Pope Benedict VI was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 19 January 973 to his death in 974. His brief pontificate occurred in the political context of the establishment of the Holy Roman Empire, during the transition between the reigns of Otto I and Otto II, incorporating the struggle for power of Roman aristocratic families such as the Crescentii and Tusculani.
Theophanu was empress of the Holy Roman Empire by marriage to Emperor Otto II, and regent of Empire during the minority of their son, Emperor Otto III, from 983 until her death in 991. She was the niece of the Byzantine Emperor John I Tzimiskes.
Henry II, called the Wrangler or the Quarrelsome, a member of the German royal Ottonian dynasty, was Duke of Bavaria from 955 to 976 and again from 985 to 995, as well as Duke of Carinthia from 989 to 995.
Frederick II, called the One-Eyed, was Duke of Swabia from 1105 until his death, the second from the Hohenstaufen dynasty. His younger brother Conrad was elected King of the Romans in 1138.
Altorf is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in the Grand Est region of northeastern France.
The House of Luxembourg or Luxembourg dynasty was a royal family of the Holy Roman Empire in the Late Middle Ages, whose members between 1308 and 1437 ruled as kings of Germany and Holy Roman emperors as well as kings of Bohemia, Hungary and Croatia. Their rule was twice interrupted by the rival House of Wittelsbach.
Hermann Billung was the margrave of the Billung March from 936 until his death. The first of the Saxon House of Billung, Hermann was a trusted lieutenant of Emperor Otto I.
Sigfried was Count in the Ardennes, and is known in European historiography as founder and first ruler of the Castle of Luxembourg in 963 AD, and ancestor and predecessor of the future counts and dukes of Luxembourg. He was also an advocate of the abbeys of St. Maximin in Trier and Saint Willibrord in Echternach.
The Luitpoldings were a medieval dynasty which ruled the German stem duchy of Bavaria from some time in the late ninth century off and on until 985.
The Count of Hainaut was the ruler of the county of Hainaut, a historical region in the Low Countries. In English-language historical sources, the title is often given the archaic spelling Hainault.
The Margraviate of the Nordgau or Bavarian Nordgau was a medieval administrative unit (Gau) on the frontier of the German Duchy of Bavaria. It comprised the region north of the Danube and Regensburg (Ratisbon), roughly covered by the modern Upper Palatinate stretching up to the river Main and, especially after 1061, into the Egerland on the border with Bohemia.
Hedwig of Nordgau was the wife of Siegfried of Luxembourg, first count of Luxembourg and founder of the country. They were married c. 950. She was of Saxon origin but her parentage is not known for certain. Some sources claim that she was connected to the family of Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor. Described as "saintly" herself, Hedwig of Nordgau was the mother of Saint Cunigunde of Luxembourg, the seventh of eleven children from her marriage to Siegfried.
Kunigunde of Poland (Kunegunda) was a daughter of Władysław I the Elbow-high and his wife Jadwiga of Greater Poland. Her siblings included, Casimir III of Poland and Elisabeth, Queen of Hungary. She was a member of the House of Piast.
The Château d'Ochsenstein is a ruined castle located in the commune of Reinhardsmunster, in the Bas-Rhin département of France. It was home to the Ochsensteins, a powerful family from medieval Alsace. The castle sits upon three sandstone spurs and comprises three separate castles: le Grand Ochsenstein, le Petit Ochsenstein and a third building, thought to be called le Château de Wachelheim.
The Château de la Petite-Pierre, Burg Lützelstein (German) is a castle in the commune of La Petite-Pierre in the Bas-Rhin département of France, in Alsace. All the names of the place are related to "small stone", and come from Old Franconian Lítzelstäin, with the French name as a translation.
The Counts of Chiny were part of the nobility of Lotharingia that ruled from the 9th to the 14th century in what is now part of Belgium.
Henry I the Bald was Count of Stade. He was son of Lothar II, Count of Stade, and Swanhild of Saxony. Henry is recorded as a cousin of Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, but their exact relationship remains a mystery. Henry was also appointed Count of Heilangau, the ancient capital of Stade, in 959.
Gerhard of the Moselle, Count of Metz and possibly of Alsace, was a Lotharingian noble active in the early 11th century. He was a key figure within an alliance of Lotharingian nobles who were seen as opponents of Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor. This also put him in constant conflict with the king's loyal representatives in Lotharingia, his relatives in the family known to historians as the House of Ardenne–Verdun. Henry II was Gerhard's brother-in-law, as they had both married daughters of Sigfried, Count of the Ardennes, ancestor of the counts of Luxembourg, whose family were also part of the Ardenne dynasty, though opposed to their Verdun cousins.