The kings and dukes of Lorraine have held different posts under different governments over different regions, since its creation as the kingdom of

Lotharingia Lotharingia was a historical region and an early medieval polity that existed during the late Carolingian and early Ottonian era, from the middle of the 9th to the middle of the 10th century. It was established in 855 by the Treaty of Prüm, a ...

by the

Treaty of Prüm The Treaty of Prüm, concluded on 19 September 855, was the second of the main Partition (politics), partition treaties of the Carolingian Empire. As Emperor Lothair I was approaching death, he divided his realm of Middle Francia among his three ...

, in 855. The first rulers of the newly established region were

kings of the Franks The Franks, Germanic peoples that invaded the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century, were first led by individuals called dukes and reguli. The earliest group of Franks that rose to prominence was the Salian Merovingians, who conquered mo ...

. The Latin construction "Lotharingia" evolved over time into "Lorraine" in French, "Lotharingen" in Dutch and "Lothringen" in German. After the

Carolingian The Carolingian dynasty ( ; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charles Martel and his grandson Charlemagne, descendants of the Arnulfing and Pippinid c ...

kingdom was absorbed into its neighbouring realms in the late ninth century, dukes were appointed over the territory. In the mid-tenth century, the duchy was divided into

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

and

Upper Lorraine The Duchy of Lorraine was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire which existed from the 10th century until 1766 when it was annexed by the kingdom of France. It gave its name to the larger present-day region of Lorraine in northeastern France. ...

, the first evolving into the historical

Low Countries The Low Countries (; ), historically also known as the Netherlands (), is a coastal lowland region in Northwestern Europe forming the lower Drainage basin, basin of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta and consisting today of the three modern "Bene ...

, the second became known as the

Duchy of Lorraine The Duchy of Lorraine was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire which existed from the 10th century until 1766 when it was annexed by the kingdom of France. It gave its name to the larger present-day region of Lorraine in northeastern France ...

and existed well into the modern era.

Kings of Lotharingia

Lothair II Lothair II (835 – 8 August 869) was a Carolingian king and ruler of northern parts of Middle Francia, that came to be known as Lotharingia, reigning there from 855 until his death in 869. He also ruled over Burgundy, holding from 855 just th ...

(855–869) Charles the Bald claimed Lotharingia on Lothair's death and was crowned king in

Metz Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...

, but his brother

Louis the German Louis the German (German language, German: ''Ludwig der Deutsche''; c. 806/810 – 28 August 876), also known as Louis II of Germany (German language, German: ''Ludwig II. von Deutschland''), was the first king of East Francia, and ruled from 8 ...

opposed his claim and in 870 the

Treaty of Mersen The Treaty of Mersen or Meerssen, concluded on 8 August 870, was a treaty to partition the realm of Lothair II, known as Lotharingia, by his uncles Louis the German of East Francia and Charles the Bald of West Francia, the two surviving sons of ...

divided Lotharingia between the two brothers and subsequently their sons. In 880, the

Treaty of Ribemont The Treaty of Ribemont in 880 was the last treaty on the partitions of the Carolingian Empire. It was concluded between the East Frankish king Louis the Younger and the kings of West Francia, Louis III and Carloman. After the death of Charle ...

gave the whole of Lotharingia to

Louis the Younger Louis the Younger (830/835 – 20 January 882), sometimes called Louis the Saxon or Louis III, was the second eldest of the three sons of Louis the German and Hemma. He succeeded his father as the King of Eastern Francia on 28 August 876 and his ...

, son of Louis the German. *

Charles the Bald Charles the Bald (; 13 June 823 – 6 October 877), also known as CharlesII, was a 9th-century king of West Francia (843–877), King of Italy (875–877) and emperor of the Carolingian Empire (875–877). After a series of civil wars during t ...

(869–870), also king of West Francia and Italy, and Carolingian emperor *

(880–882), also king of Saxony and Bavaria *

Charles the Fat Charles the Fat (839 – 13 January 888) was the emperor of the Carolingian Empire from 881 to 887. A member of the Carolingian dynasty, Charles was the youngest son of Louis the German and Hemma, and a great-grandson of Charlemagne. He was t ...

(882–887), also king of West Francia, East Francia, Alemannia, Aquitaine and Italy, and Carolingian emperor *

Arnulf of Carinthia Arnulf of Carinthia ( – 8 December 899) was the duke of Carinthia who overthrew his uncle Emperor Charles the Fat to become the Carolingian king of East Francia from 887, the disputed king of Italy from 894, and the disputed Holy Roman Emperor, ...

(887–895), also king of East Francia and Italy, and Carolingian emperor *

Zwentibold Zwentibold (''Zventibold'', ''Zwentibald'', ''Swentiboldo'', ''Sventibaldo'', ''Sanderbald''; – 13 August 900), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was the illegitimate son of Emperor Arnulf. In 895, his father granted him the Kingdom of ...

(895–900) *

Louis the Child Louis the Child (893 – 20/24 September 911), sometimes called Louis III or Louis IV, was the king of East Francia from 899 until his death and was also recognized as king of Lotharingia after 900. He was the last East Frankish ruler of the Car ...

(900–911), also king of East Francia *

Charles the Simple Charles III (17 September 879 – 7 October 929), called the Simple or the Straightforward (from the Latin ''Carolus Simplex''), was the king of West Francia from 898 until 922 and the king of Lotharingia from 911 until 919–923. He was a memb ...

(911–923), also king of West Francia In 925, Lotharingia was subsumed into

East Francia East Francia (Latin: ) or the Kingdom of the East Franks () was a successor state of Charlemagne's empire created in 843 and ruled by the Carolingian dynasty until 911. It was established through the Treaty of Verdun (843) which divided the for ...

