Werner, Count in Hesbaye

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Werner, Count in Hesbaye (French Garnier, Latin Werinharius, short form Werinzo [1] ) (died 973) was a Lower Lotharingian count in what is now Belgium and neighbouring parts of Germany. During this period the once independent Kingdom of Lotharingia, was coming under the control of the new Kingdom of Germany, but it was also still contested by the Kingdom of France.

Contents

Werner died with his brother Count Renaud, near Mons in Hainaut, now in Belgium. The two brothers were reported to have been holding the lands that had been held by one Richer, count in Luihgau and Hainaut, who had recently died. Werner and his brother were killed by brothers Reginar IV, the future count of Mons in Hainaut, and Lambert I, the future count of Louvain. They claimed Mons by right of their dead rebel father, Reginar III, Count of Hainaut.

Attestations

There are a small number of records proposed for Werner. It is not certain that they are all the same person:

This battle near Mons happened after Richer, who had been holding Mons was killed, in October 972, during an attack on his uncle, Bishop Wicfried of Verdun. Reginar and Lambert attacked from France, the next year. [7] However, they failed to take control at this time, and instead Godfrey I, Count of Verdun is attested as count in Hainaut after this.

Family

Werner's exact parentage is unknown, but historian Eduard Hlawitschka has proposed that he was a member of the Matfriede family, and therefore closely related to his predecessors in Hainaut: Richer (count from 964 until his death in 972) and Richer's uncle and predecessor Godfrey I, Duke of Lower Lorraine, who died in 964. It is possible Werner and Renaud were brothers of Richer, and cousins of Godfrey I of Verdun through his mother, who was a Matfried. [8]

Interpretations

Belgian historians, including Léon Vanderkindere and Jean Baerten, have traditionally connected the records involving Werner with other records to propose a narrative whereby Werner and his brother were loyalists to the king and longer term enemies of the Reginar family, a powerful Lotharingian family which had an alliance with France in this period.

Legacy

Hlawitschka has proposed that Werner had a daughter, Godila, who married Liuthar, Margrave of the Nordmark. [14]

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References

  1. ↑ Annales Altahenses , under 973
  2. ↑ Diplomata Belgica, 1292. See Baerten (1969 , pp. 9–10, 13); Baerten (1965 , pp. 1231, 1234–1235)
  3. ↑ Vanderkindere (1902 , pp. 137, 248–9) believed the charter was from 953. The charter can be found in Halkin and Roland eds, Stavelot-Malmédy, nr.74 169-171 = Wampach, C., ed., Urkunden- und Quellenbuch zur Geschichte der altluxemburgischen Territorien bis zur burgundischen Zeit, 1 (Luxembourg 1935) nr.167, 213-216; Oppermann, O., Rheinische Urkundenstudien, 1: Die kölnisch-niederrheinischen Urkunden (Bonn 1922) 201-202. Also see Verdonk, Alzey-Zutphen, 73 note 481.
  4. ↑ Hlawitschka 1969, p. 146fn.
  5. ↑ Diplomata Belgica, 3973. MGH DD Otto I, nr.316, pp.429-431.
  6. ↑ Gesta episcoporum Cameracensium : Bethmann ed., 1.95, 439; Sigebert, Chronica: Bethmann ed., 351; Thietmar, Chronicon, Book 7 (W. Trillmich ed. and transl., Ch.46, 402-405; = MGH SS 3, J. M. Lappenberg ed., Ch.32, 851; = David A. Warner trans., Ch.46, 339-340).
  7. ↑ Ottonian Germany: The Chronicon of Thietmar of Merseburg. Translated by Warner, David A. Manchester: Manchester University Press. 2001. p. 339.
  8. ↑ Hlawitschka 1969, pp. 97–98, 101.
  9. ↑ Flodoard, Annales, Heller and Waitz eds, 390; = Lauer ed., 92; = Fanning and Bachrach trans., 26B-26C, 39.
  10. ↑ Continuator Reginonis Trevirensis (ed. G.H. Pertz), in: MGH SS I, Hannover 1826, p.623.
  11. ↑ This is reported in the Vita Adelheidis. See Verdonk p.75.
  12. ↑ 1146 confirmation of the charter is Diplomata Belgica 1613: Hemptinne, T. de, A. Verhulst and L. De Mey eds, De oorkonden der graven van Vlaanderen (Juli 1128 - September 1191), Uitgave 2, Band 1 (Brussels 1988) nr. 95, 155-157; = Piot ed. Cartulaire de l'abbaye de Saint-Trond, 1, 72. There is also a complementary narrative record of the grant: Gestorum Abbatem Trudonensium Continuatio Tertia, 3.12-3.14, years 964-972, Koepke ed., 379; = de Borman ed. 131; = Lavigne trans. 221.
  13. ↑ Baerten (1969 , pp. 10–11, 12); Baerten (1965 , pp. 1230, 1237–1238).
  14. ↑ Hlawitschka 1969, pp. 97, 101.

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