Pagus of Hasbania

{{short description|Medieval geo-political territory in east of modern Belgium}} {{About|the medieval geo-political territory|the modern geographical region|Hesbaye}}

The ''[[pagus]]'' or ''[[Gau (territory)|gau]]'' of '''''Hasbania''''' was a large [[Early Middle Ages|early medieval]] territory in what is now eastern [[Belgium]]. It is now approximated by the modern French- and Dutch-speaking region called [[Hesbaye]] in French, or ''Haspengouw'' in Dutch — both being terms derived from the medieval one. Unlike many smaller ''pagi'' of the period, ''Hasbania'' apparently never corresponded to a single county. It already contained several in the 9th century. It is therefore described as a "{{lang|de|Großgau}}" (large gau), like the [[Pagus of Brabant]], by modern German historians such as Ulrich Nonn.

The Hesbaye region was a core agricultural territory for the early [[Franks]] who settled in the Roman ''[[Civitas Tungrorum]]'', which was one of the main parts of early Frankish [[Austrasia]], and later [[Lotharingia]]. The region was also culturally important, a central part of what is referred to in art history as the [[Mosan art|Mosan]] region. It contained a substantial Romanized population and the seat of a large bishopric, that played a role in converting northern Franks to Christianity, and in the secular administration of the area. The bishop's seat moved from the Roman capital at [[Tongeren]] to a new base at [[Liège]], both of which were located in ''Hasbania''.

Geographically, this region centres around a fertile plateau, which has been an agricultural region since the [[Neolithic]]. This higher ground forms a [[Drainage divide|watershed]] between the Meuse and [[Scheldt]] [[drainage basin]]s. In modern times "Hesbaye" and "Haspengouw" are geographical terms which are used for example in tourism and agriculture, and do not have the geo-political importance that they had in the early [[Middle Ages]].

==Location== [[File:Medieval Hesbaye.png|thumb|400px|The green stars show early medieval records of places which were in the ''pagus'' of ''Hasbania'', lying to the north and west of a bend in the [[Meuse]] (or Maas) river at [[Liège]]. The shaded areas are modern provinces of Belgium and the Netherlands.]] Early medieval records mentioning identifiable places in the ''pagus'' of ''Hasbania'' included both [[Maastricht]] and [[Liège]] on the [[Meuse]] river, which formed the apparent boundary to the south and east. Many of the earliest records were from near the [[Gete]] river system, and stretched in places as far north as the [[Demer]] river, for example in the area of [[Diest]].

In the southwest, medieval records show that the ''pagus'' stretched to the area near the [[Abbey of Gembloux]], in the modern Belgian [[Namur (province)|Province of Namur]]. {{ill|Grand-Leez|fr||nl}}, just east of [[Gembloux]], was named in different medieval records as being either in the Darnau ''pagus'', which was a part of the ''[[Pagus Lomacensis]]'', or in ''Hasbania''.<ref>Grand-Leez in Hasbania: Nonn p. 134, footnote 708: "''Lecem''" [...] "''quoque in pago Hasbanito habitum''" (''Diplomata Belgica'' document [https://www.diplomata-belgica.be/charter_details_fr.php?dibe_id=3913 3913]). For Grand-Leez in the Lommegau see for example Roland, p. 47 (''Diplomata Belgica'' document [https://www.diplomata-belgica.be/charter_details_fr.php?dibe_id=3789 3789].</ref>

Some scholars such as [[Léon Vanderkindere]], and following him also Jean Baerten, and more recently Karl Verhelst, believe that from the earliest times Louvain ([[Leuven]]) was an integral part of Hasbania, and that the ''pagus'' stretched northwest of the line between Louvain and Diest, to the point where the Demer and Dyle join. However, the history of this less agricultural area is unclear before the 11th century, and the first mentions of a [[County of Louvain]] are under [[Lambert I, Count of Louvain|Count Lambert I]] in 1003.

==Name== In the earliest records, the Germanic element "gau" was not included as part of the name, and the typical Latin spelling is ''Hasbania''. Occasionally the name is in an adjectival form indicating "(of the) Hasbanien(s)" (''Hasbaniensis''). Later come forms with the "gau" element such as ''Haspengewe'' in 966 and ''Haspengouue'' in 982, similar to the modern Dutch word for the area, "Haspengouw".<ref>Nonn p.&nbsp;134.</ref>

[[Maurits Gysseling]] suggested the first part of the name, ''Has-'', could technically have come from the word [[Chatti]], an ancient German tribe whose name apparently changed into the later [[Hesse]] following known pronunciation changes which happened in Germany, but this is considered unlikely to be the real origin. The second element could be related to the word for the medieval concept of "[[Ban (medieval)|ban]]", meaning a type of authority or lordship, and is similar to endings of other Frankish regions known from this period. Another common proposal is that the name was originally an older name of a locality within the region, such as the one where the villages of Overhespen and Neerhespen are.<ref>Nonn p.&nbsp;133.</ref>

Verhelst (p.&nbsp;245 n.45) proposed that the small number cases of medieval Latin which include the Germanic "gau" ending are uncoincidentally in or near the old deaconry of Tongeren, which he proposed to be the historical core of the Hesbaye. Therefore, he proposed, the terms Hasbania and Haspengouw can not be assumed to have identical meanings in all records, even though in modern Dutch the form with "gouw" is now the only one, while in modern French the form without is the only one.

