Herman of Ename
Herman of Ename (d. 28 May 1029), Count of Verdun (1022-1024) and Count of Brabant, was part of the Ardennes-Verdun dynasty. He was the third son of Godfrey I the Prisoner, Count of Verdun, and Matilda, daughter of Herman, Duke of Saxony, of the Billung family, a widow of Baldwin III of Flanders. He succeeded his brother Frederick as Count of Verdun in 1022.
Little is known about Herman other than he fought valiantly at his father’s side when Lothair of France attacked Verdun in 985, resulting in the capture of his father and brother Frederick. Herman and his brother Adalberon are credited with repulsing further progress of Lothair.
Herman’s father was Margrave of Ename and some credit Herman with the title Count of Ename. He was also Count of Brabant. Little is known about these positions or any successors.
Herman first married Mathilde of unknown origins. Herman and Mathilde had three children:
- Gregoire, Archdeacon of Liège
- Godefroi, Count of Westphalia and Count of Cappenberg
- Odilia, Abbess [unknown abbey].
Herman married secondly Goda, again of unknown origins. They had three children only one of which lived to adulthood:
- Mathilde de Verdun (d. after 1039), married Reginar V, Count of Mons.
Herman had one illegitimate son by an unknown mistress:
- Godefroi (d. before 995).
Herman retired to the Abbey of Saint-Vanne in 1024 and was succeeded by Louis, son of Otto I, Count of Chiny.
Sources
Germany and the Western Empire, Volume III of the Cambridge Medieval History, University of Cambridge, 1922
Abbé Charles Nicolas Gabriel, Verdun, Notice historique, 1888, réédition 1993
Poull, Georges, La maison souveraine et ducale de Bar, Presses Universitaires de Nancy, 1994
Crowe, Eyre Evans, The History of France, London: Longman, Brown, 1858