Gothelo (c. 967 – 19 April 1044), called the Great, was the duke of Lower Lorraine from 1023 and of Upper Lorraine from 1033. He was also the margrave

Margrave

A margrave or margravine was a medieval hereditary nobleman with military responsibilities in a border province of a kingdom. Border provinces usually had more exposure to military incursions from the outside, compared to interior provinces, and thus a margrave usually had larger and more active...

 of Antwerp from 1005 (or 1008) and count of Verdun

Count of Verdun

The counts of Verdun, now in eastern France, were often during the Middle Ages rulers of Lorraine; the descendants of the early counts were also margraves in Tuscany and Latin rulers in the Latin East after the First Crusade....

. Gothelo was the youngest son of Godfrey I, Count of Verdun

Godfrey I, Count of Verdun

Godfrey I , called the Prisoner or the Captive , sometimes the Old , was the count of Bidgau and Methingau from 959 and the count of Verdun from 963 to his death. In 969, he obtained the margravate of Antwerp and Ename...

, and Matilda Billung, daughter of Herman, Duke of Saxony

Herman, Duke of Saxony

Hermann Billung was a Margrave of Saxony and one of the most well-known members of the House of Billung.Hermann was the son of Billung von Stubenskorn and Ermengarde of Nantes. Hermann is generally counted as the first Billung Duke of Saxony, but his exact position is unclear...

. On his father's death, he received the march of Antwerp and became a vassal of his brother, Godfrey II

Godfrey II, Duke of Lower Lorraine

Godfrey II , called the Childless, son of Godfrey I, Count of Verdun, was the count of Verdun from his father's death in 1002 and duke of Lower Lorraine after the death in 1012 of the Carolingian Otto, who left no sons....

, who became duke of Lower Lorraine in 1012. He succeeded his brother in 1023 with the support of the Emperor Henry II, but was opposed until Conrad II forced the rebels to submit in 1025. When the House of Bar, which ruled in Upper Lorraine, became extinct in 1033, with the death of his cousin Frederick III

Frederick III, Duke of Upper Lorraine

Frederick III was the Count of Bar and Duke of Upper Lorraine from the death of his father, Frederick II, in 1026 or 1027 to his own death. His mother was Matilda, daughter of Herman II, Duke of Swabia....

, Conrad made him duke of both duchies, so that he could assist in the defence of the territory against Odo II, count of Blois

Count of Blois

The County of Blois was originally centred on Blois, south of Paris, France. One of the chief cities, along with Blois itself, was Chartres. Blois was associated with Champagne, Châtillon , and later with the French royal family, to whom the county passed in 1391...

, Meaux

Meaux

Meaux is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located east-northeast from the center of Paris. Meaux is a sub-prefecture of the department and the seat of an arondissement...

, Chartres

Chartres

Chartres is a commune and capital of the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France. It is located southwest of Paris.-Geography:Chartres is built on the left bank of the Eure River, on a hill crowned by its famous cathedral, the spires of which are a landmark in the surrounding country...

, and Troyes

Troyes

Troyes is a commune and the capital of the Aube department in north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about southeast of Paris. Many half-timbered houses survive in the old town...

 (the later Champagne

Champagne (province)

The Champagne wine region is a historic province within the Champagne administrative province in the northeast of France. The area is best known for the production of the sparkling white wine that bears the region's name...

).

In the Battle of Bar on 15 November 1037, Gothelo dealt a decisive blow to Odo, who was trying to creating an independent state between France and Germany. Odo died in the battle.

Gothelo died on 19 April 1044 and is buried in the Abbey Church of Bilsen

Bilsen

Bilsen is a municipality in the district of Pinneberg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.Bereits vor mehr als 850 Jahren wurde das Dorf Bilsen zum ersten Mal 1148 urkundlich erwähnt. Es gehörte jahrhundertelang einem Hamburger Kloster....

. His son Godfrey

Godfrey III, Duke of Lower Lorraine

Godfrey III , called the Bearded, was the eldest son of Gothelo I, duke of Upper and Lower Lorraine. By inheritance, he was count of Verdun and he became margrave of Antwerp as a vassal of the duke of Lower Lorraine...

 succeeded in Upper Lorraine, but the Emperor Henry III refused to give him the duchy of Lower Lorraine as well. When Godfrey showed disagreement with the imperial decision, Henry III threatened to pass the duchy to Godfrey's incompetent brother Gothelo

Gothelo II, Duke of Lower Lorraine

Gothelo II , variously called the Coward, the Sluggard, the Indolent, or the Lazy , has been often said to be Duke of Lower Lorraine after the death of his father Gothelo I, Duke of both Lower and Upper Lorraine until his own death in 1046.When Gothelo I died in 1044, Godfrey III, his eldest son,...

. This caused a long rebellion in Lotharingia between the allies of Godfrey (the counts of Flanders

Count of Flanders

The Count of Flanders was the ruler or sub-ruler of the county of Flanders from the 9th century until the abolition of the position by the French revolutionaries in 1790....

 and Leuven

Leuven

Leuven is the capital of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region, Belgium...

) and imperial forces (1044–1056).

Family

The name of Gothelo's wife is not known, the name Barbe de Lebarten (and in fact her entire ancestry), being a spurious concoction of later genealogists.
He had the following children:

• Godfrey the Bearded
  Godfrey III, Duke of Lower Lorraine
  Godfrey III , called the Bearded, was the eldest son of Gothelo I, duke of Upper and Lower Lorraine. By inheritance, he was count of Verdun and he became margrave of Antwerp as a vassal of the duke of Lower Lorraine...
  
  , duke of Upper Lorraine
• Gothelo
  Gothelo II, Duke of Lower Lorraine
  Gothelo II , variously called the Coward, the Sluggard, the Indolent, or the Lazy , has been often said to be Duke of Lower Lorraine after the death of his father Gothelo I, Duke of both Lower and Upper Lorraine until his own death in 1046.When Gothelo I died in 1044, Godfrey III, his eldest son,...
  
  , duke of Lower Lorraine
• Frederick
  Pope Stephen IX
  Pope Stephen IX was Pope from August 3, 1057 to March 1058.His baptismal name was Frederick of Lorraine , and he was a younger brother of Godfrey III, Duke of Lower Lorraine, who, as Marquis of Tuscany , played a prominent part in the politics of the period.Frederick, who had...
  
  , later Pope Stephen IX
• Regilinda, married Albert II, Count of Namur
• Oda, married Lambert II, Count of Leuven
  Lambert II, Count of Leuven
  Lambert II was count of Leuven between 1033 and 1054. Lambert was the son of Lambert I of Leuven .According the he followed his brother Henry I of Leuven....
  
  
• Matilda, married Henry I, Count Palatine of Lotharingia
  Henry I, Count Palatine
  Heinrich I, Count Palatine of Lotharingia from 1045 until 1060, son of Hezzelin I.Historians have given several nicknames to Heinrich: Furiosus , because he murdered his wife; Monachus , because he was confined into an abbey for treating his insanity.He married about 1048 Mathilde of Verdun ...