Gilbert, Count of the Maasgau

Life

Giselbert 841 is referred to as the Count in Maasgau, but also as a follower of Charles the Bald in the time of the Carolingian fratricidal wars after the death of Louis the Pious ( 840). The Treaty of Verdun ( 843 ), and the division of the empire, therefore, forced him to leave the territory Lothar I, and thus the Maasgau.

Three years later, in 846, he succeeded to kidnap one of the daughters of Lothar. He brought her to Aquitaine, where he married her. To appease the angry Lothar, Louis the German and Charles held a joint court day off on which they assured that the kidnapping was not initiated by them. Again, three years later, there was reconciliation between the Emperor and Giselbert which recognized marriage and implied that Giselbert could return to his domain. The name of the stolen daughter is not known, it appears in later sources with Ermengard, whereby it but probably was a mistake.

866 Giselbert is called as Count in Lommegau. In June 877, he is among the nobles, Charles the Bald in Kapitular of Quierzy designated to accompany his son Louis the Stammerer while Charles Italian campaign, of which he should not return. Although a further document from the year 885 mentions the name Giselbert, but here it is not clear whether it is still in the same person, even if no one seems sure to be eligible otherwise.

Giselberts son is Earl Reginar I. Long neck. Giselbert itself thus became the founder of the House of Reginare, which showed, among other things, the House of Hesse.

Open Questions

The described Vita is widely recognized in the research. However, there are also open questions and points that allow other interpretations.

• There is no evidence that the hijackers Giselbert and the Count are the same person in Maasgau.
• There is no evidence that Reginar Giselberts 's son.
• Even on the basis that the kidnappers and the Count are identical in Maasgau, it is not certain that the daughter of Lothar is the mother Reginars: some historians see the possibility of a second marriage Giselberts, others point out that the later rise of the Reginare would hardly have been possible without a descent from the Carolingians.