According to some proposals, the name may once have applied to a much smaller area, for example, the area near Overhespen and Neerhespen, both now in [[Linter, Belgium|Linter]]. Toorians has proposed that such place-names might derive from villas owned by Roman era land owners with the Gaulish name Casibennos.

==Importance and origin== In the 4th century the Roman emperor [[Julian the Apostate]] permitted the [[Salians|Salian]] [[Franks]] to settle just north of the Hesbaye area in [[Texandria]]. He met them in [[Tongeren]], the Roman capital of the ''[[Civitas Tungrorum]]'', which is today a part of the Dutch-speaking part of the Hesbaye (or Haspengouw). During the following centuries, the southern more-Romanized population sent missionaries north to convert the Franks to Christianity.

The Franks, for their part, contributed heavily to the Roman military, and according to [[Gregory of Tours]], they established small kingdoms in each of the old Roman ''[[civitates]]''. The Hesbaye became a particularly important region for the Frankish aristocracy and clergy, straddling the northernmost stretch of the medieval [[Germanic languages|Germanic]]-[[Romance languages|Romance]] language border in Europe. Nobility associated with the area had numerous relations with the major dynasties of the medieval Franks. {{harvtxt|Ewig|1969| pp=10–11}} proposed that Hasbania together with the neighbouring [[Meuse]] ({{langx|nl|Maas}}) river valley, formed one of the old [[Austrasia]]n provinces ruled by a ''dux'' or military leader, along with the [[Champagne (province)|Champagne]], the [[Moselle]], [[Alsace]] and [[Ripuarian Franks|Ribuaria]]. He proposed that it was possibly named ''Masuaria'', and was based on the core (''Kernraum'') of the large Roman [[Civitas Tungrorum|''civitas'' of Tongeren]].

==Clerical boundaries== [[File:Medieval Archdioceses under the Bishop of Liège.png|thumb|350px|Late medieval Archdioceses compared to the approximate ''pagi'' (gau) positions in crimson. The ''Hasbania'' or Hesbaye archdiocese is green, and stretches east to include Aachen, beyond the normal territory of Hasbania. The red boundaries are modern international borders.]] In the Middle Ages, the [[bishopric of Liège]] continued to exist, as the church of the old Roman ''civitas Tungrorum''.

Around 800, the Bishop of Liège addressed himself to his faithful parishioners, naming only the people of the [[Condroz]], [[Pagus Lomacensis|Lomme]] (later the core of [[County of Namur]]), ''Hasbania'', and the Ardennes, with no mention of the Meuse valley or Texandria further north.<ref>Mansi, ''Sacrorum conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio'', 13, [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k515954/f548.image column 1084]</ref> This record has been taken as showing that the northern part of the old Roman ''civitas'' now under the spiritual leadership of Liège no longer had clear parochial boundaries, and missionary work to extend the Christian diocese was on-going at this time.<ref>J. Dhondt (1952) 'Proloog van de Brabantse geschiedenis. Een inleiding tot de politieke geschiedenis van Noord-Brabant in de 9de en 10de eeuw', in ''Bijdragen tot de studie van het Brabants Heem'', III, p.14.</ref>

The later medieval Catholic [[archdeacon]]ries of the Hesbaye region, established by the [[Bishop of Liège]], are difficult to match to political or geographical concepts, though attempts have been made to gain insight this way, for example by Baerten and Verhelst. Clerically, much of geographical Hesbaye was divided between neighbouring jurisdictions, while the archdeaconry named ''Hasbania'' stretched far eastwards over the Meuse, as far as [[Aachen]] in modern [[Germany]].

