Gozelon I OF VERDUN (967?-1044)

Individual Events and Attributes

Marriage

Individual Note 1

Gothelo (or Gozelo) (c. 967 – 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 of Bar on 15 November 1037, Gothelo dealt a decisive blow to Odo, who was trying to creating an independent state between France and Germany. Odo died in the battle.

Gothelo died on 19 April 1044 and is buried in the Abbey Church of Bilsen. 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).

Family

The name of Gothelo's wife is not known, the name Barbe de Lebarten (and in fact her entire ancestry), being a spurious concoction of later genealogists.[1][2] He had the following children:

Godfrey the Bearded, duke of Upper Lorraine

Gothelo, duke of Lower Lorraine

Frederick, later Pope Stephen IX

Regilinda, married Albert II, Count of Namur

Oda, married Lambert II, Count of Leuven

Matilda, married Henry I, Count Palatine of Lotharingia

NOTES:

1 Ludwig Conrady in 'Die Geschichte des Hauses Nassau: Von den ältesten Zeiten bis zu den ersten Trägern des Namens Nassau', _Annalen des Vereins für nassauische Altertumskunde und Geschichtsforschung_ 26 (1894) 1-130 & table 132-133. (as cited by Leo van de Pas, 8 May 2009 in soc.genealogy.medieval http://groups.google.com/group/soc.genealogy.medieval/msg/ba0cead083940613)

2 Also see: Theodor Schliephake in _Geschichte von Nassau, von den ältesten Zeiten bis auf die Gegenwart, auf der Grundlage urkundlicher Quellenforschung_, vol 1 (Wiesbaden, 1866)

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothelo_I,_Duke_of_Lorraine"²

Individual Note 2

He is the great-grandson of Cunegonde of Verdun.

Individual Note 3

The Ardennes-Verdun dynasty is used as a label on the dynasty centered on Verdun who dominated Lotharingia in the 11th century.

The founder of the dynasty was Godfrey, known as the Captive. He was a son of Count Gozlin, brother of bishop Adalbero of Metz, and Uda, a daughter of Gerard, Count of Metz, and Uda of Saxony. Godfrey was the brother of Adalbero, Archbishop of Reims. Count Gozlin's parents were Wigeric, count palatine of Lotharingia, and Cunigunde, a granddaughter of Louis II of France.

All descending from Wigeric and Cunigunde, the Ardennes-Verdun dynasty was closely tied to the houses of Ardennes-Bar, Salm and Ardennes-Luxembourg.

The County of Verdun was given to Godfrey by Emperor Otto I between 944 and 951[1], and was held by several dynasty members over the following four generations.

The Duchies of Upper and Lower Lorraine were the result of the division of the old kingdom, later duchy of Lotharingia in 959. Following the death of the childless Duke Otto in 1012, Godfrey the Childless was granted the Duchy of Lower Lorraine. Godfrey was succeeded in 1023 by his brother Gozelo, who also became Duke of Upper Lorraine in 1033. Both duchies were in the control of the dynasty until 1046, when the rebellions of Godfrey the Bearded led to the loss of both titles. Godfrey was finally restored to Lower Lorraine in 1065, and passed this on to his son, Godfrey the Hunchback. The Crusader Godfrey of Bouillon was a nephew of Godfrey the Hunchback, and the last of the dynasty to hold the Duchy.

The Castle of Bouillon is first mentioned in 988 in a letter to Godfrey the Captive from his brother Adalberon, Archbishop of Reims. It is believed that this castle, and the estate connected, was an original patrimony of the dynasty.[1] Bouillon was one of the central points of the dynasty's power, and was in their possession until it was sold by Godfrey of Bouillon to cover expenses for the First Crusade.

NOTES:

1. a b Murray, p.10.

REFERENCE:

Murray, Alan V. (2000). The Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. A Dynastic History 1099-1125.. Prosopographica et Genealogica. ISBN 1-900934-03-5.³

Sources