Arnold I (b. about 1045 - d. about 1125), Count of Loon (Looz) from about 1079, son of

Emmo, Count of Loon Count Emmo, Immo or Emmon (d. before 17 Jan 1078) is one of the first known counts of Loon (or Looz) in the region of modern Belgian Limburg. Before him one more count is known with confidence, Count Giselbert (or Gilbert), but it is not certain th ...

, and Suanhildis, daughter of

Dirk III, Count of Holland Dirk III (also called ''Dirik'' or ''Theodoric'') was the count with jurisdiction over what would become the county of Holland, often referred to in this period as "West Frisia", from 993 to 27 May 1039. Until 1005, this was under regency of his ...

, and his wife Othelandis. He was an ally of

Henry of Verdun Henri de Verdun was bishop of Liège from 1075 to 1091. He owed his election to the influence of his relative Godfrey IV, Duke of Lower Lorraine, with the Emperor Henry IV. Henri took part in the Synod of Worms (1076). He was instrumental in refo ...

and Otbert, both

bishops of Liège A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or offic ...

. In 1078, he endowed the collegiate churches of Huy and of St. John at Liège. In 1088, he negotiated at the request of Bishop Henry of Verdun to end a conflict in the abbey of Sint-Truiden where the bishop and

emperor Henry IV Henry IV (german: Heinrich IV; 11 November 1050 – 7 August 1106) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1084 to 1105, King of Germany from 1054 to 1105, King of Italy and Burgundy from 1056 to 1105, and Duke of Bavaria from 1052 to 1054. He was the son ...

had appointed rival abbots. As a result of his diplomacy, the emperor transferred the authority of the abbey from Henry I, Duke of Lower Lorraine, to Arnold.{{cn, date=October 2021 Arnold forced Henry and his ally

Godfrey of Bouillon Godfrey of Bouillon (, , , ; 18 September 1060 – 18 July 1100) was a French nobleman and pre-eminent leader of the First Crusade. First ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem from 1099 to 1100, he avoided the title of king, preferring that of princ ...

, to withdraw from the monastery. The domain of Arnold expanded with the County of Rieneck by his marriage to Agnes of Mainz, daughter of Gerhard I, Count of Rieneck, and Helwig von Bliescastel. Sources disagree on their number of children, but they are believed to include: *

Arnold II, Count of Looz Arnold II (or Arnulf, Arnoul) (died 1146), Count of Looz, son of Arnold I, Count of Looz, and Agnes von Mainz, daughter of Gerhard I, Count of Rieneck, and Helwig von Bliescastel. He is distinguished from his father of the same name by historian ...

. He is distinguished from his father of the same name by historians who note records for counts named Arnold or Arnulf between 1179 and 1141, which seems too long to be one person. The first Arnold must have died between 1125 when Count Arnold appears in a record with his son also named Arnold, and 1135, when a new Count Arnold appears with his own son and successor Louis.See for example Baerten. * Gertrude van Loon (1100–1154), married to Hugo XI,

Count of Dagsburg The County of Dagsburg with its capital Dagsburg (now Dabo in France) existed in Lorraine from 11th to 18th centuries when the area was still part of Holy Roman Empire. The ancestral castle in Dabo, the Dagsburg Castle in Lorraine, was acquire ...

. Their son was Hugo XII, Count of Dagsburg, who married Luitgarde, widow of

Godfrey II, Count of Louvain Godfrey II ( nl, Godfried; c. 1110 – 13 June 1142) was the count of Louvain, landgrave of Brabant by inheritance from 23 January 1139. He was the son of Godfrey I and Ida of Chiny. He was also the duke of Lower Lorraine (as Godfrey VII), and as ...

. She was daughter of

Berengar II of Sulzbach Count Berengar II of Sulzbach (c. 1080–83 – 3 December 1125), sometimes known as Berengar I of Sulzbach, was Count of Sulzbach in Bavaria. Berengar was a leader of the reform party. He sided with Pope Gregory VII during the Investiture Contro ...

, and sister of

Gertrude von Sulzbach Gertrude of Sulzbach (german: Gertrud; – 14 April 1146) was German queen from 1138 until her death as the second wife of the Hohenstaufen king Conrad III. Life She was the daughter of the Bavarian count Berengar II of Sulzbach (c.1080–112 ...

, wife of

Conrad III of Germany Conrad III (german: Konrad; it, Corrado; 1093 or 1094 – 15 February 1152) of the Hohenstaufen dynasty was from 1116 to 1120 Duke of Franconia, from 1127 to 1135 anti-king of his predecessor Lothair III and from 1138 until his death in 1152 k ...

, and Bertha, wife of Manuel I Comnenus, the emperor of Byzantium. Their granddaughter was

Gertrude of Dagsburg Gertrude of Dagsburg (died 30 March 1225) was the reigning countess of Metz and County of Dagsburg, Dagsburg (Dabo) between 1212 and 1225. She was duchess consort of Lorraine by marriage to Theobald I, Duke of Lorraine, Theobald. She was a trouvè ...

, wife of Theobald I, King of Navarre. * Agnes van Loon (born c. 1100), married Gerhard IV,

Count of Jülich Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

* Beatrix van Loon (died after 1132), married

Arnout III, Count of Aarschot Arnout III (1080-after 1136), Count of Aarschot, son of Arnout II, Count of Aarschot, and his wife whose name remains unknown. Arnout is sometimes confused with his father, especially in regard to the blood shedding at Aachen in 1115. Arnout sup ...

and had issue. Another son,

Gerard Gerard is a masculine forename of Proto-Germanic origin, variations of which exist in many Germanic and Romance languages. Like many other early Germanic names, it is dithematic, consisting of two meaningful constituents put together. In this ca ...

, did not exist. He appears in older books such as the oldest edition of Belgian National Biographies, based upon a charter of 1101. Baerten (1969 p.40 footnote 2) describes this as a mistake caused by modern edition with a wrongly placed comma, and gives references to the literature. While the confusion about the non-existent "Gerard" remains, Arnold is now understood to have been succeeded by his son Arnold as Count of Looz upon his death.

Sources

J.-J. Thonissen Jean-Joseph Thonissen (b. Hasselt, Limburg (Belgium), Limburg, 21 Jan., 1817; d. Leuven, 17 Aug., 1891) was a professor of law at the Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968), Catholic University of Leuven and a minister in the Belgian Governmen ...

, "Arnoul Ier et Arnoul II", '' Biographie nationale de Belgique'', vol. 1 (Brussels, 1866
link
*Vanderlinden, H., "Le tribunal de la paix de Henri de Verdun (1082) et la transformation de la principauté de Liège", in Mélanges Henri Pirenne, 1926 *Baerten, Jean (1969), Het Graafschap Loon (11de – 14de eeuw)
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External links

Belgian nobility House of Loon