Within the
Carolingian Empire, old historical regions of
Austrasia and
Ripuaria were reorganized on several occasions, depending on dynastic divisions that were frequent throughout the 9th century. In 855, upon the
Treaty of Prüm that divided the
Middle Francia, king
Lothair II (855-869) received regions along rivers
Meuse,
Moselle and
Lower Rhine, and in time his realm came to be known as
Lotharingia. It was later divided, reunited or attached to neighboring realms (
West Francia and
East Francia) on several occasions. At the beginning of the 10th century, it was transformed into the
Stem Duchy of Lotharingia. In 953, German king
Otto I awarded the governance over the entire Duchy of Lotharingia to his brother
Bruno the Great, the
Archbishop of Cologne, who thus became the Duke of Lotharingia. In 959, Bruno divided the Duchy in two distinctive jurisdictions, one for the southern half (
Upper Lotharingia), and the other for the northern half (Lower Lotharingia), and that division became permanent following his death in 965. Both regions thus formed the western part of the
Holy Roman Empire, established by Bruno's elder brother, emperor Otto I in 962, but the exact chronology and nature of those divisions, that resulted in the creation of two distinctive duchies, is debated among scholars. Upon division, Lower Lotharingia was granted to count
Godfrey I of Mons (Hainaut) who thus became the duke of Lower Lotharingia. Godfrey's lands were to the north (lower down the
Rhine river system), while Upper Lotharingia was to the south (further up the river system). Both Lotharingian duchies took very separate paths thereafter: Upon the death of Godfrey's son Duke
Richar, Lower Lotharingia was directly ruled by the emperor, until in 977
Otto II enfeoffed
Charles, the exiled younger brother of King
Lothair of France. Lower and Upper Lorraine were once again briefly reunited under
Gothelo I from 1033 to 1044. After that, the Lower duchy was quickly marginalised, while Upper Lorraine came to be known as simply the Duchy of Lorraine. Over the next decades the significance of the Duchy of Lower Lotharingia diminished and furthermore was affected by the conflict between Emperors
Henry IV and
Henry V: In 1100 Henry IV had enfeoffed Count
Henry of Limburg, whom Henry V, having enforced the abdication of his father, immediately deposed and replaced by Count
Godfrey I of Louvain. Upon the death of Duke
Godfrey III in 1190, his son Duke
Henry I of Brabant inherited the ducal title by order of
Emperor Henry VI at the Diet of
Schwäbisch Hall. Thereby the Duchy of Lower Lotharingia finally lost its territorial authority, while the remnant Imperial fief held by the
dukes of Brabant was later called the
Duchy of Lothier (or Lothryk). Since Lower Lotharingia was encompassing the old historical region of
Ripuaria, mentioned as such in various sources from both
Carolingian and post-Carolingian era, such as the
Annals of Saint Bertin, the
Annals of Fulda, and others, with even king
Lothair II (855-869) being mentioned in the
Annals of Xanten as king of
Ripuaria (), or king of
Ripuarians (), it became customary in time to use similar archaic designations for Lower Lotharingia and its inhabitants. Thus,
Wipo of Burgundy (d. 1050) was mentioning the inhabitants of Lower Lotharingia as
Ripuarians (), and their
duke as the
duke of Ripuarians (). ==Successor states==