Werner, Count in Hesbaye (French , Latin , short form ''Werinzo'') (died 973) was a
count in Hesbaye, now in Belgium. During his life he held lands in the
Condroz
The Condroz () is a natural region in Wallonia (the French-speaking part of Belgium), located to the north-west of the Ardennes. Its unofficial capital is Ciney. The region preserves the name of the Condrusi, a Germanic tribe which inhabited t ...
and lands as far away as
Zülpich
Zülpich ( ksh, Zöllech) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany between Aachen and Bonn. It belongs to the district of Euskirchen.
History
The town is commonly agreed to be the site with the Latin name of ''Tolbiacum'', famous for the ...
, now in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. All the areas he was associated with were part of the
Kingdom of Lotharingia, which during this period was no longer independent, but mainly under the control of
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
.
Werner died with his brother
Rainald, Count of Mons, near
Mons in
Hainaut, now in
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
. The two brothers were reported to have been holding the lands that had been held by one
Richer, Count in Luihgau and Hainaut, who had recently died. Werner and his brother were killed by brothers
Reginar IV, the future
count of Mons
The County of Hainaut (french: Comté de Hainaut; nl, Graafschap Henegouwen; la, comitatus hanoniensis), sometimes spelled Hainault, was a territorial lordship within the medieval Holy Roman Empire that straddled what is now the border of Belg ...
, and
Lambert I, the future
count of Louvain. They claimed these land by right of their dead rebel father,
Reginar III, Count of Hainaut
Reginar III (c. 920 – 973) was Count of Hainaut from approximately 940 until his exile in 958.
He was the son of Reginar II, Count of Hainaut.
He took part in the rebellion of his uncle Gilbert, Duke of Lorraine. When Gilbert was killed in ...
.
Attestations
There are a small number of records proposed for Werner. It is not certain that they are all the same person:
*It is proposed that in 953 (?), Werner, while not named as a count, played the role of ''
advocatus
During the Middle Ages, an (sometimes given as modern English: advocate; German: ; French: ) was an office-holder who was legally delegated to perform some of the secular responsibilities of a major feudal lord, or for an institution such as ...
'' for
Sint-Truiden Abbey. Such roles were normally performed by counts, or people of similar noble status.
*In 963, or possibly 959, it is proposed that Werner is the count of that name who swapped his lands in Bodeux, close to
Stavelot Abbey, now in Belgium, for lands which the abbey held in ''Nohas'', in the
Eifelgau The Eifelgau was a Frankish '' gau'' in the region of the present day Limestone Eifel in Germany.
Location and history
The Eifelgau derives its name from the Eifel mountains between the Rhine, Ahr, Rur, Our, Sauer and Moselle rivers. It ...
, and in the county of Zülpich, now in Germany. It is noted by historians that among the witnesses to this transaction there were a Richar, a Reginardus who might be his brother, and a Duke Godefrid.
*In 966, Werner appeared as count of a county which contained Gelmen, near
Borgloon
Borgloon (; french: Looz, ; li, Loeën) is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg. On January 1, 2006, Borgloon had a total population of 10,697. The total area is 51.12 km2 (19.74 sq mi) which gives a population d ...
. A certain Rudolf (not named as a count) had previously held this estate, but because of his infidelity, in 966 it had been held by the
collegiate church In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons: a non-monastic or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, which may be presided over by ...
of Maria (
de) in the imperial capital at
Aachen. Gelmen was now to be exchanged by them for a large number of lands held in different parts 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'' by a count named
Emmo.
*In 973, various medieval sources report that Werner and his brother Rainald were killed near Mons in Hainaut, defending the area from Reginar IV and his brother Lambert, who claimed it as their dead rebel father's possession, with French support.
This battle near Mons happened after Richer, who had been holding Mons was killed, in October 972, during an attack on his uncle, Bishop Wicfried of Verdun. Reginar and Lambert attacked from France, the next year. However, they failed to take control at this time, and instead
Godfrey I, Count of Verdun is attested as count in Hainaut after this.
Family
Werner's exact parentage is unknown, but historian Eduard Hlawitschka has proposed that he was a member of the , and therefore closely related to his predecessors in Hainaut: Richer (count from 964 until his death in 972) and Richer's uncle and predecessor
Godfrey I, Duke of Lower Lorraine, who died in 964. It is possible Werner and Renaud were brothers of Richer, and cousins of Godfrey I of Verdun through his mother, who was a Matfried.
Interpretations
Belgian historians, including
Léon Vanderkindere and Jean Baerten, have traditionally connected the records involving Werner with other records to propose a narrative whereby Werner and his brother were loyalists to the king and longer term enemies of the
Reginar family, a powerful Lotharingian family which had an alliance with France in this period.
*In 944,
Flodoard in his ''Annals'' reported two important Lotharingian brothers, Ragnarius and Rodulfus, who were allied to the King of France, the losing side, during a rebellion in that time. In his 1900 article, Vanderkindere had discovered that Reginar II had died before 943, implying that
Reginar III
Reginar III (c. 920 – 973) was Count of Hainaut from approximately 940 until his exile in 958.
He was the son of Reginar II, Count of Hainaut.
He took part in the rebellion of his uncle Gilbert, Duke of Lorraine. When Gilbert was killed in ...
had a brother named
Count Rudolf, and that he was a Rudolf who appeared in records as a Count in areas near Gelmen in the 940s.
*In 957
Reginar III
Reginar III (c. 920 – 973) was Count of Hainaut from approximately 940 until his exile in 958.
He was the son of Reginar II, Count of Hainaut.
He took part in the rebellion of his uncle Gilbert, Duke of Lorraine. When Gilbert was killed in ...
, the senior Reginarid of that time, was defeated by
Bruno, Duke of Lotharingia, and banished to Bohemia where he died. This narrative therefore proposes that Count Rudolf his brother was also removed from positions of importance and Werner had been assigned successor as a Count in the Hesbaye region.
*In the
County of Hainaut, where Reginar III's sons claimed to have an inheritance, after the disgrace of Count Reginar III,
Godfrey I, Duke of Lower Lorraine received the County of Hainaut. This Duke Godfrey died on campaign in Italy in 964 and had no children. His nephew
Richer, Count of Liugas, then appears in records as a count in Hainaut.
*After the 966 charter, in 967, Werner was not mentioned at all in a charter which involved Brustem, very close to Gelmen. Jean Baerten explained this by arguing that Werner was no longer count of the same area, because of another (unattested) royal decision to place him elsewhere, and because a more legitimate heir to the Reginars was to be installed.
[; .]
Legacy
Hlawitschka has proposed that Werner had a daughter, Godila, who married
Liuthar, Margrave of the Nordmark.
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
*{{citation, last=Vanderkindere , first=Léon , chapter=Régnier IV , title=Académie royale de Belgique, Biographie nationale , volume=19 , publication-place= Bruxelles , year= 1907 , url=https://www.academieroyale.be/Academie/documents/FichierPDFBiographieNationaleTome2060.pdf , pages=879-881
* Warner, David A. (Translator), ''Ottonian Germany: The Chronicon of Thiermar of Merseburg'', Manchester University Press, Manchester, 2001
External links
Medieval Lands Project, Comtes de la Marche de Valenciennes
973 deaths
Counts
County of Hainaut
History of Belgian Limburg
10th-century Lotharingian people