Lower Lorraine

Lotharingia divided, around 1000: the pink is Lower Lorraine, while the purple is Upper Lorraine.

History of the Low Countries v • d • e Austrasia Frisians Carolingian Empire ca 800–843   City of Flanders 9th century – 1384 Lotharingia, then Lower Lorraine 855–954–977 Bishopric of Liège + Imperial Abbey of Stavelot- Malmedy + Duchy of Bouillon 10th century – 1795 Other feudal states County of Luxembourg 963–1384 10th–14th centuries Burgundian Netherlands Duchy of Luxembourg 1384–1443 1384–1482   Habsburg Netherlands 1482–1795 (Seventeen Provinces, Burgundian Circle) Spanish (Southern) Netherlands 1549–1713   Dutch Republic 1581–1795 Austrian Netherlands 1713–95 Revolution Liégeoise 1789-1792 United States of Belgium 1790     French Republic 1795–1804 Batavian Republic 1795–1806 French Empire 1804–15 Kgdm of Holland 1806–10   Kingdom of the Netherlands since 1815     Kingdom of Belgium since 1830 Grand Duchy of Luxembourg since 1839

The Duchy of Lower Lorraine or Lower Lotharingia encompassed part of modern-day Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany west of the Rhine, and a part of northern France (east of the Schelde). It was created out of the former Carolingian kingdom of Lotharingia. The kingdom was divided for much of the later ninth century, reunited under the French king Charles the Simple in 910. From there it formed a duchy which eventually declared homage to the German king Henry the Fowler (c.923), an act which the French monarchs were helpless to revert, and Lotharingia (or Lorraine) became a German stem duchy. In 959, the Duke Bruno divided the duchy into two duchies): Lower and Upper Lorraine (or Lower and Upper Lotharingia). Lower Lorraine was to the north (lower down the river system) and Upper Lorraine was to the south (further up the river system).

The duchies took very separate paths thereafter and were only briefly reunited under Gothelo I from 1033 to 1044. After that, the Lower duchy was quickly marginalised. Upper Lorraine came to be known as simply Lorraine.

The ducal title was granted to the lord of Bouillon in 1087 and, in 1106, to the count of Leuven. The duke of Brabant inherited the duchy in 1190, but the Duchy of Lower Lorraine lost its territorial authority at the Diet of Schwäbisch Hall. The remnant imperial fief was later called the Duchy of Lothier (or Lothryk).

Successor states

After the territorial power of the duchy was shattered, many fiefdoms came to independence in its area. The most important ones of these were:

• Archbishopric of Cologne
• Bishopric of Liège
• Bishopric of Utrecht
• Bishopric of Cambrai
• Duchy of Limburg
• County of Guelders (includes also the shire Teisterbant)
• Margravate of Ename, later called Imperial Flanders or the County of Aalst
• County of Jülich
• County of Namur
• County of Cleves
• County of Hainault, including the Margravate of Valenciennes and the County of Bergen
• County of Holland
• County of Berg
• County of Loon
• County of Horne

The following successor states remained under the authority of the titular dukes of Lower Lorraine (Lothier):

• Margravate of Antwerp
• County of Leuven and Brussels
• Duchy of Brabant