==Earliest records== The earliest mention Nonn gives is in the medieval biography of [[Bavo of Ghent]] (622–659) which says that Bavo came from the "''ducatus''" of the ''Hasbaniensis'', indicating that it was an early Frankish form of dukedom.<ref>Also see Ewig.</ref>

In 680 in a record by the [[Merovingian]] King [[Theuderic III]] granting lands to the [[Abbey of St Vaast]] in [[Arras]], known from a later confirmation of 875–877, places mentioned are described as being in the ''pagi'' of ''Hasbania'' and ''Ribuaria''. The best identified ones are near [[Sint-Truiden]]: Halmaal, Muizen, and Emmeren in Hoepertingen.<ref>Nonn p. 134 n.698; Pacquay 1903 p. 262; Daris p. 36.</ref>

Hesbaye, or at least the country of the Hesbanien people, is next mentioned in a charter of 741/2 which exists in several versions, wherein a "count or duke of ''Hasbania''" (''comes vel dux Hasbanie'') named Robert, son of Lambert, granted lands near [[Diest]] to [[Sint-Truiden Abbey]].<ref>Despy (1961) gives a critical review of this document and its versions.</ref> This was reported in the much later third continuation of the chronicle of the Abbey ([https://www.dmgh.de/mgh_ss_10/index.htm#page/371/mode/1up p. 371]), in its report of the charter, it specifically says that in the charter concerning the lands, this Robert called himself a count, but also that he was mentioned in the biography (''Vita'') of Bishop [[Eucherius of Orléans]]. In surviving versions of that ''Vita'', when [[Charles Martel]] exiled Eucherius to [[Cologne]] this was under the custody of a Duke Robert of Hasbania (''Hasbanio Chrodoberto duce'').<ref>''Vita Eucherii episcopi Aurelianensis'' MGM Script. rer. mer. VII, 1920 [https://www.dmgh.de/mgh_ss_rer_merov_7/index.htm#page/50/mode/1up pp. 50–51]</ref>

A remarkable point about Count or Duke Robert of Hesbaye is that the lands given to the Abbey were described as being "''in pago Hasbaniensi et Masuarinsi''"— literally the land of Hasbanians and Masuarians. Masuaria is probably the Masao or [[Maasgau]]—the ''pagus'' or gau of the [[Meuse]] ({{langx|nl|Maas}}) valley districts nearest to these lands. Ewig and Nonn compare the word to a 714 document concerning [[Susteren Abbey]] north of Maastricht (''in pago Mosariorum'').

This has been seen by for example Gorissen, Ewig, and Nonn (p.&nbsp;93), as indicating that Robert had jurisdiction over an area larger than Hasbania, including at least part of the neighbouring Meuse valley.

Based almost entirely on his name, this [[Robert I, Count of Hesbaye|Count or Duke Robert]] is speculated by genealogists such as [[Christian Settipani]] to be a direct ancestor of the [[Robertians]] and the royal [[House of Capet]]. And Robert may well have been related to [[Ermengarde of Hesbaye|Ermengarde]], the wife of [[Louis I the Pious]], because her great-uncle Bishop [[Chrodegang]] was named in ''The Gesta Episcoporum Mettensis'' as being from Hasbania and of very noble Frankish descent ("ex pago Hasbaniensi" and "Francorum ex genere primæ nobilitatis progenitus"). Chrodegang's parents are known to have been named [[Sigramnus, Count of Hesbaye|Sigramnus]] and [[Landrada]], although their background can only be speculated upon.

==9th century== In the 9th century, there appear to have been several leaders in the Hesbaye. [[Ekkehard, Count of Hesbaye|Count Ekkebard]] was reported to be ''one'' of the leaders of the ''pagus'' of Hesbaye in 834 who tried to negotiate the release of Emperor [[Louis the Pious]].<ref>''Vita Hludowici Imperatoris'' 50, MGH SS II, [https://www.dmgh.de/mgh_ss_2/index.htm#page/636/mode/1up p.637].</ref> (Possibly the same person as Count Etkard who was killed, and had two sons captured, at the [[Battle of Toulouse (844)|siege of Toulouse]] against [[Pepin II of Aquitaine|Pepin II, King of Aquitaine]].<ref>Annales Bertiniani II 844, [http://www.dmgh.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb00000758_00041.html?sortIndex=010%3A070%3A0005%3A010%3A00%3A00&sort=score&order=desc&context=Etkardus&divisionTitle_str=&hl=false&fulltext=Etkardus p.31].</ref>)

In the mid 9th century, an important figure in this region was a count named [[Gilbert, Count of the Maasgau|Gilbert]] (or Giselbert), who may be an ancestor of the so-called [[Regnarids]] who would dominate the region in the next century. Two territorial holdings are described in documents: he was count in [[Darnau]], which later became a part of the [[County of Namur]], and also (by [[Nithard]]) "''comes Mansuariorum''", "Count of the Mansuari".<ref>HGH SS rer. Germ. [44]: Nithardi Historiarum [https://www.dmgh.de/mgh_ss_rer_germ_44/index.htm#page/31/mode/1up p.31]</ref> Historians associate this term with the "''pago Hasbaniensi et Masuarinsi''" of Count Robert near Diest in 741, and with both the Hesbaye and [[Meuse]] ({{langx|nl|Maas}}) valley to its east. The addition of the "n" in most of the copies is, however, surprising. Gorissen relates it the Merovingian "{{ill|Via Mansuerisca|fr||de||nl}}" which was in the [[Ardennes]], but which he understood to be a road named after its destination near [[Maastricht]].

