- Godfrey I, Count of Verdun
Godfrey I (died 1002), called the Prisoner or the Captive ("le Captif"), sometimes the Old ("le Vieux"), was the count of
Bidgau andMethingau from 959 and thecount of Verdun from 963 to his death. In 969, he obtained themargravate ofAntwerp andEname . Between 974 and 998, he was also thecount of Hainault andMons .History
He was the son of Gozlin, Count of Bidgau and Methingau, and Oda of Metz. He was the brother of
Adalberon, Archbishop of Reims , who crownedHugh Capet theking of France .He was the founder of the
House of Limburg orHouse of Ardennes-Verdun , a cadet branch of theHouse of Ardennes . He was always loyal to theOttonian s, whom he was related through his maternal grandmother.He appears as the new count of Verdun in 963, though 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 fightingLothair of France at Verdun in 985, but he was again taken captive and held several years. He was released in 987 by Hugh Capet, whose political ally Godfrey's family was: Adalberon, Godfrey's brother, having crowned Hugh and Godfrey being an enemy of Charles of Lower Lorraine, Hugh'sCarolingian rival.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.Family
In 963, he married Matilda, daughter of
Herman, Duke of Saxony , of theBillung family, a widow ofBaldwin III of Flanders . He had the following issue:* Frederick (d. 1022), count of Verdun
* Godfrey (d. 1023), count of Verdun andduke of Lower Lorraine (1012-1023)
* Adalberon (d. 988) ,bishop of Verdun (984-988)
* Herman of Ename (d. 1024), count of Brabant (retired as a monk in the abbey of Verdun abt. 1020)
* Gothelo (d. 1044), margrave of Antwerp, duke of Lower (1023-1044) and later also Upper (1033-1044) Lorraine
*Bertram de Verdun , went toEngland where he held the manor of Farnham Royal inBuckinghamshire .
* Ermengarde (d. 1042), married Otto of Hammerstein, count in theWettergau
* Ermentrude, married Arnold de Rumigny (d. 1010), lord ofFlorennes
* probably also an unnamed daughter, married Count Godizo ofAspelt
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