ARDENNES Godefried

Abt 0935 - Abt 0998  (63 years)

• Name	ARDENNES Godefried
  Birth	Abt 0935	Lotharingia, Holy Roman Empire
  Gender	Male
  Death	Abt 03 Sep 0998	Lotharingia, Holy Roman Empire
  Notes	Godefried / Godefroid (lat: Godefridus, de: Gottfried, fr: Godefroi(d)), Graf von Bidgau, Comte de Verdun, Comte de Hainaut et Mons was the son of Gozlin / Gozelon d'Ardennes, Comte de Verdun and Matfriede / Uda de Metz. [1] [2] [3] Note regardng supposed "nicknames": There appears to be no contemporaneous evidence that Godefried was ever actually called le Captif nor its German equivalent Gefangene (although he was in fact captured and imprisoned several times in connection with ongoing conflicts between the Kingdoms of the Western and Eastern Franks as described below). The usage appears to be traced to later chroniclers, presumably as colourful or shorthand methods of remembering the counts; in particular by C.G. Roland in his 1891 "Histoire généalogique de la maison de Rumigny-Florennes," who described a potential but unproven daughter as "Ermentrude, fille de Godefroi le Captif et Mathilde de Saxe," as cited in Medlands in connection with Ermentrude. [2] Lower and Upper Lotharingia Lotharingia / Lothringen / Lotharingie 10th century Lotharingia (lat:Lotharii, nl: Lotharingen, fr: Lotharingie (later Lorraine), de: Lothringen) comprised the territory of "Middle Francia" originally granted to Lothar on division of the Carolingian Empire in 855. It included the territories that make up the modern-day Benelux countries (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg) - as well as the eastern portion of France and the Rhineland of Germany. The region was generally part of the Holy Roman Empire but was the subject of frequent political and territorial conflict between the Western Franks (who established the Kingdom of France) and the Eastern Franks (who were associated with the emerging Kingdom of Germany) - particularly from 962 when Otto of Saxony was crowned as the Holy Roman Emperor. Lotharingia was partitioned in 959 into "Lower Lotharingia" (the lower Northern region) and "Upper Lotharingia" (the higher more Southern region). Upper Lotharingia became a Duchy and was increasingly influenced by the Western Franks - and in Old French the term Loherigne and Loherainc were increasingly used for the territories and people - which later developed into the word Lorraine in French. Lotharingian Nobility Godefried's father Gozelon and his siblings formed members of the nobility of Lotharingia, including the Duke of Upper Lotharingia and Counts of Bidgau and of Ardenne, and his brother became the Bishop of Metz: [1] Frederic, who became Frederic I Duke of Upper Lotharingia in 959 Adalbero, who was the Bishop of Metz Giselbert, who beamce the Comte d'Ardenne Siegbert Gozelon, who was the Graf von Bidgau Lutgarde, who married two Lotharingian counts Godefried and siblings likewise became members of the Lotharingian nobility and the church: [1] Reginar, who became the Comte de Bastogne Heinrich / Henri Godefried / Godefroid, who became the Graf von Bidegau, the Comte de Verdun, and the Comte de Hainaut et Mons Adalbero, who became the Bishop of Reims Godefried (Godfrey) I: Summary (English) Godefried / Godefroid Graf von Bidgau, Comte de Verdun Godefried I (en: Godfrey I) had an important military and administrative role in Lotharingia. He was generally aligned with the Eastern Franks - the Ottonian dynasty of Saxony - to whom he was related through his maternal grandmother, Oda von Sachsen. [2] [4] [5] [6] In his early years he was involved with the fight against Reginar (Reinier) IV de Hainaut (van Henegouwen) and Lambert I Reginar de Louvain (van Leuven), who tried to regain the Lotharingian inheritances of their father with French support. Godfried continued to be involved in the frequent territorial conflicts between the East Frankish Empire and West Francia, Godefoid was also captured and imprisoned several times in connection with the ongoing conflicts, for which later chroniclers called him Godefroid le Captif (referenced in a genealogy of 1891 by C.G. Roland in connection with Godefroid's possible but unproven daughter Ermentrude, as cited in Medlands - Comtes de Verdun). [2] [4] [5] [6] Godefried I became the Graf von Bidgau und Methingau by 959, the Count of Verdun from 963, the Margraviate of Antwerp and Ename from 969 and the Count of Hainaut, Mons and Valenciennes from 974-998. [2] [6] Godefroid I: Sommaire (Français) Godefroid Ier de Verdun, dit le Captif et aussi le Vieux, fut comte de Bidgau et de Methingau en 959, puis comte de Verdun de 963 à 1002. Il est également comte de Hainaut de 974 à 998. Il est le fils de Gozlin (Gozelon, Gothelon), comte de Bidgau et de Methingau, le petit-fils d'Uda (Oda) de Saxe par sa mère Oda de Metz, et le frère d'Adalbéron, l'archevêque de Reims qui favorisa l'élection de Hugues Capet au trône de France. Il est toujours un fidèle des Ottoniens, avec lesquels il est apparenté par sa grand-mère maternelle, Oda, fille d'Otton Ier de Saxe. En 960 ou avant, il apparaît comme comte de Verdun. Il possède déjà de son père les comtés de Bidgau et de Methingau. En 969, il obtient les marquisats d'Anvers et d'Ename, puis s'empare en 973 du comté de Hainaut avec Arnould de Valenciennes, aux dépens de Régnier IV. [7] Godefried I: Summier (Nederlands) Godfried I van Verdun, bijgenaamd de Gevangene, (ca. 930- 3/4 september 1002), was graaf van Verdun en had een belangrijke militaire en bestuurlijke rol in Neder-Lotharingen. Hij kreeg zijn bijnaam omdat hij tweemaal gedurende een langere tijd gevangene was door conflicten tussen Oost-Frankische Rijk en West-Francië. Godfried werd in 963 graaf van Verdun en in 969 ook markgraaf van Ename en markgraaf van Antwerpen. In zijn eerste jaren hield hij zich vooral bezig met strijd tegen Reinier IV van Henegouwen en Lambert I van Leuven, die met Franse steun probeerden het erfdeel van hun vader te herwinnen. In 974 werd hij ook benoemd tot graaf van Henegouwen, Bergen, en Valencijn. Hij werd voogd van Saint-Hubert en Mousson. [8] Titles Godefried / Godefroi(d) was the Graf von Bidgau and became Comte de Verdun by about 960, and Comte de Hainaut in 973. [1] [2] [3] Family In about 963 Godefried married (as her second husband) Mechtild (Mathilde) von Billung, Countess of Saxony and Countess of Flanders who was the daughter of the Duke of Saxony and the widow of Baldwin III of Flanders. [2] Mathilde and Godefried had at least eight children together: [2] Adalbero, who was appointed Bishop of Verdun Frederic, who succeeded his father as Comte de Verdun and later became Comte de Castres Herman, who became the Comte d'Eename and Graf in Eifelgau und in Westfalen Godefroi, who became Godefroi I Duke of Lower Lotharingia Gozelon, who became Count in the March of Antwerp and later suceeded his brother as Gozelon I Duke of Lower Lotharingia Adela, who married the Graf von Aspelt und Heimbach Irmgard, who married the Graf in der Wetterau und im Engersgau Ermentrude, who married the Seigneur de Florennes And potentially several others:[2] Reginlind, who married the Graf von Wels und Lambach Gerberge, who married the Graf von Metz und Graf im Bliesgau another son Death Godefried died on 3 September, of the year 998 or potentially a later year, and was buried at Saint Peter's Abbey in Ghent. [1] [2] Sources ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Comtes d'Ardenne by Cawley, Charles. Medieval Lands: A prosopography of medieval European noble and royal families. Published by Charles Cawley and the Foundation for Medieval Genealogy (FMG) 2006-2021, including source citations and relevant texts; hosted online by FMG, accessed 2025; see also WikiTree's source page for MedLands) ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 Comtes de Verdun (Family of Wigerich) by Cawley, Charles. Medieval Lands: A prosopography of medieval European noble and royal families. Published by Charles Cawley and the Foundation for Medieval Genealogy (FMG) 2006-2021, including source citations and relevant texts; hosted online by FMG, accessed 2025; see also WikiTree's source page for MedLands) ↑ 3.0 3.1 Comtes de Hainaut - Godefroi by Cawley, Charles. Medieval Lands: A prosopography of medieval European noble and royal families. Published by Charles Cawley and the Foundation for Medieval Genealogy (FMG) 2006-2021, including source citations and relevant texts; hosted online by FMG, accessed 2025; see also WikiTree's source page for MedLands) ↑ 4.0 4.1 Reuter, Timothy (1978). Medieval Nobility: Studies on the Ruling Classes of France and Germany from the Sixth to the Twelfth Century. Elsevier Science. ↑ 5.0 5.1 McKitterick, Rosamond (1999). The Frankish Kingdoms under the Carolingians. Longman Group UK Limited ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Wikipedia (en) - Godfrey I, Count of Verdun ↑ Wikipédia (fr) - Godefroid Ier de Verdun ↑ Wikipedia (nl) - Godfried van Verdun See also: The Henry Project: The Ancestors of King Henry II of England The Henry Project - Godefroid "le Captive" / Gottfried "der Gefangene" (Godefridus)
  Person ID	I58321	Freeman-Smith
  Last Modified	27 Jan 2026

