<b>Lorraine (843-1766)<b>

During the 8th century, Charlemagne had created an enormous empire. After his death, his grandchildren fought hard over their shares. In 843, a treaty was drawn up, and the lands were divided into three: the eastern part would go to Louis the German, the western part to Charles the Bald, and the central part - from modern day Netherlands to the south of Italy - to Lotharius. This vast stretch of land was of course indefensible, so  Lotharius himself divided his lands again. The central part, from the Alps to the Jura, went to France; Italy went to the ruler of the eastern lands; his only son, Lotharius received the lands from the Jura to the sea. The territory was named after him: Lotharii Regnum, also known as Lotharike, Lotharingen, Lothringen or Lorraine. It seemed like a promising territory, but alas: Lotharius II left only bastards, and his territory passed into the hands of the Holy Roman Empire: Germany.

Lorraine's lands were divided up among many lesser counts, among whom the lords of Bouillon were, with the position of duke, the greatest. They were effective masters of all the ancestral lands of Lorraine, but as the local counts became more and more independent in behaviour, often bypassing ducal or imperial regulations, the power of the dukes waned.
Probably with that thought in mind, Godefroy de Bouillon (also known as Gottfried or Godfrey of Bouillon) sold most of his remaining territories, including his castle at Bouillon. He must have realised that glory was not to be achieved in his backwater lands and joined the First Crusade. He was the first to arrive in the Holy Land and played an important part in the siege of Jerusalem. He eventually became Defender of the Holy Sepulchre (King of Jerusalem in all but name) but died the year after. He is still remembered to this day and was considered to be one of the three heroes of Christendom.

During this period, the duchy was divided into Upper and Lower Lorraine. The ducal title of Lower Lorraine was subsequently split again, divided between the counts of Leuven and Limburg, forming the duchies of Brabant and Limburg. Henceforth, Upper Lorraine was simply referred to as Lorraine.

Lorraine was a confusing territory: its lords hailed from the Ardennes, speaking French (or a similar dialect), but a large part of the duchy was inhabited by Germans. The lack of a unifying language did, however, not stop Lorraine from existing as a more or less independent territory right into the 17th century. The francophone dukes, while technically vassals of the emperor,were progressively absorbed into the French sphere of influence. The dukes fought (and sometimes died) at all the major French battles of the time: Bouvines, Kortrijk, Cassel, Crcy, Poitiers, Azincourt, Bulgnville; and after the battle of Mhldorf (1328), where they unsuccessfully supported the Habsburg claim to the imperial crown, they no longer interfered in imperial affairs.

But although the territory lived on in name, it changed hands several times. During the 15th century, it passed into the hands of the king of Naples, but not for long. Duke Nicholas failed to produce an heir, and Charles the Bold, duke of Burgundy, was eager to claim the lands, as they would connect his lands "over there" (his Dutch-speaking territories) with his Burgundian homeland.

However, there was another claimant, Ren, who was a direct descendant of an earlier duke of Lorraine. Collaborating with local forces (unhappy to see the Grand Duke of the West take their lands), the Swiss (feeling threatened by Burgundian expansion into Alsace) and the French, Ren created a large coalition, personally leading them against Charles the Bold. At the battle of Nancy, on 5 January 1477, Charles the Bold was killed as his army, thrice outnumbered, was routed and massacred. With the defeat of the duke of Burgundy, Lorraine's future was assured - but the lands once held by Charlemagne were to be disputed by the French and Germans for centuries to come.
