Giselbert
of Wallerfangen Giselbert
of WallerfangenGiselbert appears in an act of 996 (between 21 May and 23 September) in which a certain Bertha, widow of count Volkmar, gave Mutfort (Mudenfurt) in the pagus of Moselgau and countship of Vaudrevange/Wallerfangen, ruled by count Giselbert ["Dedit in pago Moselensi in comitatu Waldelevinga, cui Gisilbertus comes preesse videtur, villam Mudenfurt nominatum, ..." Wampach (1935), 292 (#207)], receiving the village of Dalhem from the abbacy in exchange ["... Dedimus ei econtra in precario per manum sepenominati advocati nostri comitis Henrici in eodem pago et comitatu villam Dalheim nominatam ..." ibid., 293]. Both places are very near to Luxemburg, just to the southeast [ibid., Map III]. Another act, from 962 (the year before Giselbert's father Sigefroid acquired the castle of Luxemburg), shows that Dalheim was acquired by the abbacy in that year, as a donation from a certain Thiedo, and that Wallerfangen was then ruled by a count Egilolf ["... predium Dalaheim nominatum, quod est in Rezcenci pago in comitatu Waldervinga, cui Egilolfus comes preesse videtur." Wampach (1935), 226 (#171); note that the pagus here is named as Rizzagau instead of Moselgau]. Giselbert accompanied the emperor Heinrich II (his brother-in-law) to Italy in 1004, and died of wounds received in Pavia in a riot which occurred after the coronation of the emperor as king of Italy ["Ibi tum quidam egreius iuvenis, Gisilbertus nomine, frater reginae, a Longobardis vulneratus oppeciit, et consociorum tristiciam vehementer adauxit." Thietmar, Chron., vi, 6, MGH SS 3: 806; "Tunc iuvenis quidam, frater reginae, Gislebertus nomine, a Langobardis vulneratur." Adelbold, Vita Henrici Imp., c. 39, MGH SS 4: 693].
Date of Birth: Unknown.
Place of
Birth: Unknown.
Date of Death: 18 May 1004.
The date of Giselbert's death is given as
18 May by the Ranshofer codex ["15. Kal. Iunii
Gisilbertus, frater Chunigundis imperatricis, Papiae occisus
obiit.", MGH SS 4: 791] and in the Merseberg necrology
["Gisilbertus frater imp(eratricis) Chunigunde"
Althoff (1984), 366 (K 16)]. The year of his death is given as
1004 by Annales Necrologici Fuldenses [MGH SS 13: 209].
Place of Death: Pavia, Italy.
Father: Sigefroid, living 997, ancestor of the counts of Luxemburg.
Mother: Hedwig, d. 13 December, after 993.
Spouse: Unknown (if any).
Possible children (usually
attributed to his brother Frédéric):
Medieval sources give Giselbert as the name of Otgive's father,
starting with Genealogia comitum Flandriae Bertiniana
["Balduinus Barbatus duxit filiam Gisleberti comitis
Odgivam, ex qua suscepit Balduinus Insulanum, ..." ,
MGH SS 9: 306], identified further as count of Luxemburg in most
sources. The observation that the count Giselbert of Luxemburg
who died in 1056×9 could not have been Otgive's father (for
chronological reasons) has generally led scholars to identify her
as a sister of that Giselbert, and a daughter of count Frédéric
(d. 1019). The alternate interpretation that Otgive was a
daughter of Frédéric's brother Giselbert is discussed in detail
on Otgive's page.
Otgive, d. 21 February 1030, m. Baldwin IV,
d. 29 or 30 May 1035, count of Flanders, 988-1035.
Gisèle, d. 22 May, year unknown;
generally believed to be the same as:
Gisèle, m. Raoul, advocate of
Saint-Pierre de Gand, lord of Alost.
Gisèle is known to have been a sister of
Otgive, and her connection to Giselbert obviously depends on the
correctness of Otgive's attribution as a daughter of Giselbert.
See Otgive's page for details.
Althoff (1984) = Gerd Althoff, Adels- und Königsfamilien im Spiegel ihrer Memorialüberlieferung (Munich, 1984).
Depoin (1904) = Joseph Depoin, "Sifroi Kunuz, Comte de Mosellane, tige de la Maison de Luxembourg", Ons Hemecht 7 (1904): 307-315, 349-358, 422-431, 507-516.
MGH SS = Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores series.
Wampach (1935) = Camillus Wampach, Urkunden- und Quellenbuch zur Geschichte der altluxemburgischen Territorien bis zur burgundischen Zeit, I (Luxemburg, 1935).
I would like to thank Peter Stewart for his comments on the internet newsgroup/mailing list soc.genealogy.medieval/GEN-MEDIEVAL in response to many of my postings there on this subject.
Compiled by Stewart Baldwin
First uploaded 5 April 2007.