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Birth:          ABT 1030 of Lorraine, France
Death:          14 Apr 1070 Remiremont, Vosges, France

Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerard,_Duke_of_Lorraine
Gerard (c.?1030 – April 14, 1070), also known as Gerard the Great, was a Lotharingian 
nobleman. He was the count of Metz and Châtenois from 1047 to 1048, when his 
brother Duke Adalbert resigned them to him upon his becoming the Duke of Upper 
Lorraine. On Adalbert's death the next year, Gérard became duke, a position that he 
held until his death. In contemporary documents, he is called Gérard of Alsace (after 
his familial homeland), Gérard of Chatenoy (after an ancestral castle near 
Neufchâteau), or Gérard of Flanders (after his wife's homeland).[1]

He was the second son of Gérard de Bouzonville, count of Metz, and Gisela who was 
possibly a daughter of Thierry I, Duke of Upper Lorraine. Henry III, Holy Roman 
Emperor, invested Adalbert with Lorraine in 1047 after confiscating it from Godfrey III. 
Godfrey did not back down, however, and killed Adalbert in battle. Henry 
subsequently bestowed it on Gérard, but the deposed duke continued to stir. Godfrey 
had the support of a faction of the nobles who did not want a strong hand at the ducal 
helm and Gérard was imprisoned. Gérard, however, had the support of the chiefest of 
his bishops, that of Toul, Bruno of Eguisheim-Dagsburg (later the sainted Pope Leo 
IX), who procured his liberation in 1049. The emperor gave him troops to assist him in 
his fight, for the rebels had the support of some elements in the church. Gérard himself 
remained, as his brother had, faithful to the end to the imperial dynasty and his 
descendants would remain so as well even into the Hohenstaufen years.

His alliance with the church was regular but inconstant and he afforded his protection 
to Moyenmoutier Abbey, Saint-Mihiel Abbey, and Remiremont Abbey. The former was 
the abbey of Cardinal Humbert of Silva Candida, who excommunicated the patriarch of 
Constantinople, Michael I Cerularius, in 1054, thus precipitating the Great Schism, and 
the latter was his own final resting place.

On 18 June 1053, Gérard and Prince Rudolf of Benevento led papal and Swabian 
troops into battle on behalf of Pope Leo. This was the Battle of Civitate and it was a 
disastrous loss for the pope. His enemy, the Normans, under Humphrey of Hauteville 
and Richard of Aversa, defeated his allies and captured his person, taking him 
prisoner in Benevento. Gerard, however, returned to Lorraine.

Among his other construction projects, was that of the castle of Prény, in the centre of 
the duchy, the beginnings of the capital city, Nancy. He died at Remiremont while 
trying to kill a revolt. Poisoning was suspected. The date of his death is either 14 April 
or 11 August.

He was married to Hedwige of Namur (or of Flanders), daughter of Albert II, Count of 
Namur, and Regelindis of Lower-Lorraine, daughter of Gothelo I, Duke of Lorraine. 
This marriage helped patch up relations with the baronage. They had the following 
issue:
Thierry II (c.1055-1115), successor in Lorraine
Gérard (1057–1108), count of Vaudémont
Beatrice, married Stephen I, Count of Burgundy, Mâcon, and Vienne
Gisela, abbess of Remiremont

He was the patrilineal ancestor of the line of dukes which ruled Lorraine until 1737 
and of the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty that ruled Tuscany (1737–1859), the Holy 
Roman Empire (1745–1807), Austria-Hungary (1780–1918), the Duchy of Parma (1814–
1847), Duchy of Modena (1815–1859), and Mexico (1864–1867).

Parents
OF BOUZONVILLE Gerard (Gerhard) II (ABT  990 - )
OF METZ Gisela (ABT  990 - )

Siblings
____ Gerard (Gerhard) III (IV) (ABT 1030 - 14 Apr 1070)

Marriage To DE NAMUR Hedwig (ABT 1030 - ABT 1075)
    m.  

Notes

Parents
____ Adalbert (Albert) II (ABT 1000 - ABT 1063)
OF LORRAINE Regelinde (ABT  994 - AFT 1064)

Children by DE NAMUR Hedwig ABT 1030 - ABT 1075
OF ALSACE Theodoric II (Dietrich) (Thierry) (ABT 1050 - 30 Dec 1115)
____ Gerard I (Gerhard I) (1057 - 1108)
OF LORRAINE Beatrice (ABT 1060 - )

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