Dukes of Lotharingia

* Gebhard (903–910) *

Reginar Reginar may refer to: * Reginar Longneck, 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� ...

(910–915) * Gilbert (915–939) *

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 ...

(939–940) *

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 ...

(942–944) *

Conrad Conrad may refer to: People * Conrad (name) * Saint Conrad (disambiguation) Places United States * Conrad, Illinois, an unincorporated community * Conrad, Iowa, a city * Conrad, Montana, a city * Conrad Glacier, Washington Elsewher ...

(944–953) * Bruno, Archbishop of Cologne (953–965) In 959, Lorraine was divided into two districts, Lower and Upper Lorraine, each governed by a

margrave Margrave was originally the Middle Ages, medieval title for the military commander assigned to maintain the defence of one of the border provinces of the Holy Roman Empire or a monarchy, kingdom. That position became hereditary in certain Feudal ...

, under Bruno. Upon Bruno's death in 965, these two margraves were recognised as dukes of

Lower Lower may refer to: * ''Lower'' (album), 2025 album by Benjamin Booker *Lower (surname) *Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) *Lower Wick Lower Wick is a small hamlet located in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is sit ...

and

, respectively. The two duchies remained separate, following separate pathways, except for the period between 1033 and 1044.

Dukes of Lower Lorraine

:''Note that the numbering of the dukes varies between sources.'' Matfriding dynasty * Godfrey I (959–964) * Richer I (964-972) ''After the death of Richer, the duchy was directly administrated by the holy emperor until the arrival of Charles I'' Carolingian dynasty *

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

(977–991) *

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 ...

(991–1012) House of Ardennes–Verdun * Godfrey II (1012–1023) (also known as Godfrey I) * Gothelo I (1023–1044) (also duke of Upper Lorraine) * Gothelo II (1044–1046) House of (Ardenne–) Luxembourg *

Frederick I Frederick I or Friedrich I may refer to: * Frederick of Utrecht or Frederick I (815/16–834/38), Bishop of Utrecht. * Frederick I, Duke of Upper Lorraine (942–978) * Frederick I, Duke of Swabia (1050–1105) * Frederick I ...

(1046–1065) House of Ardennes–Verdun * Godfrey III ''the Bearded'' (1065–1069) (also known as Godfrey II, previously duke of Upper Lorraine) * Godfrey IV (1069–1076) (also known as Godfrey III) Salian dynasty *

(1076–1087) House of Boulogne (Ardennes–Bouillon) * Godfrey V "of Bouillon" (1087–1100) (also known as Godfrey IV), one of the leaders of 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 Middle Ages. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Muslim conquest ...

and the first ruler of the

Kingdom of Jerusalem The Kingdom of Jerusalem, also known as the Crusader Kingdom, was one of the Crusader states established in the Levant immediately after the First Crusade. It lasted for almost two hundred years, from the accession of Godfrey of Bouillon in 1 ...

House of Limburg *

Henry I Henry I or Henri I may refer to: :''In chronological order'' * Henry I the Fowler, King of Germany (876–936) * Henry I, Duke of Bavaria (died 955) * Henry I of Austria, Margrave of Austria (died 1018) * Henry I of France (1008–1060) * Henry ...

(1101–1106) House of Leuven * Godfrey VI (1106–1129) (also known as Godfrey I of Leuven) House of Limburg * Waleran (1129–1139) House of Leuven * Godfrey VII(1139–1142) (also known as Godfrey II of Leuven) * Godfrey VIII (1142–1190) (also known as Godfrey III of Leuven) :''Disintegrates. Title passes to the

Duke of Brabant The Duke of Brabant (, ) was the ruler of the Duchy of Brabant since 1183/1184. The title was created by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in favor of Henry I, Duke of Brabant, Henry I of the House of Reginar, son of Godfrey III of Le ...

, who until 1795 kept the title "

Duke of Lothier The Duke of Lothier was purely an honorific title. It is often associated with the territory within the Duchy of Lower Lotharingia, governed by the dukes of Brabant and their successors after 1190 until the end of the Ancien Régime in 1796. In ...

".''

Dukes of Upper Lorraine

House of Ardenne–Bar

(959–978) *

Theodoric I Theodoric I (; ; 390 or 393 – 20 or 24 June 451) was the king of the Visigoths from 418 to 451. Theodoric is famous for his part in stopping Attila the Hun at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains in 451, where he was killed. Early career In 41 ...

(978–1026/1027) * Frederick II (1026/1027) * Frederick III (1026/1027–1033)

House of Ardenne–Verdun

* Gothelo (r. 1033–1044) (also duke of Lower Lorraine). *

Godfrey Godfrey may refer to: People * Godfrey (name), a given name and surname * Godfrey (comedian), American comedian, actor Places In the United States * Godfrey, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Godfrey, Illinois, a village * Godfrey, Kansas, an ...

, ''the Bearded'' (r. 1044–1046) (later duke of Lower Lorraine)

House of Metz (Ardenne–Metz)

House of Anjou

House of Lorraine

''Junior branch of the previous rulers of Ardennes–Metz, known as the House of Lorraine''

House of Leszczyński

The

House of Habsburg-Lorraine The House of Habsburg-Lorraine () originated from the marriage in 1736 of Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor, Francis III, Duke of Lorraine and Bar, and Maria Theresa of Habsburg monarchy, Austria, later successively List of Bohemian monarchs, Queen ...

continued carrying the title as titular Dukes of Lorraine.

External links

Titles of the dukes of Lorraine from contemporary documents with bibliography