[[Reginar Longneck|Reginar I "Longneck"]] (d. 915) is considered a likely son (or close relative) of this Gilbert. There are indications he also had direct interests in the Hesbaye. To the east of it, he was [[Lay Abbot]] of important Abbeys stretching from the Meuse to the Mosselle through the Ardennes, Saint-Servais in Maastricht, Echternach, Stavelot-Malmedy, and Saint-Maximin in [[Triers]], running approximately along the border defined in 870. However, his secular titles and activities are mainly only known from much later sources which are considered to be of uncertain reliability. Most relevant, [[Dudo of Saint-Quentin]], in describing the great deeds of the early Normans, calls Reginar I (who, along with a prince of the Frisians named Radbod, was an opponent of [[Rollo]]) a Duke of both Hainaut and Hesbaye.<ref>Dudo: "Raginerum Longi-Colli, Hasbacensem et Hainaucensem ducem" Dudo, [https://archive.org/stream/demoribusetacti00dudogoog#page/n153/mode/1up ii, 9].</ref> Centuries later [[William of Jumièges]], and then later still, [[Alberic de Trois Fontaines]] followed Dudo using the same titles when describing the same events. He was variously referred to as Duke, Count, Marquis, ''missus dominicus'', but historians doubt that these titles were connected to a particular territory. That he called himself a Duke is known from a charter at Stavelot 21 July 905.<ref>Parisot (1898) p.563</ref>

Traditionally, the 10th-century [[Rudolf, Count of Avernas|Count Rudolf]], discussed below, is seen as a grandson of Reginar I, and younger brother of [[Reginar III]].

==Treaty of Meerssen (870)== The [[Treaty of Meersen]] of 8 August 870 gave a relatively detailed description of [[Lotharingia]]n territories, in dividing them between [[Louis the German]], King of [[East Francia]], and his half-brother [[Charles the Bald]], King of the [[West Francia|West Franks]].

Notably, the treaty described ''Hasbania'' as having four counties (''in Hasbanio comitatus quatuor'').<ref>The detailed Treaty of Meerssen is found in several version. In the MGH editions: SS rer. Germ. 5 [https://www.dmgh.de/mgh_ss_rer_germ_5/index.htm#page/112 p.112], Capit. 2 [https://www.dmgh.de/mgh_capit_2/index.htm#page/195 p. 195]; SS 1 [https://www.dmgh.de/mgh_ss_1/index.htm#page/489 p. 489]; LL 1 [https://www.dmgh.de/mgh_ll_1/index.htm#page/517 p.517].</ref> All of these went to Charles in 870, with other territories west of the [[Meuse]] river, though they came back to the eastern kingdom in new agreements such as the [[Treaty of Ribemont]]. The detailed listing makes it clear that the various abbeys, the Meuse valley ''pagus'' of Masao, and the [[Luihgau]] (with Visé) were not included in these four counties.

[[Léon Vanderkindere|Vanderkindere]] in 1902 proposed four counties based on river boundaries, and the few mentions of counties in the 10th and 11th centuries. Adaptations to these proposals were made by {{harvtxt|Baerten|1965a}}, and later {{harvtxt|Verhelst|1985}}, who both referred also to medieval church jurisdictions, not only deaconries, but also old processional districts, arguing that these tended to follow political reality, but with a long lag, thus helping us see older political boundaries. Some of the possible counties can be listed. {| |colspan="3"|Three 20th-century proposals about the four counties of Hasbania, mentioned in the 870 treaty of Meerssen. |- |[[File:Vanderkindere 4 counties of Hesbaye.png|thumb|Approximate proposals by [[Léon Vanderkindere]] (1902)]] |[[File:Baerten 4 counties of Hesbaye.png|thumb|Jean Baerten's (1965) proposal, based upon Vanderkindere's]] |[[File:Verhelst 4 counties of Hesbaye in 870.png|thumb|Karl Verhelst's (1985) proposal for the early-9th-century counties]] |}

==Counties in the 9th and 10th centuries== ===The future county of Louvain, between Dyle and Demer=== Although there is no early medieval record of the future [[County of Louvain]] being considered to be part of the Hesbaye/Hasbania, there are also no records of it being in any of the other known ''pagi''. The area which is now eastern [[Flemish Brabant]], between the [[Gete]] and [[Dyle (river)|Dyle]] rivers, seems to have been relatively undeveloped, and is mentioned in few records. Verhelst proposed (pp.&nbsp;264–265) that ''Hasbania'' expanded naturally in this direction in the 7th to 9th centuries.

