Wigeric's son
Gozlin (911–942/43) became the dynasty's ancestor when he succeeded his father as count in the
Ardennes and about 930 married
Oda (d. 963), a daughter of Count
Gerhard I of Metz and niece of the
East Frankish king
Henry the Fowler. His brothers were •
Adalbero, who became
Bishop of Metz in 929, •
Frederick, Count of Bar from 955 and Duke of Upper Lorraine from 959, •
Sigfried, first Count of Luxembourg from 963, ancestor of the Elder
House of Luxembourg. Gozelin's brother Frederick already acted as a ruler over Upper Lorraine during the reign of the
Ottonian duke
Bruno the Great, confirmed by Emperor
Otto I after Bruno's death in 965. He was succeeded by his son
Theodoric in 978. Gozlin's sons were
Godfrey, known as "the Captive", and
Adalbero,
Archbishop of Reims from 969. Godfrey succeeded his father in the Ardennes counties; he appeared as Count of Verdun about 960. He married Matilda, a daughter of the
Saxon margrave
Hermann Billung and widow of Count
Baldwin III of Flanders. In 1012 his son
Godfrey II was appointed Duke of
Lower Lorraine by the East Frankish (
German) king
Henry II, in order to protect the lands against claims raised by West Francia (
France). With Godfrey's uncle Duke Theodoric, both Lower and Upper Lorraine then were held by the House of Ardennes. The line of Upper Lorraine dukes became extinct upon the death of Theodoric's grandson Duke
Frederick III in 1033; whereafter his cousin
Gothelo, son and heir of Duke Godfrey II of Lower Lorraine II could unite both duchies in his hands. After his death in 1044, however, King
Henry III enfeoffed Lower Lorraine to his younger son
Gothelo II and the elder,
Godfrey III the Bearded, could only succeed in Upper Lorraine. When Gothelo II died two years later, Godfrey III claimed his rights but found Henry III unwilling to re-unite both duchies. He openly rebelled, campaigned the Lower Lorraine lands and was finally declared deposed by the emperor. Thereafter, Upper Lorraine was lost and passed to Count
Adalbert of Metz, a son of late Theodoric's daughter Gisela, and his descendants of the Ardennes-Metz dynasty, ancestors of the later
House of Lorraine. Godfrey III could again strengthen his position, when in 1054 he married
Beatrice, a sister of the later Upper Lorraine duke Frederick III, and ruled as
Margrave of Tuscany from 1056. He reconciled with the emperor and in 1065 regained the Duchy of Lower Lorraine from the hands of King
Henry IV. However, the line of Lower Lorraine dukes became extinct upon the assassination of his son Duke
Godfrey IV the Hunchback in 1076. Though he had designated his nephew
Godfrey of Bouillon, son of his sister
Ida his successor, his estates were seized by Emperor
Henry IV in favour of his son
Conrad. Not until 1088, Godfrey of Bouillon was appointed Lower Lorraine
regent. ==Genealogy of the Ardennes–Verdun dynasty==