The Counts of Montaigu were 12th century nobles of

Lower Lotharingia The Duchy of Lower Lotharingia, also called Northern Lotharingia, Lower Lorraine or Northern Lorraine (and also referred to as ''Lothier'' or ''Lottier''

Counts of Duras The County of Duras was a medieval county with its seat at the castle of Duras. The 18th century version of this castle still stands and is a part of modern Sint-Truiden in the province of Belgian Limburg. The county was one of several counties in ...

and Clermont. This particular place called Montaigu (''Mons Acutus'', pointy mountain) was a castle located on the river

Ourthe The Ourthe (; Walloon: ''Aiwe d' Oûte'') is a long river in the Ardennes in Wallonia (Belgium). It is a right tributary to the river Meuse. The Ourthe is formed at the confluence of the ''Ourthe Occidentale'' (Western Ourthe) and the ''Ourthe ...

, opposite Marcourt near La Roche in the

Ardennes The Ardennes (french: Ardenne ; nl, Ardennen ; german: Ardennen; wa, Årdene ; lb, Ardennen ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Be ...

. The castle of Montaigu has been mostly destroyed, but a chapel dedicated to Saint Thibaut still exists upon the mountain on which it was built. The Counts of Montaigu were also lords of Rochefort.

Rochefort Rochefort () may refer to: Places France * Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, in the Charente-Maritime department ** Arsenal de Rochefort, a former naval base and dockyard * Rochefort, Savoie in the Savoie department * Rochefort-du-Gard, in the Ga ...

is a municipality in

Namur Namur (; ; nl, Namen ; wa, Nameur) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is both the capital of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration. Namu ...

, and these holdings passed by inheritance to the Walcourt family, who married into the family of the

Counts of Chiny The counts of Chiny were part of the nobility of Lotharingia that ruled from the 9th to the 14th century in what is now part of Belgium. It has been proposed that the County of Chiny was created in the early 10th century out of the ancient county o ...

, particularly

Louis III Louis III may refer to: * Louis the Younger, sometimes III of Germany (835–882) * Louis III of France (865–882) * Louis the Blind, Louis III, Holy Roman Emperor, (c. 880–928) * Louis the Child, sometimes III of Germany (893–911) * Louis I ...

. The Counts of Montaigu were: * Gozelo I (1038–1064) * Cono (I), son of the previous (1064–1096) * Gozelo II, son of the previous (1096–1097) * Lambert, also Count of Clermont, brother of the previous (1097–1140) * Godefroi, also Count of Clermont and Duras, son of the previous (1140–1161) *

Gilles The Gilles are the oldest and principal participants in the Carnival of Binche in Belgium. They go out on Shrove Tuesday from 4 am until late hours and dance to traditional songs. Other cities, such as La Louvière and Nivelles, have a traditio ...

, also Count of Clermont and Duras, son of the previous * Cono (II), also Count of Duras, brother of the previous * Wery II, also Seigneur of Walcourt, brother-in-law of the previous * Thierry, also Seigneur of Walcourt, son of the previous and married to Gertrude, daughter of Louis III, Count of Chiny. Cono I and his sons participated in the

First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic ru ...

with

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 ...

. Thierry appears to have given up the countship of Montaigu although his great-grandson Thierry IV appears to have claimed dominion over three villages in the County of Montaigu. The original Counts of Clermont appear to have originated with a Widrich (d. before 1062), father of Ermengarde, wife of Gozelo I, but it passed on to the Counts of Montaigu after

Giselbert, Count of Clermont Giselbert (Gilbert) (d. after 1097), once Count of Clermont, son of Widrich II (d. after 1062), who in turn was son of Widrich I (d. before 1062), the first Count of Clermont, and his wife Hersende, ex-wife of Hildrad (Hezelin), Count of :fr:Grand ...

Sources

Les Seigneurs et Comtes de Rochefort
1893 *Wolters, Mathias J., Notice Historique sur l’Ancien Comté de Duras en Hesbaie, Gyselinck, 1855 (available o
Google Books
*Runciman, Steven, ''A History of the Crusades, Volume I: The First Crusade and the Foundation of the Kingdom of Jerusalem'', Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1951 *Murray, Alan V.,
The Army of Godfrey of Bouillon, 1096-1099: Structure and Dynamics of a Contingent on the First Crusade
', Revue beige de philology et d'histoire, tome 70, fast. 2, 1992

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Montaigu, Counts of Counts of Montaigu Counts of France