Lower Lotharingia

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. 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.

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, the Annals of Fulda, and others, 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).