Lower Lotharingia

☆ Save On Wikipedia ↗
Duchy of Lower Lotharingia
959–1190
Pink: Lower (Northern) Lotharingia in 977 Orange: Friesland
Pink: Lower (Northern) Lotharingia in 977 Orange: Friesland
StatusPart of East Francia (until 962)
Part of the Holy Roman Empire
CapitalBrussels
Common languages
Religion
Christianity
GovernmentFeudal duchy
Duke 
• 959–964
Godfrey I (first)
• 1142–1190
Godfrey VIII (last)
Historical eraMiddle Ages
• Established
959
• Disestablished
1190
Preceded by		Succeeded by
Lotharingia
Prince-Bishopric of Liège
Electorate of Cologne
Bishopric of Cambrai
Duchy of Cleves
Duchy of Limburg
County of Namur
Landgraviate of Brabant
County of Holland
Prince-Bishopric of Utrecht
Counts of Louvain
Duchy of Guelders
Duchy of Jülich
Duchy of Berg
County of Loon
County of Horne
Frisian freedom

The Duchy of Lower Lotharingia,[1] also known as Northern Lotharingia,[2][3] and alternatively called Lower Lorraine or Northern Lorraine (in titles, also referred to as Lothier or Lottier),[4] was a duchy of the medieval Kingdom of Germany within the Holy Roman Empire, established upon the division of the Stem Duchy of Lotharingia in 959/965.[5] It existed until the end of the 12th century, encompassing almost all of modern Netherlands (the region of Frisia was loosely associated with the duchy, but the dukes exercised no de facto control over the territory), Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of modern Germany and France.[6][7][8]

History

Within the Carolingian Empire, old historical regions of Austrasia and Ripuaria were reorganized on several occasions, depending on dynastic divisions that were frequent throughout the 9th century. In 855, upon the Treaty of Prüm that divided the Middle Francia, king Lothair II (855-869) received regions along rivers Meuse, Moselle and Lower Rhine, and in time his realm came to be known as Lotharingia. It was later divided, reunited or attached to neighboring realms (West Francia and East Francia) on several occasions. At the beginning of the 10th century, it was transformed into the Stem Duchy of Lotharingia. In 953, German king Otto I awarded the governance over the entire Duchy of Lotharingia to his brother Bruno the Great, the Archbishop of Cologne, who thus became the Duke of Lotharingia.[9] In 959, Bruno divided the Duchy in two distinctive jurisdictions, one for the southern half (Upper Lotharingia), and the other for the northern half (Lower Lotharingia), and that division became permanent following his death in 965. Both regions thus formed the western part of the Holy Roman Empire, established by Bruno's elder brother, emperor Otto I in 962, but the exact chronology and nature of those divisions, that resulted in the creation of two distinctive duchies, is debated among scholars.[5]

Upon division, Lower Lotharingia was granted to count Godfrey I of Mons (Hainaut) who thus became the duke of Lower Lotharingia. Godfrey's lands were to the north (lower down the Rhine river system), while Upper Lotharingia was to the south (further up the river system). Both Lotharingian duchies took very separate paths thereafter: Upon the death of Godfrey's son Duke Richar, Lower Lotharingia was directly ruled by the emperor, until in 977 Otto II enfeoffed Charles, the exiled younger brother of King Lothair of France. Lower and Upper Lorraine were once again briefly reunited under Gothelo I from 1033 to 1044. After that, the Lower duchy was quickly marginalised, while Upper Lorraine came to be known as simply the Duchy of Lorraine.

Over the next decades the significance of the Duchy of Lower Lotharingia diminished and furthermore was affected by the conflict between Emperors Henry IV and Henry V: In 1100 Henry IV had enfeoffed Count Henry of Limburg, whom Henry V, having enforced the abdication of his father, immediately deposed and replaced by Count Godfrey I of Louvain. Upon the death of Duke Godfrey III in 1190, his son Duke Henry I of Brabant inherited the ducal title by order of Emperor Henry VI at the Diet of Schwäbisch Hall. Thereby the Duchy of Lower Lotharingia finally lost its territorial authority, while the remnant Imperial fief held by the dukes of Brabant was later called the Duchy of Lothier (or Lothryk).

