House of Ardennes

The Ardennes-Verdun dynasty was one of the first documented medieval European noble families, centered on Verdun. The family dominated in the Duchy of Lotharingia (Lorraine) in the 10th and 11th centuries. All members descended from Count Palatine Wigeric of Lotharingia and his wife Cunigunda of France, a granddaughter of the West Frankish king Louis the Stammerer. The House of Ardennes was closely tied to the Counts of Verdun, Bar, and Luxembourg as well as to the House of Salm.

Wigeric's son Gozlin (911–942/43) became the dynasty's ancestor when he succeeded his father as count in the Ardennes and about 930 married Oda (d. 963), a daughter of Count Gerhard I of Metz and niece of the East Frankish king Henry the Fowler. His brothers were

Gozelin's brother Frederick already acted as a ruler over Upper Lorraine during the reign of the Ottonian duke Bruno the Great, confirmed by Emperor Otto I after Bruno's death in 965. He was succeeded by his son Theodoric in 978.

Gozlin's sons were Godfrey, known as "the Captive", and Adalbero, Archbishop of Reims from 969. Godfrey succeeded his father in the Ardennes counties; he appeared as Count of Verdun about 960. He married Matilda, a daughter of the Saxon margrave Hermann Billung and widow of Count Baldwin III of Flanders. In 1012 his son Godfrey II was appointed Duke of Lower Lorraine by the East Frankish (German) king Henry II, in order to protect the lands against claims raised by West Francia (France). With Godfrey's uncle Duke Theodoric, both Lower and Upper Lorraine then were held by the House of Ardennes.

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