Gilbert (or Giselbert) (died 2 October 939) was son of Reginar and the brother-in-law of Emperor

Otto I Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), known as Otto the Great ( ) or Otto of Saxony ( ), was East Francia, East Frankish (Kingdom of Germany, German) king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the eldest son o ...

. He was

duke of Lotharingia The kings and dukes 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 k ...

(or

Lorraine Lorraine, also , ; ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; ; ; is a cultural and historical region in Eastern France, now located in the administrative region of Grand Est. Its name stems from the medieval kingdom of ...

) until 939. Gilbert was also lay abbot of Echternach, Stablo-Malmedy, St Servatius of Maastricht, and St Maximin of Trier. The beginning of the reign of Gilbert is not clear. A ''dux Lotharingiae'' is mentioned in 910 and this may have been Gilbert. Lotharingia sided with

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

in 911, who was deposed in

West Francia In medieval historiography, West Francia (Medieval Latin: ) or the Kingdom of the West Franks () constitutes the initial stage of the Kingdom of France and extends from the year 843, from the Treaty of Verdun, to 987, the beginning of the Capet ...

in 922 by

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...

but remained king in Lotharingia, from where he tried to reconquer West Francia until being imprisoned in 923. In 923, Gilbert and Archbishop Ruotger of Trier invited the Ottonian king

Henry Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...

I to invade Lotharingia. In 924, Gilbert changed his allegiance over to the West Frankish king Rudolf. After Henry managed to occupy Lotharingia in 925, Gilbert swore fealty to him and Henry transferred the abbey of St Servatius of Maastricht (which had been taken from him and given to the church of Trier in 919) to Gilbert. To secure their relationship, Gilbert was also married to Henry's daughter,

Gerberga of Saxony Gerberga of Saxony ( 913 – 5 May 968/9 or 984?) was the queen of West Francia by marriage to Louis IV of France between 939 and 954. She ruled as regent during the minority of their son Lothair in 954–959. She was a member of the Ottonian ...

. Following Henry's death in 936, Gilbert rebelled against the former's son,

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 fr ...

I in 939, changing his allegiance to the West Frankish king, Louis IV. Gilbert managed to be practically independent for three years until he was defeated by the army of Otto I in 939 at the

Battle of Andernach The Battle of Andernach, between the followers and the opponents of King Otto I of Germany, took place on 2 October 939 in Andernach on the Rhine river and ended with a decisive defeat of the rebels and the death of their leaders. Duke Eberhard ...

. Gilbert was made prisoner, but managed to escape; while fleeing, he drowned trying to cross the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

. Lorraine was given to

Henry I, Duke of Bavaria Henry I (919/921 – 1 November 955), a member of the German royal Ottonian dynasty, was Duke of Bavaria from 948 until his death. Life He was the second son of the German king Henry the Fowler and his wife Matilda of Ringelheim. After the dea ...

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Dukes of Lorraine 939 deaths House of Reginar 10th-century Lotharingian people 10th-century dukes in Europe Year of birth uncertain Carolingian dynasty