REGNER LONG NECK
Let us now deal briefly with the general course of events in Eastern
Belgium, or Lotharingia, attached to the Germanic Empire since 879. It
is merely, as we said, the story of the efforts made by the nobles, who
appear, for the first time, as a power in the State, to free themselves
from the control of their imperial suzerain. The aristocracy was
divided between the partisans of the German emperors and those of the
local chiefs, and between these parties no compromise was possible.
It would be without interest for the British reader to follow every
episode of this quarrel, but some of its aspects cannot be ignored in
the study of the formation of Belgian nationality.
Illustration: FEUDAL BELGIUM.
[_LOTHARINGIAN NOBLES_]
Two features characterize the policy of the native aristocracy: their
attachment to the Carolingian dynasty and the way in which they
endeavoured to preserve their freedom of action by concluding a series
of alliances either with France against Germany or with Germany against
France. It is easy to understand that, in these districts, which owed
so much to the Carolingian regime, the Carolingian tradition had
retained its prestige. The way the descendants of Lotharius had been
despoiled of their heritage by Charles and Louis became the pretext for
a series of insurrections against the new masters imposed on the
country by the second treaty of Verdun. The first of these movements
was led by Hugh, a natural son of Lotharius; it failed through the
capture of its leader. The second, which was far more important, was
led by a native lord, Regner Long Neck, son of one of Lotharius's
daughters, who possessed vast domains in Hainault, the Ardennes, the
Liege country and on the lower Meuse--that is to say, on both sides of
the language frontier. Regner may be considered as a typical
representative of this Lotharingian nobility, which, though defeated at
first, succeeded in the end in freeing itself from imperial control.
Speaking both languages, he was attached neither to the French nor to
the German party, but was ready to pass from one to the other according
to the interest of his policy, which was merely to preserve his own
independence. Regner differed entirely from the other nobles of the
Empire, such as the dukes of Saxony, Bavaria, etc., inasmuch as he did
not represent any ethnographic group. He was the ideal type of the
feudal lord for whom no interest prevails against his own. Thanks to
his alliance with the French king, he succeeded in defeating
Zwentibold, the son of the emperor, and established his rule over
Lotharingia. His capital was at Meersen, near Maestricht, on the
language frontier, midway between his Walloon and Flemish possessions.
From the point of view of international politics, his son Gislebert is
a still more striking personality. Threatened by Charles the Simple, he
concluded an alliance with the Emperor Henry, and succeeded thus in
shifting his position from France to Germany and from Germany to France
no less than four times. He was finally obliged to submit to the
emperor, whose power was steadily growing, and married his daughter
(925). Having risen against Otto, Henry's successor, he was defeated at
Andernach and drowned in the Rhine. Otto experienced further
difficulties in controlling his Belgian possessions, and only succeeded
by delegating his power to his brother Bruno, Archbishop of Cologne,
and germanizing the Lotharingian bishoprics of Liege and Cambrai.
For over a century, the German or germanized high clergy became the
strongest supporters of the emperor's influence in the country. Their
loyalty never failed, and was emphatically expressed by Wazo, Bishop of
Liege, who declared that "even if the emperor had his right eye put
out, he would not fail to use the left for his master's honour and
service." Bruno and Notger of Liege (974-1005) undertook to reform
their clergy and to encourage intellectual culture. Under their
guidance, Liege became once more a great centre of learning. Besides
theology, grammar, rhetoric and poetry, music and mathematics were
taught in the city, which could boast of being a "Northern Athens." The
movement reached Cambrai and Utrecht, and one of the most important
chronicles of the time, Sigebert's _De Scriptoribus Ecclesiasticis_--a
first attempt towards a universal history of Europe--was written in
the monastery of Gembloux. The prestige derived from this intellectual
movement helped considerably to increase German influence and brought
to Liege a number of foreign students from Germany, France, England,
and even from the Slav countries.
[_BALDWIN V_]
For a time, the resistance of the local aristocracy was overcome.
Regner of Hainault, nephew of Gislebert, had been exiled by Bruno, the
Carolingian dynasty was supplanted in France by the Capetian, and its
last representatives, Duke Charles and his son, lay buried side by side
in Maestricht. The descendants of Regner Long Neck nevertheless
remained powerful, owing, partly, to the marriage of Regner V of
Hainault with a daughter of Hugh Capet, and to the marriage of Lambert
of Louvain to the daughter of Duke Charles. From the first years of the
eleventh century, feudalism prevailed not only in Hainault and Brabant,
but also in Namur, Holland and Luxemburg, so that the only means the
emperor and his loyal bishops had to maintain their power was by
provoking rivalries among the nobles. The title of Duke of Lotharingia
was therefore not given to one of Regner's descendants, but to Godfrey
of Verdun, who succeeded in defeating his adversaries at Florennes
(1015), where he was killed. His successors did not show the same
loyalty to Germany, and when the Emperor Henry III attempted to divide
the duchy in order to diminish the duke's power, he found himself faced
by a powerful confederacy, including not only Godfrey the Bearded, the
counts of Louvain, Hainault, Namur and Holland, but also Baldwin V of
Flanders (1044).
