Godfrey II (965–1023), called the Childless, son of
Godfrey I, Count of Verdun, was the
duke of Lower Lorraine
The rulers of Lorraine have held different posts under different governments over different regions, since its creation as the kingdom of Lotharingia by the Treaty of Prüm, in 855. The first rulers of the newly established region were kings of t ...
after the death in 1012 of the
Carolingian
The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippin ...
Otto
Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', '' Odo'', ''Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity".
The name is recorded f ...
, who left no sons.
He was appointed duke by
Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor
Henry II (german: Heinrich II; it, Enrico II; 6 May 973 – 13 July 1024), also known as Saint Henry the Exuberant, Obl. S. B., was Holy Roman Emperor ("Romanorum Imperator") from 1014. He died without an heir in 1024, and was the last ruler ...
, on the advice of
Gerard of Florennes, bishop of Cambrai. His selection was based on the need for a strong military hand to pacify the duchy and stabilise the
French border. It also benefitted that Godfrey was from
Upper Lorraine
The Duchy of Lorraine (french: Lorraine ; german: Lothringen ), originally Upper Lorraine, was a duchy now included in the larger present-day region of Lorraine in northeastern France. Its capital was Nancy.
It was founded in 959 following th ...
and thus had no stake in the feudal strife of the baronage, he was loyal to the
Ottonians
The Ottonian dynasty (german: Ottonen) was a Saxon dynasty of German monarchs (919–1024), named after three of its kings and Holy Roman Emperors named Otto, especially its first Emperor Otto I. It is also known as the Saxon dynasty after the ...
. He also had the support of his brothers:
Gothelo I, Duke of Lorraine
Gothelo (or Gozelo) ( 967 – 19 April 1044), called the Great, was the duke of Lower Lorraine from 1023 and of Upper Lorraine from 1033. He was also the margrave of Antwerp from 1005 (or 1008) and count of Verdun. Gothelo was the youngest son ...
, and
Herman of Ename (
Brabant Brabant is a traditional geographical region (or regions) in the Low Countries of Europe. It may refer to:
Place names in Europe
* London-Brabant Massif, a geological structure stretching from England to northern Germany
Belgium
* Province of Bra ...
).
In 1012, he gave Verdun to his brother Frederick. He had to combat several opponents to his ducal claim, however:
Lambert I, Count of Leuven
Count Lambert "the Bearded" (c. 950 - 12 September 1015) was the first person to be described as a count of Leuven (French ''Louvain'') in a surviving contemporary record, being described this way relatively late in life, in 1003. He is also the ...
, brother-in-law of Otto, and
Reginar IV Reginar may refer to:
* Reginar, Duke of Lorraine (c. 850–915)
* Reginar II, Count of Hainaut (c. 890–932)
* Reginar III, Count of Hainaut (c. 920–973)
* Reginar IV, Count of Mons (c. 950–1013)
* Reginar V, Count of Mons (c. 995–1039)
* Ho ...
, count of
Mons
Mons (; German and nl, Bergen, ; Walloon and pcd, Mont) is a city and municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the province of Hainaut, Belgium.
Mons was made into a fortified city by Count Baldwin IV of Hainaut in the 12th century. T ...
. At
Florennes
Florennes (; wa, Florene) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Namur, Belgium. As of 1 January 2006, Florennes has a total population of 10,754. The total area is 133.55 km² which gives a population density of 81 inhabita ...
, on 12 September 1015, Godfrey defeated both of them, killing Lambert and forcing Reginar to make peace.
Reginar later married Godfrey's niece Matilda (daughter of Herman of Ename, count in the shire of Brabant) and succeeded his father-in-law in the southern part of the shire Brabant (later on part of county of Hainault).
Later, Godfrey fell into combat with Gerard, count of
Metz
Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand E ...
. On 27 August 1017, he defeated him despite numerical inferiority.
He was the leader of the imperial army which was
defeated at Vlaardingen by
Dirk III 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 ...
in 1018. He was succeeded by his younger brother
Gothelo.
965 births
1023 deaths
House of Ardenne–Verdun
Dukes of Lower Lorraine
House of Limburg
Lords of Bouillon
Margraves of Antwerp
{{Europe-noble-stub