Godfrey I, Count of Verdun

Godfrey I, Count of Verdun
Godfrey I, Count of Verdun
Died	1002
Noble family	House of Ardennes-Verdun
Spouse(s)	Matilda Billung of Saxony
Father	Gozlin, Count of Bidgau and Methingau
Mother	Oda of Metz

Godfrey I (died 1002), called the Prisoner or the Captive[1] (le Captif), sometimes the Old (le Vieux), was the count of Bidgau and Methingau from 959 and the sovereign count of Verdun [2] 963 to his death. In 969, he obtained the Margraviate of Antwerp and Ename. Between 974 and 998, he was also the sovereign count of Hainault and Mons. He was the son of Gozlin, Count of Bidgau and Methingau, and Oda of Metz.[3] 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.

Life

He is styled as Count by the grace of God of in 963 and already count of Bidgau and Methingau through inheritance since 959. In 974, he became count of Mons, and Hainault jointly with Arnold, Count of Valenciennes, after the fall of Reginar IV. Charles, Duke of Lower Lorraine, was a supporter of Reginar and defeated Godfrey and Arnold at Mons in 976, where the former was captured.

After his release, he was at the side of the Emperor Otto II fighting Lothair of France at Verdun in 985, but he was again taken captive, along with his son Frederick, and held several years.[4][5] He was released in 987 by Hugh Capet, whose political ally was Adalberon, Godfrey's brother,[6] having crowned Hugh and Godfrey being an enemy of Charles of Lower Lorraine, Hugh's Carolingian rival.[6]

In 989, he was made prisoner a third time by Herbert III of Vermandois. He was liberated before 995, when he appears at the synod of Mousson. In 998, he lost his Hainault portion (the county of Mons) to Reginar IV.

Family

In 963, he married Matilda, daughter of Herman, Duke of Saxony, of the Billung family, a widow of Baldwin III of Flanders.[7] He had the following issue:

Frederick (d. 1022), count of Verdun[8]
Godfrey (d. 1023), duke of Lower Lorraine (1012–1023)[8]
Adalberon (d. 988), bishop of Verdun (984–988)[9]
Herman of Ename (d. 1024), count of Brabant (retired as a monk in the abbey of Verdun abt. 1022)[8]
Gothelo (d. 1044), margrave of Antwerp, duke of Lower (1023–1044) and later also Upper (1033–1044) Lorraine
Ermengarde (d. 1042), married Otto of Hammerstein, count in the Wettergau
Ermentrude, married Arnold de Rumigny (d. 1010), lord of Florennes
Adela, married Count Godizo of Aspelt. Their daughter Irmgard married Berthold von Walbeck, son of Lothair I, Margrave of the Nordmark.

Notes

Murray 2000, p. 6.
Jan, Régine Le; LeJan, Régine (1995). Famille et pouvoir dans le monde franc (VIIe-Xe siècle): essai d'anthropologie sociale (in French). Publications de la Sorbonne. ISBN 978-2-85944-268-2.
Reuter 1978, p. 234.
McKitterick 1999, p. 327.
Murray 2000, p. 7.
Bradbury 2007, p. 72.
Tanner 1991, p. 254.
Healy 2006, p. 36.
Healy 2006, p. 30.

References

Bradbury, Jim (2007). The Capetians: Kings of France, 987-1328. Hambledon Continuum.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Healy, Patrick (2006). The Chronicle of Hugh of Flavigny: Reform and the Investiture Contest in the Late Eleventh Century. Ashgate Publishing Limited.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
McKitterick, Rosamond (1999). The Frankish Kingdoms under the Carolingians. Longman Group UK Limited.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Murray, Alan V. (2000). The Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: A Dynastic History 1099-1125. Oxford University Press.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Reuter, Timothy (1978). Medieval Nobility: Studies on the Ruling Classes of France and Germany from the Sixth to the Twelfth Century. Elsevier Science Ltd.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Tanner, Heather J. (1991). Chibnall, Marjorie (ed.). "The Expansion of the Power and Influence of the Counts of Boulogne under Eustace II". Anglo-Norman Studies:XIV. Proceedings of the Battle Conference. The Boydell Press.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

Godfrey I, Count of Verdun House of Ardennes-Verdun Died: 1002
Preceded by Reginar IV	Count of Mons 974–998	Succeeded by Reginar IV
New title	Margrave of Antwerp 969–1002	Succeeded by Gothelo I
Preceded by Rudolf	Count of Verdun 963–1002	Succeeded by Godfrey II

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[FOOTNOTEMurray20006-1] Murray 2000, p. 6.

[2] Jan, Régine Le; LeJan, Régine (1995). Famille et pouvoir dans le monde franc (VIIe-Xe siècle): essai d'anthropologie sociale (in French). Publications de la Sorbonne. ISBN 978-2-85944-268-2.

[FOOTNOTEReuter1978234-3] Reuter 1978, p. 234.

[FOOTNOTEMcKitterick1999327-4] McKitterick 1999, p. 327.

[FOOTNOTEMurray20007-5] Murray 2000, p. 7.

[FOOTNOTEBradbury200772-6] Bradbury 2007, p. 72.

[FOOTNOTETanner1991254-7] Tanner 1991, p. 254.

[FOOTNOTEHealy200636-8] Healy 2006, p. 36.

[FOOTNOTEHealy200630-9] Healy 2006, p. 30.