The date is important, for it marks a turning-point in the mediaeval
history of Belgium. For two centuries Flanders and Lotharingia had
remained separated, dependent respectively on France and Germany for
their political life. By crossing the boundary established by the
Verdun treaty and interfering directly in the internal affairs of
Lotharingia, Baldwin inaugurated a new policy and rendered possible a
system of alliances between the Belgian nobles which brought about the
reunion of both parts of the country under the same sovereign and,
ultimately, the foundation of Belgian nationality.
The emperors might have resisted more successfully if they had
preserved to the last the support of the bishops, who had been for so
long their trustworthy agents. In order to understand how they lost
this support, we must describe briefly the conditions of religious life
during the tenth and eleventh centuries.
* * * * *
When the Normans left the country, it was again plunged in barbarism.
The monasteries were in every way similar to any other feudal
residence, and the ascetic rule of St. Benedict was entirely forgotten.
The abbots rather distinguished themselves from the other nobles by
their greed and violence. They married and indulged in drinking bouts
and predatory expeditions. A reform was urgently needed. Once more it
was not accomplished by the high clergy, but quite spontaneously by the
people themselves, whose faith had survived the ordeal of invasions.
[_REVIVAL_]
Gerard de Brogne, an obscure nobleman, possessor of the small domain of
Brogne, near Namur, after a visit to the Abbey of St. Denys, decided to
restore the Benedictine tradition. On his return, he founded an abbey
on his own land, gave up the world, and retired with a few disciples to
the solitude of the woods. The nobles soon heard of his exemplary life
and endeavoured to secure his services. Almost against his will, he
was made to go from one monastery to another under the patronage of
Duke Gislebert and of Arnulf of Flanders. St. Ghislain, St. Pierre, St.
Bavon (Ghent), St. Amand and St. Omer received his visit in turn, and,
by the middle of the tenth century, the old rule was re-established
from the Meuse to the sea. The bishops of Liege, Cambrai and Utrecht
joined in the movement and, with their help and that of the nobility, a
number of new monasteries sprang to life in a very short time on both
sides of the linguistic frontier. An extraordinary religious revival
took place, which was not limited to an intellectual aristocracy, like
the reform brought about almost at the same time by Bruno and Notgen in
the schools of Cologne and Liege. It was not concerned with science or
politics, and was essentially religious and popular in character. The
chronicles of the time tell us of many examples of religious fervour.
At St. Trond, the people volunteered to bring from the Rhine the stones
and pillars for the erection of a new church. Near Tournai, a colony of
monks established in the ruins of an old abbey were fed, year after
year, by the citizens. At the end of the eleventh century a great
procession was instituted in that town, in which the whole population
of the neighbouring districts took part, without any distinction of
rank or class, the people walking barefoot behind a miraculous image of
the Virgin. In order to put a stop to local conflicts, so frequent at
the time, it was enough to send a few monks carrying some sacred
shrine. At the sight of the relics, the contending warriors laid down
their weapons, forgot their quarrels and became reconciled.
Gerard de Brogne prepared the way for the Clunisian reformers, who,
coming from Lorraine, spread rapidly during the first part of the
eleventh century through Belgium towards Germany. This new movement,
however, which became extremely popular not only among the people and
the nobility but also among the high clergy, was bound to react on the
political situation of Lotharingia at a time when the question of the
supremacy of the spiritual over the temporal power was brought to the
fore. The Clunisians, like most mystics at the time, were bound to
reject any interference of the emperors in the affairs of the Church.
They only recognized one power, the spiritual power of the Pope. In the
struggle for the investitures, all their influence was thrown against
Henry IV and his German bishops. The latter, after a long resistance,
were obliged to give way before the popular outcry and the relentless
opposition of the feudal lords, who found in the new movement a
powerful and unexpected ally. French influence had come once more to
their help in their efforts to shake off German hegemony.
* * * * *
[_GODFREY OF BOUILLON_]
Against the combined action of the Clunisians, the Lotharingian nobles
and their new allies, the counts of Flanders, the emperors were still
powerless. After the death of Henry III, Count Baldwin V obtained some
territories between the Scheldt and the Dendre (Imperial Flanders) and
the supremacy over Hainault, through the marriage of his son to
Countess Richilda (1051). The Duke of Lotharingia, Godfrey the
Hunchback, the last Belgian supporter of imperial rule, after checking
the progress of the coalition, died, murdered in Zeeland (1076). His
son, Godfrey of Bouillon, sold his land to the Bishop of Liege and left
the country as the leader of the first crusade.
The Belgian princes, talking both languages, in close relations with
France and Germany, were bound to take an important part in the great
European adventure. They were, as far as the word may be used at this
period of history, more European than national lords. And it is no
doubt owing to this essentially Belgian character, as well as to his
personal qualities, that Godfrey was chosen by the crusaders as their
chief rather than other princes who, in spite of their greater riches
and power, were not so well placed to understand and conciliate rival
claims.
The same reasons which made Aix-la-Chapelle the capital of
Charlemagne's Empire gave the leadership of the mightiest European
expedition of the Middle Ages to a humble and ruined Belgian prince.
The first years of the twelfth century mark the triumph of local
feudalism over imperial rule. While Henry IV, under the ban of
excommunication, found a last refuge in Liege, his son gave the ducal
dignity to Godfrey of Louvain. Thus the house of Regner Long Neck,
after two centuries of ostracism, came into its own once more.