Adalbert I, Count of Vermandois

Adalbert I of Vermandois (French: Albert I le Pieux, the Pious) (c. 915–c. September 8, 987), was the son of Herbert II of Vermandois and Adela of France.[1] born about 915, he succeeded his father as Count of Vermandois in 946.

Adalbert I
Count of Vermandois
Bornc. 915
Diedc. September 8, 987
FamilyCarolingian
SpouseGerberge of Lorraine
Issue
FatherHerbert II of Vermandois
MotherAdela of France

Life

 
Adalbert, also known as Albert, assisted his brother Count Herbert in his marriage to Queen "Ottobega" (Eadgifu of Wessex), the mother of Louis IV of France. Adalbert's men escorted (some sources say abducted) Ottobega from the convent in Laon where she resided to her marriage with Herbert, which in turn enraged King Louis.[2]There was a prior history between Louis IV and the House of Vermandois as Adalbert's father Herbert II was responsible for the capture, imprisonment and death in captivity of Louis's father King Charles the Simple as well as Louis's own exile to England as an infant. Louis confiscated his mother's holdings, the abbey of Saint Mary in Laon which he gave to his wife Gerberga of Saxony and the royal fisc of Attigny.[2] In 957 Albert and his brother Robert Count of Meaux and Troyes were adherents of King Lothair of France.[lower-alpha 1][3]

When Charles, Duke of Lower Lorraine decided to assert his rights to the throne he was aided by Albert and Albert's two nephews, Herbert III, Count of Meaux and Odo I, Count of Blois.[4] The two aided Charles in his plots and continued to make trouble for the new king even after Charles was captured and imprisoned.[4]

Albert was slow to acknowledge the election of Hugh Capet as King of the Franks. On learning that Hugh intended to attack him, Albert sent Dudo of Saint-Quentin to Normandy to see if Duke Richard I, Duke of Normandy would use his influence to keep the peace between them, which apparently the duke did.[4] For his part Hugh Capet had been suspicious that Albert was about to rebel against him.[5] Albert, Count of Vermandois, died c. 8 Sep 987 and was succeeded by his son Herbert III.[1]

Family

In 954 he married Gerberge of Lorraine († 978),[lower-alpha 2] daughter of Giselbert, Duke of Lorraine,[1] and his wife Gerberga of Saxony.[6]

Their children were:

Notes
  1. Albert, through his marriage to Gerberge of Lorraine became the brother-in-law to both Lothar King of France and Charles Duke of Lower Lorraine. Gerberge, Lothar and Charles were all children of Gerberga of Saxony and all three, like Albert, were Carolingians.
  2. When they married, Albert and Gerberge were well within the seven degrees of consanguinity decreed by canon law at the time. They were third cousins once removed. However this branch of the Carolingians was following its own marital alliance policy irrespective of church canons. See: Régine Le Jan, Famille et pouvoir dans le monde franc (VII-X siècle) essai d'anthropologie sociale (Paris: Publications de la Sorbonne, 2003), pp. 324-25 & 325 table 41. The marriage between Adalbert and Gerberge is an example of what is called affinal "relinkings" (French: renchaînement alliance) a term for a couple descended from common ancestors with multiple marriages between the two families over several generations. These alliances were deliberately maintained outside the control of the church. See: The SAGE Handbook of Social Network Analysis, eds. John Scott; Peter J. Carrington; et al. (London; Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, 2011), pp. 136-37; Douglas R. White and Michael Houseman, A reticular approach to kinship, l’Homme (2013), p. 1.
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References
  1. Detlev Schwennicke, Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten, Neue Folge, Band III Teilband 1 (Marburg, Germany: J. A. Stargardt, 1984), Tafel 49
  2. The Annals of Flodoard of Reims, 916–966, eds & trans. Steven Fanning: Bernard S. Bachrach (New York; Ontario, Can: University of Toronto Press, 2011), p. 56
  3. Heather J Tanner, Families, friends and allies : Boulogne and politics in Northern France and England, c. 879-1160 (Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2004), p. 39 n. 34
  4. Geoffrey Koziol, Begging Pardon and Favor: Ritual and Political Order in Early Medieval France (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1992), p. 149
  5. Lea Shopkow, 'The Man from Vermandois: Dudo of St-Quentin and His Patrons', Religion, Text, and Society in Medieval Spain and Northern Europe: Essays in Honor of J.N. Hillgarth, eds. Thomas E Burman; Jocelyn N Hillgarth; Lea Shopkow (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 2002), pp. 303 & n. 2
  6. Detlev Schwennicke, Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten, Neue Folge, Band I (Marburg, Germany: J. A. Stargardt, 1980), Tafel 3
  7. Vanderkindere 1902, p. 344.

Sources
  • Vanderkindere, Léon (1902). La Formation territoriale des principautés belges au Moyen Âge. Vol. 2. H. Lamertin, Libraire-Editeur.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)



Preceded by
Herbert II		 Count of Vermandois
943–988		 Succeeded by
Herbert III
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