Otto I, Count of Duras
Count Otto of Loon (d. abt 1087), was ancestor of the Count of Duras, and brother of Emmo van Loon, ancestor of the Counts Loon. In contemporary and later medieval records he is mainly known for his role as advocate of Sint-Truiden Abbey, which is today in Belgian Limburg.
In a charter dated 1065, Adalbero III of Luxembourg, Bishop of Metz, confirmed Otto’s rights in regard to the abbey. This was partly necessary because the bishop had given an over-advocacy to his own brother Duke Frederic, and disputes did eventually arise between the Abbey and its advocates. These are a major topic of the Gesta or chronicle of St Truiden Abbey.
It has been suggested that Otto and Emmo were sons of Count Giselbert of Loon, who Emmo succeeded, although there is no contemporary record of their exact relationship to him. (It has for example been suggested that Gilbert was their uncle.[1]) Their mother on the other hand is clearly named in one near-contemporary record, as Lutgarde, sister of Albert, Count of Namur.[2]
The Gesta of St Truiden Abbey, written later, describes Otto already as a Count of Duras. According to an old proposal of Mantelius which Baerten supported, Otto must have married the heiress of the previous known advocate, whose name was Giselbert, and inherited both a county and advocacy. His wife, the mother of his one known son, is known from one record to have been named Oda.
Otto married Oda, daughter of Giselbert I, Count of Duras. Otto and Oda had children:
- Giselbert II, Count of Duras
- Gerard of Bertrée, Prior of Bertrée[3]
- Hériman de Duras. (Named by Wolters in 19th century. Not named by more recent scholars.)
Otto and his son and grandchildren played a major role in Saint Trudo's Abbey as well as Cathédrale Notre-Dame-et-Saint-Lambert, better known as St. Lambert's Cathedral, Liege. Upon his death, Otto was succeeded as Count of Duras by his son Giselbert.
Sources
- K. Verhelst, "Een nieuwe visie op de omvang en indeling van de pagus Hasbania" (deel 1), in: Handelingen van de Koninklijke Zuidnederlandsche Maatschappij Voor Taal- en Letterkunde en Geschiedenis, 38 (1984) p. 248
- Vita Arnulfi Episcopi Suessioniensis, MGH SS 15.2, Holder-Egger ed. (Hannover 1888) p.879. This was written by Arnulf by Lisiard of Soissons (d.1126) and Hariulf of Oudenburg (d.1143), who heard from relatives. See Nip, R.I.A., ‘Arnulfus van Oudenburg, bisschop van Soissons (1087), mens en model: een bronnenstudie’, Doctoral thesis, University of Groningen (1995), Ch.4. pdf.
- Constable, Giles (1977), "Monasticism, lordship, and society in the twelfth century Hesbaye: Five documents on the foundation of the Cluniac priory of Bertrée", Traditio, 33: 159–224, doi:10.1017/S0362152900009107, JSTOR 27831028
Bibliography
- Baerten, Jean, ‘Les origines des comtes de Looz et la formation territoriale du comté’, in: Revue belge de philologie et d'histoire 43 (2 parts; 1965) 459-491, 1217-1242. On persee: part 1, part 2.
- Baerten, Jean, Het Graafschap Loon (11de - 14de eeuw), (Assen 1969). pdf
- Gorissen, P., ‘Omtrent de wording van het graafschap Loon’, in: Jaarboek van de Vereniging van Oudheidkundige en geschiedkundige kringen van België: 32e zitting Congres van Antwerpen 27-31 juli 1947 (1950-1951).
- Mantelius, Joannes, Historiae Lossensis libri decem, (Liège 1717). google
- Ulens, R., "Les origines et les limites primitives du comté de Duras" Bulletin de la Société Scientifique & littéraire du Limbourg 50 (1936) pp.49-71.
- Vaes, Jan, De Graven van Loon. Loons, Luiks, Limburgs (Leuven 2016)
- Wolters, Mathias J., Notice Historique sur l’Ancien Comté de Duras en Hesbaie, Gyselinck, 1855 (available on Google Books)
- Zeller, Thibaut, "La maison de Durras en Hesbaye : les pilliers de pouvoir d’une parentèle comtale (XIe -XIIe siècles)", l'Annuaire d'histoire liégeoise, 37, (2007-2008), pp.33-57.