Vanderkindere proposed a large "northwestern" [[county of Louvain]] already existing in 870, stretching as far east as [[Diest]], and all within the original ''pagus'' of ''Hasbania'' named in the Treaty of Meerssen.<ref>Vanderkindere p.131.</ref> Verhelst and Baerten agreed that there probably was such a western county in 870, though not necessarily already named "Louvain", and smaller, not including Diest and [[Zoutleeuw]].

===''Brunengeruz''=== {{Main|Brunengeruz}} On the upper Gete, near [[Hoegaarden]] and [[Tienen]], Vanderkindere (p.&nbsp;131,143) proposed that the poorly attested 10th-century county of Brunengeruz could be considered the remnant of an older and larger "southwestern" county of Hesbaye which existed already in 870. Also known as "Brugeron" in older scholarship, it was named in a charter under which [[Emperor Otto III]] confirmed properties of the church of Liège including ''comitatum de Brunengeruuz''.

However, neither Baerten nor Verhelst list it as one of the 4 likely 870 counties, believing it only came into existence after 870. Verhelst argued explicitly that it was a newer creation that split out of the older western county in the 10th century. Baerten (1965a) argued that at least the part around [[Jodoigne]] had been part of the central county of Avernas.

===County of ''Haspinga''=== Vanderkindere considered the southeastern area between Liège and Maastricht and the [[Jeker]] and [[Meuse]] rivers to be one of the four counties of 870. More specifically this southeastern county was a county named after Hasbania itself. Baerten agreed, but Verhelst disagreed that there was any such separate county in that area, and argued that the county of Hesbaye found in old records was larger, and originally united with the northeastern county.

There are only a small number of mentions of a smaller county named after the greater ''pagus'' or gau of Hasbania: *The county of ''Haspinga'' was recorded in 1040 (''comitatum Arnoldi comitis nomine Haspinga in pago Haspingowi''), when granted by [[Emperor Henry III]] to the [[Saint Lambert's Cathedral, Liège|Cathedral of Saint-Lambert]] in Liège by charter dated 24 Jan 1040.<ref>See MGH DD H III 35 [https://www.dmgh.de/mgh_dd_h_iii/index.htm#page/45 p. 45]</ref> *Daris and Nonn interpret a 956 charter involving [[Jemeppe-sur-Meuse]] as another record of the same county, it being described as being in the ''pagus Hasbaniensis'' in the county of the same (''in ipse pago Hasbaniense in comitatus ipsius''). *Nonn adds that Stier near [[Donceel]] was described as being in a county named ''Asbanio'' in 961, in a document involving [[Gembloux Abbey]].<ref>Gesta Abbatum Gemblacensium MGH SS folio VIII [http://www.dmgh.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb00000873_00540.html.html p. 529]</ref> Also, the city of Maastricht, which is at the point where the Geer enters the Meuse, was also referred to sometimes as being in a county of ''Hasbania''. See below.

The importance of this county named after the larger ''pagus'' is a topic of much discussion. It was argued already by Jean de Hocsem in the Middle Ages that this had represented the name of an overarching lordship, covering all of Hesbaye, with the Count of Loon under it. This argument was used to explain the legitimacy of the claims of the [[Prince-Bishop of Liège]] to be overlord of the Counts of Loon. Vanderkindere, Baerten and Verhelst all accept variations of this proposal.

===County of "Huste"=== The northeastern county in 870, according to Baerten and Verhelst, was the one called "Huste" or "Hufte" in the mid-10th century, when it was under the jurisdiction of a Count Rudolf, who apparently also had jurisdiction over Avernas and at least part of the Maasland or Maasau.

This county is the apparent predecessor of the later [[County of Loon]], because like that 11th-century county, its jurisdiction apparently united places near both Borgloon and [[Maaseik]], which is in a different ''pagus'', the [[Masau]].

Baerten and Verhelst disagreed with Vanderkindere that the two 10th-century counties of Huste and Avernas originally formed one county in 870, when the Treaty of Meerssen was made, though they agreed that they came under one count in the mid-10th century. Instead, based upon clerical jurisdictions, and the later medieval division between the counties of Loon and Duras, they believe there was an old and long-lasting jurisdictional boundary between Sint-Truiden and Borgloon. Thus the region which already contained two counties in 870 according to them.

Disagreeing with both Vanderkindere and Baerten, Verhelst also proposed that this eastern county stretched further south beyond the Geer, all the way to Liège.

