The counts of Verdun, now in eastern France, were often during the Middle Ages rulers of Lorraine; the descendants of the early counts were also margraves in Tuscany and Latin rulers in the Latin East after the First Crusade.
In 990, the Emperor Otto III made the bishop of Verdun the sovereign, secular prince of Verdun and its environs, delegating him the right to nominate the counts.
In 1134, the bishop deposed Reginald and reattached the county to the episcopal demesne.