November 824, Lothair promulgated a statute, the Constitutio Romana, concerning the relations of pope and emperor which reserved the supreme power to the secular potentate, and he afterwards issued various ordinances for the good government of Italy.

On Lothair's return to his father's court, his stepmother Judith won his consent to her plan for securing a kingdom for her son Charles, a scheme which was carried out in 829, when the young prince was given Alemannia as king. Lothair, however, soon changed his attitude and spent the succeeding decade in constant strife over the division of the Empire with his father. He was alternately master of the Empire, and banished and confined to Italy, at one time taking up arms in alliance with his brothers and at another fighting against them, whilst the bounds of his appointed kingdom were in turn extended and reduced.

Breaking Kingdom

The first rebellion began in 830. All three brothers fought their father, whom they deposed. In 831, their father was reinstated and he deprived Lothair of his imperial title and gave Italy to Charles. The second rebellion was instigated by Angilbert II, Archbishop of Milan, in 833, and again Louis was deposed and in 834. Lothair, through the loyalty of the Lombards and later reconciliations, retained Italy and the imperial position through all remaining divisions of the Empire by his father.

When Louis the Pious was dying in 840, he sent the imperial insignia to Lothair, who, disregarding the various partitions, claimed the whole of the Empire. Negotiations with his brother Louis the German and his half-brother Charles, both of whom resisted this claim, were followed by an alliance of the younger brothers against Lothair. A decisive battle was fought at Fontenay-en-Puisaye on 25 June 841, when, in spite of his and his allied nephew Pepin II of Aquitaine's personal gallantry, Lothair was defeated and fled to Aachen. With fresh troops he began a war of plunder, but the forces of his brothers were too strong, and taking with him such treasure as he could collect, he abandoned to them his capital.[clarification needed] He met with the leaders of the Stellinga in Speyer and promised them his support in return for theirs, but Louis and then the native Saxon nobility put down the Stellinga in the next years.

Denarius of Lothair I, from 840-55

Peace negotiations began, and in June 842 the brothers met on an island in the Saône. They agreed to an arrangement which developed, after much difficulty and delay, into the Treaty of Verdun signed in August 843. By this, Lothair received the imperial title as well as northern Italy and a long stretch of territory from the North Sea to the Mediterranean, essentially along the valleys of the Rhine and the Rhone. He soon ceded Italy to his eldest son, Louis, and remained in his new kingdom, engaging in alternate quarrels and reconciliations with his brothers and in futile efforts to defend his lands from the attacks of the Northmen (as Vikings were known in Frankish writings) and the Saracens.

Death and Aftermath

In 855, Lothair became seriously ill and, despairing of recovery, renounced the throne. On 23 September, he entered the monastery of Prüm, where he died six days later. He was buried at Prüm, where his remains were found in 1860.

Lothair's kingdom was divided between his three sons-the eldest, Louis II, received Italy and the title of emperor; the second, Lothair II, received Lotharingia; the youngest, Charles, received Provence.

Family

He married Ermengarde of Tours, who died in 851.

Louis II (825-875) Crowned as King of Italy in 844 by Pope Sergius II. Crowned Emperor in 850. Married Engelberga.
Hiltrude (826-865) Married Berengar of Spoleto.
Ermengard (c.825-849) Name sometimes given to an unnamed daughter kidnapped and married by Gilbert, Count of the Maasgau
Bertha (c.830-852) Married to an unknown man, but later Abbess of Avenay.
Gisela (c.830-856) Abbess of San Salvatore at Brescia
Lothair II (835-869) Succeeded his father. Married Teutberga, daughter of Boso the Elder, Count of Arles.
Rotrude (c.840) Married Lambert III of Nantes.
Charles (845-863) Invested with Provence, Lyon and Transjuranian Burgundy.

One illegitimate child is known.

Carloman (853)

Lothair married Ermengarde of Tours Oct 821, Diedenhofen. Ermengarde (daughter of Hugh of Tours and Bava) died 20 Mar 850/51. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name:

Notes:

Ermengarde of Tours (German: Irmingard von Tours) (died 20 March 851) was the wife of Emperor Lothair I of the Franks. Her father was Hugh of Tours, a member of the Etichonen family, which claimed descent from the Merovingian Kings . In the middle of October 821 in Diedenhofen (Thionville), she married the Carolingian Emperor Lothair I (795-855).

In 849, two years before her death, she made a donation to the abbey Erstein in the Elsass, in which she lies also buried.

Lothar and Irmingard had nine children:

Louis II, Holy Roman Emperor (c. 825-875).
Helletrud (Hiltrud) (c. 826-after 865/866) m. Count Berengar (d. before 865/866)
Bertha (c. 830-after 7 May 852, probably 877), became before 847 Abbess of Avenay, perhaps Äbtissin of Faremoutiers
Ermengarde Duchess Moselle(b. probably 826/830), kidnapped 846, m. Giselbert, Count of Maasgau (Reginare)
Gisla (c. 830-860) 851-860 Abbess of San Salvatore in Brescia
Lothair II of Lotharingia (c. 835-869) king of Lorraine m. 855 Teutberga, daughter of Count Boso of Arles
Rotrud (baptized 835/840 in Pavia) m. around 850/851 Lambert, Margrave of Brittany, Count of Nantes (Widonen), who died 1 May 852
Charles of Provence (c. 845-25 January 863 in the monastery St-Pierre-les-Nonnains, modern Lyon), King in Burgundy
Carloman (b. 853)