To support this conclusion, Baerten emphasized that a Sint-Truiden land transaction (now dated between 927 and 964 and probably around 950) distinguished several places in the small area between Sint-Truiden and Borgloon as being in the two different counties:<ref>''Diplomata Belgica'' [https://www.diplomata-belgica.be/charter_details_fr.php?dibe_id=1296 1296]. Baerten dates this charter to 953-958. The charter is also transcribed in the ''Cartulaire de l'abbaye de Saint-Trond'' Piot edition, [https://books.google.com/books?id=vQtCAAAAcAAJ Volume 1], pp. 6–7</ref> *In Avernas: {{ill|Muizen (Gingelom)|nl}} and {{ill|Buvingen|nl}} (both in [[Gingelom]]), and Heusden, a part of [[Kerkom-bij-Sint-Truiden]], which is now in [[Sint-Truiden]]. *In "Hufte", or Huste: [[Heers]] and {{ill|Engelmanshoven|nl}}. Baerten noted that the two groups are close, but separated by the old medieval deanery boundaries of Sint-Truiden and Tongeren, and in the 11th century probably also the boundaries between the counties of [[County of Duras|Duras]] and Loon probably ran in a similar way.

Huste appears to have been a geographical area that included [[Maaseik]] on the river [[Meuse]] ({{langx|nl|Maas}}). *4 Jul 952. Alden-Eyck near Maaseik is described as being "''in pago Huste in comitatu Ruodulphi''" (in the country of Huste, in the county of Rudolf).<ref>MGH DD Otto I [http://www.dmgh.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb00000442_00258.html?sortIndex=030%3A040%3A0001%3A010%3A00%3A00&sort=score&order=desc&context=%22Ragnarii+ac+Rodulfi+fratrum%22&hl=false&fulltext=%22Ragnarii+ac+Rodulfi+fratrum%22 p. 235]</ref>

The above land transaction does not name the count or counts with jurisdiction, but a Rudolf (not named as a count) is named as a neighbour bordering some of the lands. However, from other records it is known that one or more Count Rudolfs in this approximate period held all or part of the counties of Avernas and Huste/Hufte, including territory outside ''Hasbania'', in the Meuse valley where the County of Loon also had a presence. All these Rudolfs are therefore understood by Vanderkindere and Baerten to be one [[Rudolf, Count of Avernas]] who is argued to be a predecessor of the Counts of Loon.

Furthermore, this Count Rudolf is traditionally seen as a grandson of Reginar I, and younger brother of [[Reginar III]] who was banished to [[Bohemia]] in 958. Vanderkindere, Baerten, and others accept this identification. To support it, they note that like Reginar III, a Rudolf in this area was accused of infidelity to the king: *In 17 January 966, a Sint-Truiden Abbey charter states that a Rudolf's property at Gelmen (between St Truiden and Borgloon) had been confiscated and was now in the hands of the [[collegiate church]] of Maria in the imperial capital at Aachen. It was within the county of a [[Werner, Count in Hesbaye|Count Werner]] in the ''pagus'' of Hesbaye.<ref>MGH DD Otto I [http://www.dmgh.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb00000442_00453.html p.430]</ref> (This Rudolf, like the neighbour mentioned above, is not described as a count.)

This Count Werner thus appears to have been a count of the count of "Huste" or "Hufte". Hlawitschka has identified him as a probable member of the Matfrieder family. He died in 973 with his brother, fighting members of the Reginar family. It is not clear who replaced him in Hasbania, but in Hainaut, where he died, his probable relative [[Godfrey I, Count of Verdun|Count Godfrey "the captive"]] took control in subsequent years.

Huste or Hufte is considered by Baerten, Gorissen and others be a word derived from {{ill|Hocht|nl}}, in [[Lanaken]], close to Maastricht and the Hesbaye. Van de Weerd has proposed that Huste was [[Hoeselt]], close to Hocht, but in the Hesbaye. Wherever it was, Huste has been proposed to be the seat of an original core territory of the county of Loon in the 11th century. However, doubts remain about the location, and even the correct form of the name.

===County of Avernas=== Baerten and Verhelst proposed a county of Avernas, which stretched north to Diest, and already existed in 870. Based on its name, attested twice in the 10th century, the county's seat must have been at the villages of {{ill|Avernas-le-Bauduin|fr}} and {{ill|Cras Avernas|fr}}, now both part of [[Hannut]]. Apart from the charter mentioned above, which mentions no count, there is one other charter which mentions the county: *Approximately 946, a charter mentions "''villa lens in comitatu avernae temporibus rodulphi comitis''" (Villa Lens in the County of Avernas under the rule of Count Rodulphe).<ref>Beyer, [https://books.google.com/books?id=32HTAAAAMAAJ Urkundenbuch zur Geschichte] Vol 1, p. 246 nr. 184.</ref>

Lens is the name of two neighboring villages near the villages of Avernas, {{ill|Lens-Saint-Servais|fr}}, and {{ill|Lens-Saint-Remy|fr}}.