Since Lower Lotharingia was encompassing the old historical region of Ripuaria, mentioned as such in various sources from both Carolingian and post-Carolingian era, such as the Annals of Saint Bertin,[10] the Annals of Fulda,[11] and others,[12] with even king Lothair II (855-869) being mentioned in the Annals of Xanten as king of Ripuaria (rex Ripuariae), or king of Ripuarians (rex Ripuariorum), it became customary in time to use similar archaic designations for Lower Lotharingia and its inhabitants. Thus, Wipo of Burgundy (d. 1050) was mentioning the inhabitants of Lower Lotharingia as Ripuarians (Latin: Ribuarii), and their duke as the duke of Ripuarians (Latin: dux Ribuariorum).[13]

Dukes of Lower Lorraine

Note that the numbering of the dukes varies between sources.

Matfriding dynasty

After the death of Richer, the duchy was directly administrated by the holy emperor until the arrival of Charles I

Carolingian dynasty

House of Ardennes–Verdun

House of (Ardenne–) Luxembourg

House of Ardennes–Verdun

  • Godfrey III the Bearded (1065–1069) (also known as Godfrey II, previously duke of Upper Lorraine)
  • Godfrey IV (1069–1076) (also known as Godfrey III)

Salian dynasty

  • Conrad (1076–1087), but he's only two years old when he's given the title, Albert III of Namur will be vice-duke during this time.

House of Boulogne (Ardennes–Bouillon)

House of Limburg

House of Leuven

  • Godfrey VI (1106–1129) (also known as Godfrey I of Leuven)

House of Limburg

House of Leuven

  • Godfrey VII (1139–1142) (also known as Godfrey II of Leuven)
  • Godfrey VIII (1142–1190) (also known as Godfrey III of Leuven)
Disintegrates. Title passes to the Duke of Brabant, who until 1795 kept the title "Duke of Lothier".

Successor states

History of the Low Countries
(Borders are imprecise)
Frisii Belgae
Frisii Cana–
nefates[a]		 Chamavi,
Tubantes[b]		 Gallia Belgica (55 BC–c. 5th century AD)
Germania Inferior (83–c. 5th century)
Salian Franks Batavi[a]
unpopulated (4th –c. 5th centuries) Saxons Salian Franks[a] (4th–c. 5th centuries)
Frisian Kingdom (c. 6th century – 734) Frankish Kingdom (481–843)—Carolingian Empire (800–843)
Austrasia (511–687)
Middle Francia (843–855) West
Francia (from 843)		 Middle Francia (843–855)
Kingdom of
Lotharingia[c] (855–959)
Duchy of
Lower Lorraine[d] (from 959)		 Kingdom of
Lotharingia[c] (855–959)
Duchy of
Lower Lorraine[d] (from 959)		 Kingdom of
Lotharingia[c] (855–959)
Duchy of
Lower Lorraine[d] (from 959)
Frisia
County of
Flanders[e] (862–1384)

Frisian
Freedom[f] (11th–16th
centuries)
County of
Holland[g] (880–1432)
Bishopric of
Utrecht[h] (695–1456)
Duchy of
Brabant[i] (1183–1430)

Duchy of
Guelders[j] (1046–1543)
County of
Hainaut (1071–1432)

County of
Namur (981–1421)
Prince-
Bishopric of
Liège
[k](980–1791)
Duchy of
Luxembourg (1059–1443)

Burgundian Netherlands (1384–1482)
Burgundian Netherlands (1384–1482)

Habsburg Netherlands (1482–1795)
(Seventeen Provinces after 1543)[l]
Habsburg Netherlands (1482–1795)
(Seventeen Provinces after 1543)[l]

Dutch Republic (1581–1795)
Spanish Netherlands (1556–1714)
Spanish Netherlands (1556–1714)

Austrian Netherlands (1714–1795)
Austrian Netherlands (1714–1795)

