Gerard, Count of Loon

Last updated

Count Gerard (or Gerhard) of Loon (died 1191), was son and successor of Louis I, Count of Loon, and Agnes of Metz. He was count of Loon (in modern Belgium) and of Rieneck (in Germany). Because of a widespread misunderstanding concerning a document from 1101, some generations earlier, he is sometimes wrongly referred to as the second Gerard in this dynasty, "Gerard II".

Contents

Biography

Gerard became count in difficult times. His father Louis, who ravaged the territory of Sint-Truiden, was attacked and beaten near Brustem on July 28, 1171, by the citizens of Sint-Truiden and Gilles, Count of Duras. They then besieged his castle of Loon (now Borgloon), killing Count Louis on 11 August. The assault was prevented by the arrival of reinforcements form Louis’ son-in-law Godfrey III, Count of Louvain, and a truce was concluded. Gerard and his mother went to emperor Frederick Barbarossa in Aachen to obtain compensation, but the citizenry of Sint-Truiden successfully defended their claim.

Falling ill, Gerard fulfilled a vow to go make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. On his return, he found the county in full disorder. His brother Hugo had begun to fortify the village of Brustem, which had caused strife for many years. Finally in 1175, he granted the inhabitants of Brusthem the laws and freedom enjoyed by the citizens of Liege.

He went to war against Rudolf of Zähringen, Prince-Bishop of Liège. On July 31, 1180, he and his knights routed the episcopal army in Tongeren, plundering and burning the cathedral. In retaliation, Rudolf burned the castle and the town of Loon, as well as the village and the Abbey of Munsterbilzen and the castle at Montenaeken. Several villages and sixteen churches were completely destroyed. Gerard sued for peace through the mediation of Henry the Blind, Count of Luxembourg, and Engelbert I, Count of Berg.

Gerard moved his court to Kuringen, near the Belgian city of Hasselt located in the Flemish Region in the province of Limburg, and in 1182, he founded the Abbey of Herkenrode, entrusted to the Cistercian Order. He built a heptagonal donjon at Rieneck, perhaps inspired by the donjon of Borgloon.

Gerard joined the Third Crusade led by emperor Frederick Barbarossa, King Philip Augustus of France and the English King Richard the Lionheart. He was killed on 2 November 1191 at the headquarters of Saint-Jean d'Acre. His body was returned to Loon and buried at Herkenrode, where he rests alongside his wife and children.

In 1135, Gerard married Adelaide of Gelderland, daughter of Henry I, Count of Guelders, and Agnes of Arnstein, daughter of Louis III of Arnstein. Gérard and Adelaide had at least eight children:

Mistakenly proposed earlier Gérard I

Gérard I is a wrongly proposed Count of Loon (Dutch), or Looz (French), who was supposedly mentioned in an 1101 charter of Emperor Henry IV concerning the return of the town of Andenne by Albert III, Count of Namur. There is general consensus that he did not exist, but this misconception meant that the later Gerard is often referred to as "Gerard II".

The charter, or at least one modern version of it (old manuscripts do not use modern commas), mentions a list of people including "Gerardus Comes de Looz, Arnoldus et frater ejus Theodoricus, Gislebertus filius Comitis Ottonis, Comitis de Duras" meaning Gerard is specifically a count of Looz or Loon, whereas Arnold, mentioned next (with his known relatives Theoderic, Gislebert, and Otto) would have been expected from other records.

In an 1866 article on Arnold I, Count of Looz in the Belgian National Biography, Jean-Joseph Thonissen concluded from this that he died between 1098 and 1101, succeeded by his eldest son Gérard, followed by his younger son Arnold II. Although this statement still causes misunderstandings, these conclusions are not generally believed, and current historians agree on 1126 as the correct date of the death of Arnold I, with his son Arnold II succeeding him directly.

It was pointed out by J. Daris in 1867 that there was another copy of the charter of 1101 which called Gérard simply a count, and Arnold was the one described as "Comes de Looz".

An example of a recent article still using the wrong reading of the 1101 charter, is that of Donald C. Jackman, noted by Verdonk. [1] (Jackman replied in his "Geldern, Looz, and Public Succession".)

Sources

  1. ↑ Verdonk (2008), "Is graaf Gerard van Gelre een broer van graaf Arnold van Loon?", Limburg; Het Oude Land van Loon, 87

Bibliography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">County of Loon</span> State of the Holy Roman Empire (1040–1795)

The County of Loon was a county in the Holy Roman Empire, which corresponded approximately with the modern Belgian province of Limburg. It was named after the original seat of its count, Loon, which is today called Borgloon. During the middle ages the counts moved their court to a more central position in Kuringen, which today forms part of Hasselt, capital of the province.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hesbaye</span> Cultural and geophysical region in Belgium

The Hesbaye, or Haspengouw, is a traditional cultural and geophysical region in eastern Belgium. It is a loamy plateau region which forms a watershed between the Meuse and Scheldt drainage basins. It has been one of the main agricultural regions in what is now Belgium since before Roman times, and specifically named in records since the Middle Ages, when it was an important Frankish pagus or gau, called Hasbania in medieval Latin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louis II, Count of Loon</span> Count of Loon from 1191 to 1218

Louis II was count of Loon from 1191 to 1218. He was the son of Gerard, Count of Looz, and Adelaide of Gelderland, daughter of Henry I, Count of Guelders, and Agnes of Arnstein, daughter of Louis III of Arnstein. He also claimed to be the legitimate Count of Holland during the Loon War (1203–1206).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Château de Duras</span> Belgian castle

The Château de Duras in Duras, a half hour walk to the north of Sint-Truiden in Belgium, is built in the Classical style.