As noted by Baerten, it is remarkable that Count Werner, who apparently took control after Rudolf in neighbouring areas, does not appear as a signatory on a Sint-Truiden charter of 967, implying that he may not have taken control of all of Rudolf's counties. The charter was a grant by Bertha, the mother of Count Arnulf of Valenciennes, of land in Brustem (near Sint-Truiden) to Sint-Truiden Abbey.<ref>The charter is known from the Abbey's ''Gesta'', and from a later confirmation in the ''Cartulaire de l'abbaye de Saint-Trond'' Piot edition, [https://books.google.com/books?id=vQtCAAAAcAAJ Volume 1], p. 72.</ref> Baerten's explanation for this is that a suitable heir had been found, [[Rudolf, son of Nevelong]], a boy who had been proposed by Vanderkindere and Daris as the ancestor of the counts of Loon.

Verhelst, differently to Baerten, proposed that 9th-century Avernas originally included not only the medieval deaconries of [[Sint-Truiden]] and [[Zoutleeuw]], but also French-speaking [[Andenne]] and {{ill|Hanret|fr}}. Thus, like its neighbour "Huste", Verhelst believed that in 870 it would have stretched from Diest all the way to the [[Meuse]] ({{langx|nl|Maas}}).

Another difference between Baerten and Verhelst, as mentioned above, is that the "Brunengeruz" area around Hoegaarden the Great Gete was originally part of the western county according to Verhelst, whereas Baerten felt Jodoigne at least had originally been part of Avernas.

The only Count clearly named in the Hesbaye after Werner was named Eremfried, whose family connections are unclear. His county included Velm, very close to Sint-Truiden, Kerkom, Muizen and Buvingen, and he appears to have had a close connection to a family in the Ardennes which used the name Rudolf: *In a charter made in Capua, 26 July 982, "on the day that we fight the Saracens" Otto II certified that if a certain "Cunradus, son of the late count Rudolf" died, he wanted his possessions in Lotharingia to go to [[Gorze Abbey]], and these included "''curtis [[Velm]] in pago Haspongowe et in comitate Eremfridi comitis''".<ref>MGH DD OII [http://www.dmgh.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb00000443_00329.html p.326]</ref> In the [[Battle of Cotrone]] itself (13 July 982, so it had already happened) it seems that both this Conrad, and this count Eremfried, lost their lives. Velm, now part of St Truiden, did come under Gorze Abbey, and a Count Irimfrid was recorded as dying.<ref>MGH SS folio XIII 205 Annales necrologici Fuldenses</ref> However, this Conrad's possessions were widespread, and on the basis of those Vanderkindere (1902 pp.&nbsp;340–1) believes his father was Rodolphe [[Count of Chiny|Count of Ivois]].<ref>Also see how Conrad is remembered in Gorze itself: [https://archive.org/stream/revuemabillon06sociuoft#page/267].</ref> Of this Count, however, Vanderkindere (p.&nbsp;342) says that given his connection to Velm it is "not without some likelihood" that he is a member of the Regnarid family, where the name Rodolphe was familiar.

Both names, Eremfridus and Rodulfus, had appeared earlier as witnesses in the grant by Bertha, the mother of Count Arnulf of Valenciennes, of land in Brustem (near Sint-Truiden) to Sint-Truiden Abbey in 967.

===Maastricht and "Maasland"=== Verhelst, who did not believe in a separate southeastern county, instead proposed a county near Maastricht and Visé. He believed that in the 7th to 9th centuries, Hasbania expanded past the [[Meuse]] ({{langx|nl|Maas}}) to include the area between Maastricht and Aachen and the future county of [[Liugas]] to the south, as far as the [[Amblève (river)|Amblève]]. This originally large county was, according to Verhelst, called the county of Maasland.

In 9th- and 10th-century records, Maastricht is described as being in the ''pagus'' and ''county'' of "Masaland". However, it is once described as being in the ''pagus'' of ''Hasbania'' and county of Masalant (in 898), and once as being simply in the county of ''Hasbania'' (919).<ref>Nonn, p. 91; Verhelst p. 261.</ref> Verhelst believed previous interpretations, which equate Masaland with the Masau or Maasgau, were wrong, and that Maasland was a county within Hasbania. According to Verhelst (p.&nbsp;262) the 950 charter which describes a place further north in the Masao as being in the ''pagus'' of "''Masalant''" must be an error caused by the fact that the same count, a [[Rudolf, Count of Avernas|Count Rudolf]], had jurisdiction in both places.

In contrast, Baerten described the hinterland of Maastricht, between it and Tongeren, as part of the "district" of Maastricht, which is separately named in the treaty of 870, and therefore not one of the four counties of ''Hasbania''.<ref>Baerten 1965a p.13; Nonn pp. 91–92.</ref>

===County of Huy=== Straddling the Meuse to its south was the [[County of Huy]], which had been created already before the 11th century, and already become the first county to be held directly by the Bishop of Liège.

