The Henry Project: The Ancestors of King Henry II of England

FEMALE Gerberga/Gerberge

Wife of count Megingoz, tenth century.

Date of Birth: Unknown.
Place of Birth: Unknown.

Date of Death: Before 24 May 996, probably ca. 995.
A bull of Gregory V, dated 24 May 996, shows her as deceased on that date ["... a comite Megingozo divæque memoriæ conjuge eius Gerberga noviter constructum ..." Vanderkindere (1902), 2: 252]. The life of Adelheid states that Megingoz died three years after his wife ["Domnus itaque Megengoz post obitum coniugis supervixit trium annorum spatia, ..." Vita Adelheidis abbatissae Vilicensis, c. 4, MGH SS 15 (pt. 2): 759].
Place of Death: Unknown.

Father: Gottfried/Godefroid, count, fl. 934.

Mother: Ermentrude.

Spouses: Megingoz, d. ca. 998.

Children:

MALE Godefroid, killed in Bohemia while in the emperor's army, presumably in 977.

FEMALE Ermentrude, m. Heribert, d. 992, count in Kinziggau.

FEMALE Alberada, m. NN.

FEMALE Bertrada, abbess of St. Mary's, Cologne, d. 999×1023.

FEMALE Adelheid, abbess of Vilich and St. Mary's, Cologne.

Other than a few instances where Gerberga appears in a record with her husband Megingoz, the main source for her family relations is the Vita Adelheidis Abbatissae Vilicensis, especially chapter 3 [MGH SS 15, 757-8]. See the pages of Godefroid and Megingoz for further details.

Commentary

Falsely attributed fathers:

Gozlin, d. 942×3 [Holder-Egger, MGH SS 15: 757, n. 2; Vanderkindere (1902) 2: 171]

Godefroid, d. after 997, count of Verdun [Witte (1893-5), 5: 70]

These mistakes are based on erroneous identifications of the Godefroid who appears as Gerberge's father in Vita Adelheidis Abbatissae Vilicensis. See their pages for more details.

Bibliography

MGH SS = Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores series.

Vanderkindere (1902) = Léon Vanderkindere, La Formation Territoriale des Principautes Belge au Moyen Age (2 vols., 2nd ed., Brussels, 1902, reprinted 1981).

Witte (1893-5) = Heinrich Witte, "Genealogische Untersuchungen zur Geschichte Lothringens und das Westreich", Jahr-Buch der Gesellschaft für lothringische Geschichte und Altertumskunde 5 (1893): 26-107; 7 (1895): 79-124.

Compiled by Stewart Baldwin

First uploaded 5 April 2007.

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