Group
Lorraine (Lotharingia), Lower, (first) Duchy of
The Duchy of Lower Lorraine or Lower Lotharingia (also referred to sometimes as Lothier or Lottier in titles), established in 959 is a stem duchy of the medieval German kingdom, which encompasses part of modern-day Belgium, the Netherlands, the northern part of the German Rhineland and a part of northern France in the present Nord-Pas-de-Calais .It is created out of the former Middle Frankish realm of Lotharingia under King Lothair II, that had been established in 855.
Lotharingia is divided for much of the later ninth century, reunited under Louis the Younger by the 880 Treaty of Ribemont and upon the death of East Frankish king Louis the Child in 911 it joins West Francia under King Charles the Simple.
It then forms a duchy in its own right, and about 925 Duke Gilbert declares homage to the German king Henry the Fowler, an act which King Rudolph of France is helpless to revert.
From this time on Lotharingia (or Lorraine) remains a German stem duchy, the border with France does not change throughout the Middle Ages.
Member Cities
- Cologne > Köln Nordrhein-Westfalen Germany Capital
- Aachen Nordrhein-Westfalen Germany Location
- Alkmaar Noord-Holland Netherlands Location
- Dijon Bourgogne France Location
- Laon Picardie France Location
- Mainz Rheinland-Pfalz Germany Location
- Margut Champagne-Ardenne France Location
- Metz Lorraine France Location
- Mons (Bergen) Hainault Belgium Location
- Nantes Pays de la Loire France Location
- Oppenheim Rheinland-Pfalz Germany Location
- Paris Ile-de-France France Location
- Poitiers Poitou-Charentes France Location
- Reims Champagne-Ardenne France Location
- Rouen Haute-Normandie France Location
- Salerno Campania Italy Location
- Soissons Picardie France Location
- Strassburg > Strasbourg Alsace France Location
- Stuttgart Baden-Württemberg Germany Location
- Tours Centre France Location
- Utrecht Utrecht Netherlands Location
- Verdun Lorraine France Location
- Vlaardingen Zuid-Holland Netherlands Location