==11th century== In the 11th century, the "northwestern" counties of [[County of Duras|Duras]] and Loon started appearing in records, and records show such counts were considered to have counties in the ''pagus'' of Hesbaye. These two counties for the original core of today's [[Belgian Limburg]]. Loon had its seat in Borgloon, near Tongeren, and the town of Duras [[:nl:Duras (België)|(nl)]] is today part of [[St Truiden]]. The records of lordships in this area are dominated in this period by the increasingly secular power of the Bishop of Liège.

===County of Loon=== {{Main|County of Loon}}

In 1078, a grant to the bishop was made by a widow named Ermengarde. It included properties at not only the important Loon towns of Borgloon and [[Kuringen]], but also closer to St Truiden, and even to the north, outside the Hesbaye. It has been suggested that in order to explain this she must have been married to Count Arnulf, but had no children with him.<ref>Kupper (2013)</ref>

===County of Duras=== {{Main|County of Duras}} The first explicit mention of Duras near Sint-Truiden was around 1100. The castle was held by a family descended from a younger brother of a count of Loon, [[Otto I, Count of Duras|Count Otto]] (died about 1087), whose family became known as the counts of Duras. The county later became part of the county of Loon.

===County of Moha=== {{Main|County of Moha}} In Vanderkindere's "southeast", the county of Moha existed between the Meuse and its tributary the [[Mehaigne]]. It was an [[allod]] that was sometimes referred to as a county because it was under the lordship of the counts of the [[Etichonid]] family who were Counts of [[Eguisheim]] and [[County of Dagsburg|Dagsburg]].<ref>Vanderkindere (1902) pp.151–56.</ref>

===County of Grez=== [[Grez-Doiceau]], in Wallonia just between Louvain and Wavre, was also the site of a little-known county in the 11th century. Counts [[Warner of Grez|Werner of Grez]] and his brother Henry of Grez are known from several records and accompanied [[Godfrey of Bouillon]] to Jerusalem.<ref>Vanderkindere (1902) pp.156–57.</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Murray, Alan V. (1992). Revue belge de Philologie et d'Histoire 70-2 pp. 301-329|title=The Army of Godfrey of Bouillon, 1096–1099: Structure and Dynamics of a Contingent on the First Crusade|journal=Revue Belge de Philologie et d'Histoire |date=1992 |volume=70 |issue=2 |pages=301–329 |doi=10.3406/rbph.1992.3824 |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/rbph_0035-0818_1992_num_70_2_3824}}</ref>

===County of Huy=== {{Main|County of Huy}} A significant part of the French-speaking Hesbaye came to be under the control of the County of Huy, which was also held a large part of [[Condroz]], south of the Meuse. In 985, this county came to be part of the secular lordship of the Bishop of Liège, contributing to the formation of one of the first "[[prince-bishop]]rics" of the Holy Roman Empire.

===County of Steppes=== A county of Steppes is mentioned in several Liège charters, for example in 1011, 1036, 1078 and 1124. It contained [[Hélécine]], [[Walshoutem]] and Avernas.<ref>Hélécine: ''Diplomata Belgica'' [https://www.diplomata-belgica.be/charter_details_fr.php?dibe_id=3725 3725]; others: Vanderkindere (1902) pp. 147–148.</ref> It was also the site of the 1213 [[Battle of Steppes]] between the Duke of Brabant and the Bishop of Liège, by which time the plain called Steppes was considered to be under the jurisdiction of [[Montenaken]]. According to Vanderkindere this was never a real county, but an area of jurisdiction under the Bishop, conveniently referred to this way.

===County of Dongelberg=== In 1036 and 1078, a County of Dongelberg is referred to. It contained [[Incourt, Belgium|Incourt]] and its neighbouring hamlet Brombais. Incourt is just south of Dongelberg, which is just south of Jodoigne. As with Steppes, Vanderkindere believed this was never a real county, but an area of jurisdiction under the Bishop, conveniently referred to this way.<ref>Vanderkindere (1902) p. 147.</ref>

== Notes == {{Reflist|2}}

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===Primary sources=== *Dudo, Historia Normannorum *''Gestorum Abbatem Trudonensium Continuatio Tertia'' 1007 MGH SS X, [http://www.dmgh.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb00000874_00380.html?sortIndex=010%3A050%3A0010%3A010%3A00%3A00&sort=score&order=desc&context=hasbania&hl=false&fulltext=hasbania p.371] [https://books.google.com/books?id=gRAaxM2uGjIC&pg=PA382 p.382] *Scheffer-Boichorst, Paulus (editor), ''Chronica Albrici Monachi Trium Fontium'', in Monumenta Germaniae Historica: Scriptorum, vol. 23, Hanover, 1874

==External links== *[http://sbaldw.home.mindspring.com/hproject/prov/regin001.htm Henry III project, Regnier I]

[[Category:Belgian nobility]] [[Category:Counts of Hesbaye|*]] [[Category:History of Belgian Limburg]] [[Category:Former states in the Low Countries|Hasbania]]