United States of
Belgium (1790)
Republic of
Liège (1789–'91)
United States of
Belgium (1790)

Austrian Netherlands (1795–1797)
P.-Bish.
of Liège (1791–1794)
Austrian Netherlands (1795–1797)

Batavian Republic (1795–1806)
Kingdom of Holland (1806–1810)
associated with French First Republic (1795–1804)
part of First French Empire (1804–1815)

part of First French Empire (1810–1813)

Sovereign Principality of the
Netherlands (1813–1815)
United Kingdom of the Netherlands (1815–1830)
Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (from 1815)

Kingdom of the Netherlands (from 1839)
Kingdom of Belgium (from 1830)

Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (from 1890)

After the territorial power of the duchy was shattered, many fiefdoms came to imperial immediacy in its area. The most important ones of these were:

The following successor states remained under the authority of the titular dukes of Lower Lotharingia (Lothier):

See also

Notes

  1. Roman foederati
  2. The Chamavi merged into the confederation of the Franks; the Tubantes merged into the confederation of the Saxons.
  3. Part of East Francia after 939, divided in Upper Lorraine (as part of West Francia) and Lower Lorraine (as part of East Francia) in 959.
  4. Lower Lorraine—also referred to as Lothier—disintegrated into several smaller independent territories and only the title of a "Duke of Lothier" remained, held by Brabant.
  5. Including County of Artois (part of Flanders until 1237) and Tournaisis.
  6. Lordship of Frisia and Lordship of Groningen (including the Ommelanden) after 1524 and 1536 respectively.
  7. Including County of Zeeland, that was ruled by neighboring County of Holland and County of Flanders (until 1432).
  8. Utrecht included Lordship of Overijssel (until 1528), County of Drenthe (until 1528) and County of Zutphen (until 1182).
  9. Duchy of Brabant included since 1288 also the Duchy of Limburg (now part of Belgium's Liège Province) and the "Overmaas" lands Dalhem, Valkenburg and Herzogenrath (now part of the Dutch Province of Limburg).
  10. The county, later duchy, of Guelders consisted of four quarters, as they were separated by rivers: situated upstream Upper Quarter (the present day northern half of the Dutch province of Limburg), spatially separated from the three downstream Lower Quarters: County of Zutphen (after 1182), Veluwe Quarter and Nijmegen Quarter. The three lower quarters emerged from the historic gau Hamaland (named after the Chamavi tribe), and formed the present day province of Gelderland. Guelders did not include the Cleves enclave Huissen and the independent counties of Buren and Culemborg, that were much later seceded to the province of Gelderland.
  11. Throughout the Middle Ages, the bishopric was further expanded with the Duchy of Bouillon in 1096 (ceded to France in 1678), the acquisition of the county of Loon in 1366 and the county of Horne in 1568. The Lordship of Mechelen was also part of the Prince-Bishopric of Liège.
  12. The name Seventeen Provinces came in use after the Habsburg emperor Charles V had re-acquired the Duchy of Guelders, and an continuous territory arose.

References

  1. Baedeker, Jarrold; Court, Alec (1992). Netherlands. Pearson Education Canada. ISBN 978-0-13-063611-9.
  2. The Numismatic Chronicle. Royal Numismatic Society. 2006.
  3. Bachrach, David S. (2014). Warfare in Tenth-Century Germany. Boydell & Brewer Ltd. ISBN 978-1-84383-927-9.
  4. "Treaty of Joinville". (in French) In Davenport, Frances G. European Treaties Bearing on the History of the United States and Its Dependencies. The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd., 2004.
  5. Schneider 2010, p. 242-280.
  6. Reuter 2013.
  7. MacLean 2013, p. 443-457.
  8. Pernot 2014, p. 3-23.
  9. Reuter 2013, p. 157-159.
  10. Nelson 1991, p. 38, 45, 168.
  11. Reuter 1992, p. 90.
  12. Fanning & Bachrach 2004, p. 7, 69.
  13. Springer 2003, p. 571.

Sources