Second Generation  

3. Duke Gerard IV de LORRAINE de Lorraine [123721] (Gerard de Metz & Alsace (Comte)¹) was born about 1020 in Lorraine Grand Est France and died on 14 Apr 1070 in Remiremont Vosges Grand Est France aged about 50.

General Notes: Wikipedia says of Gerard,
Gerard (c. 1030 \endash 14 April 1070), also known as Gerard the Great, was a Lotharingian nobleman. He was the count of Metz and Châtenois from 1047 to 1048, when his brother Duke Adalbert resigned them to him upon his becoming the Duke of Upper Lorraine. On Adalbert's death the next year, Gérard became duke, a position that he held until his death. In contemporary documents, he is called Gérard of Alsace (after the fact that he had some land in Alsace), Gérard of Chatenoy (after an ancestral castle near Neufchâteau), or Gérard of Flanders (after his wife's homeland).[1]

He was the second son of Gérard de Bouzonville, count of Metz, and Gisela who was possibly a daughter of Theodoric I, Duke of Upper Lorraine. Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor, invested Adalbert with Lorraine in 1047 after confiscating it from Godfrey III. Godfrey did not back down, however, and killed Adalbert in battle. Henry subsequently bestowed it on Gérard, but the deposed duke continued to stir. Godfrey had the support of a faction of the nobles who did not want a strong hand at the ducal helm and Gérard was imprisoned. Gérard, however, had the support of the chiefest of his bishops, that of Toul, Bruno of Eguisheim-Dagsburg (later the sainted Pope Leo IX), who procured his liberation in 1049. The emperor gave him troops to assist him in his fight, for the rebels had the support of some elements in the church. Gérard himself remained, as his brother had, faithful to the end to the imperial dynasty and his descendants would remain so as well even into the Hohenstaufen years.

His alliance with the church was regular but inconstant and he afforded his protection to Moyenmoutier Abbey, Saint-Mihiel Abbey, and Remiremont Abbey. The former was the abbey of Cardinal Humbert of Silva Candida, who excommunicated the patriarch of Constantinople, Michael I Cerularius, in 1054, thus precipitating the Great Schism, and the latter was his own final resting place.

On 18 June 1053, Gérard and Prince Rudolf of Benevento led papal and Swabian troops into battle on behalf of Pope Leo. This was the Battle of Civitate and it was a disastrous loss for the pope. His enemy, the Normans, under Humphrey of Hauteville and Richard of Aversa, defeated his allies and captured his person, taking him prisoner in Benevento. Gerard, however, returned to Lorraine.

Among his other construction projects, was that of the castle of Prény, in the centre of the duchy, the beginnings of the capital city, Nancy. He died at Remiremont while trying to kill a revolt. Poisoning was suspected. The date of his death is either 14 April or 11 August.

Gerard married Hedwige de NAMUR [123722]. Hedwige was born about 1025 in Namur Walloon Region Belgium and died on 28 Jan 1067 in Namur Walloon Region Belgium aged about 42.

Children from this marriage were:

+ 5    i. Duke Theodoric II de METZ de Lorraine [123711] was born on 6 Mar 1044 in Herzogtum Lauenburg Schleswig-Holstein Germany and died on 23 Jan 1115 in Bas-Rhin Alsace Lorraine Grand Est France at age 70.

   6    ii. Comte Gerard V de LORRAINE de Vaudémont [123724] was born in 1057 in Lorraine Alsace-Champagne-Ardenne-Lorraine France and died in 1118 in Belval Ardennes France at age 61.

   7    iii. Comtesse Beatrice Clemence de LORRAINE de Burgandy [123725] was born about 1059 in Lorraine Alsace-Champagne-Ardenne-Lorraine France and died in 1117 in Burgandy France aged about 58.

   8    iv. Gisela de LORRAINE [123726] was born in 1067 in Vaudemont Meurthe-et-Moselle France.