Giselbert van Loon is the first definitely known count of the County of Loon, a territory which, at least in later times, roughly corresponded to the modern Belgian province of Limburg, and generations later became a lordship directly under the Prince-bishopric of Liège. Very little is known about him except that he had two brothers, one of whom, Bishop Balderic II of Liège, is much better attested in historical records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arnold IV, Count of Loon</span> Belgian noble

Arnold IV of Loon (Looz) (died between November 1272 and October 1273; most likely on February 22, 1273), was Count of Loon from 1227 to 1273 and Count of Chiny (as Arnold II) from 1228 to 1268. He was the son of Gérard III, Count of Rieneck and Cunegonde von Zimmern.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louis I, Count of Loon</span> Count of Loon

Louis I was the Count of Loon, now in modern Belgium, and Burgrave of Mainz, in Germany. He inherited these offices from his father. He also established the County of Rieneck apparently based upon the Burgrave's lands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arnold V, Count of Loon</span>

Arnold V de Looz, was Count of Loon from 1279 to 1323 and Count of Chiny from 1299 to 1310. He was the son of John I, Count of Looz and Mathilde Jülich.

Count Emmo, Immo or Emmon is one of the first known counts of Loon in the region of modern Belgian Limburg. Before him one more count is known with confidence, Count Giselbert, but it is not certain that Giselbert was Emmo's father. Verhelst for example has proposed that he was his uncle, and that Giselbert's brother Count Arnulf was father of Emmo and also a count of Loon.

Arnold I, Count of Loon (Looz) from about 1079, son of Emmo, Count of Loon, and Suanhildis, daughter of Dirk III, Count of Holland, and his wife Othelandis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arnold II, Count of Looz</span> Count of Loon

Arnold II, Count of Loon, son of Arnold I, Count of Loon, and Agnes von Mainz, daughter of Gerhard I, Count of Rieneck, and Helwig von Bliescastel. He is distinguished from his father of the same name by historians who note records for counts named Arnold or Arnulf between 1179 and 1141. The first Arnold must have died between 1125 when Count Arnold appears in a record with his son also named Arnold, and 1135, when a new Count Arnold appears with his own son and successor Louis.

Henry, Count of Looz and Count of Duras, son of Gérard II, Count of Looz, and Adelaide of Gelderland, daughter of Henry I, Count of Guelders, and Agnes of Arnstein, daughter of Louis III of Arnstein.

Arnold III, Count of Looz and Count of Rieneck, son of Gérard II, Count of Looz, and Adelaide of Gelderland, daughter of Henry I, Count of Guelders, and Agnes of Arnstein, daughter of Louis III of Arnstein.

Gerard, Count of Rieneck, son of Gerard, Count of Loon, and Adelaide of Gelderland, daughter of Henry I, Count of Guelders, and Agnes of Arnstein, daughter of Louis III of Arnstein.

Louis III, Count of Looz, also known as Ludwig was Count of Loon and of Rieneck. He was the son of Gerard, Count of Rieneck, and Cunegonde von Zimmern, who was in turn the son of another Count Gerard who was also count of both Rieneck and Loon.

The pagus or gau of Hasbania was a large early medieval territory in what is now eastern Belgium. It is now approximated by the modern French- and Dutch-speaking region called Hesbaye in French, or Haspengouw in Dutch — both being terms derived from the medieval one. Unlike many smaller pagi of the period, Hasbania apparently never corresponded to a single county. It already contained several in the 9th century. It is therefore described as a "Großgau", like the Pagus of Brabant, by modern German historians such as Ulrich Nonn.

Count Rudolf, was a count in Lower Lotharingia, who apparently held possessions in the Hesbaye region and in the area of Meuse river north of Maastricht. It has been proposed that he was a son of Reginar II, Count of Hainaut, and thus a member of the so-called Regnarid dynasty.

The County of Duras was a medieval county with its seat at the castle of Duras. The 18th century version of this castle still stands and is a part of modern Sint-Truiden in the province of Belgian Limburg. The county was one of several counties in the Hesbaye region which covers parts of several Flemish and Wallonian Provinces of Belgium. As a distinct entity under the name Duras the county only existed within the 12th century. After the first male line of counts died out, the county of Duras came by marriage to the Counts of Montaigu, whose other holdings were further south. Duras itself became part of the neighbouring County of Loon, which was at that time ruled by cousins of the original counts of Duras.

Count Otto of Loon as he was known during his own lifetime, was founder of the family of Counts of Duras, and brother of Emmo, Count of Loon, one of the first known counts of Loon. In contemporary and later medieval records he is mainly known for his role as advocate of Sint-Truiden Abbey, which is today in Belgian Limburg.

Count Otto of Duras was a count of Duras, and advocatus of the nearby abbey of St Truiden. Duras and St Truiden are in the modern province of Belgian Limburg. His parents were Count Giselbert of Duras and his wife Gertrud.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.