Reginar, Duke of Lorraine

Reginar I Longneck^[1] (c. 850 – 915)^[2] was the Duke of Lorraine from 910 until his death. He stands at the head of the clan of Reginarids, an important Lotharingian noble family and was the grandson of the emperor Lothair I.

He was the son of Gilbert, Count of the Maasgau, and a daughter of Lothair I of whom the name is not known (Hiltrude, Bertha, Irmgard, and Gisela are good candidates).

He succeeded his father in the Maasgau and was the lay abbot of Echternach between 897 and 915, of Maastricht from before May 898, and of Stablo and Malmedy between 900 and 902.

He was the Count of Mons and Count of Liège when in 870 he and Franco, Bishop of Liège, led an army against the Vikings in Walacria. He, as Duke of Hesbaye and Hainaut, and Radbold led a Frisian army against the forces of Rollo a little later, but were forced back to his fortresses.

In the 877 Capitulary of Quierzy, he appears alongside his father as one of the regents of the kingdom during Charles the Bald's absence on campaign in Italy. A Reginar appears at the Siege of Paris in 886, but this may be an uncle or nephew. The name "Reginar" or "Reginhar" (French: Régnier or Rainier) was commonplace in his family.

Reginar was originally a supporter of Zwentibold in 895, but he broke with the king in 898. He and some other magnates who had been key to Zwentibold's election three years earlier then took the opportunity provided by the death of Odo of West Francia to invite Charles the Simple to become king in Lotharingia. His lands were confiscated, but he refused to give them up and entrenched himself at Durfost, downstream from Maastricht. Representatives of Charles, Zwentibold, and the Emperor Arnulf met at Sankt Goar and determined that the succession should go to Louis the Child. Zwentibold was killed by Reginar in battle in August 900.

At first, Louis appeared to be opposed to Reginar when he appointed Gebhard as his deputy in Lotharingia, but the two were never at war. In 908, Reginar recuperated Hainaut after the death of Sigard. Then, after the death of Gebhard in 910, in battle with the Magyars, Reginar appears as his successor. He led the magnates in opposing Conrad I of Germany and electing Charles the Simple their king. He was given the title marchio by Charles in 915. He never appears as the Duke of Lorraine, but he was definitely the military commander of the region under Charles. He himself was succeeded by his son Gilbert; however, the Reginarids did not succeed in establishing their supremacy in Lotharingia like the Liudolfings or Liutpoldings did in the duchies of Saxony and Bavaria.

Family

By his wife Hersinda (or Alberada), who predeceased him, Reginar left the following children:

• Gilbert, Duke of Lorraine
• Reginar II, Count of Hainaut
• Balderic, Bishop of Utrecht
• Frederick, Archbishop of Mainz
• a daughter, who married Berengar, Count of Namur

Balderic of Utrecht, Bishop of Utrecht, listed as child of Reginar and Hersinda above, is attached to the biography which claims that he was a cousin of Gilbert, Duke of Lorraine, and the son of different parents.

Sources

• Reuter, Timothy. Germany in the Early Middle Ages 800–1056. New York: Longman, 1991.
• Reuter, Timothy (trans.) The Annals of Fulda. (Manchester Medieval series, Ninth-Century Histories, Volume II.) Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1992.
• Jean Baptiste David. Manuel de l'histoire de Belgique Vanlinthout, (1853) p.171 et seq. (in French)

References