  
  

  Father	ARDENNES Gozlin,   b. Abt 0910, Lotharingia d. 18 Oct 0942 (Age 32 years)
  Relationship	natural
  Mother	METZ Uda,   b. Abt 0910   d. Aft 18 May 0963 (Age > 53 years)
  Relationship	natural
  Marriage	0935	Aachen, Rheinland, Prussia
  Family ID	F26007	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	BILLUNG Mathilde,   b. Abt 0937, Lüneburg, Luneburg, Niedersachsen, Germany d. 26 May 1008, Ghent, Oost-Vlaanderen, Belgium (Age 71 years)
  Marriage	Abt 0960
  Children	1. VERDUN Reginlind   d. 01 Feb 0150  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]   2. VERDUN Gozelo,   b. Abt 0967, Lotharingia, Holy Roman Empire d. 19 Apr 1044, Lotharingia, Holy Roman Empire (Age 77 years)  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]   3. VERDUN Frederick,   b. 0968, Verdun, Meuse, Lorraine d. 06 Jan 1022, St. Viton (St Vannes), Verdun, France (Age ~ 53 years)  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]   4. VERDUN Irmgard,   b. Abt 0975, Verdun, Meuse, Lorraine, France d. 1042 (Age 67 years)  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]
  Family ID	F26006	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	27 Jan 2026