Background
He was the second son of Gérard de Bouzonville, count of Metz, and Gisela who was possibly a daughter of Thierry I, Duke of Upper Lorraine.
He was the second son of Gérard de Bouzonville, count of Metz, and Gisela who was possibly a daughter of Thierry I, Duke of Upper Lorraine.
On Adalbert"s death the next year, Gérard became duke, a position that he held until his death. In contemporary documents, he is called Gérard of Alsace (after his familial homeland), Gérard of Chatenoy (after an ancestral castle near Neufchâteau), or Gérard of Flanders (after his wife"s homeland). Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor, invested Adalbert with Lorraine in 1047 after confiscating it from Godfrey III. Godfrey did not back down, however, and killed Adalbert in battle.
Henry subsequently bestowed it on Gérard, but the deposed duke continued to stir.
Godfrey had the support of a faction of the noblesse who did not want a strong hand at the ducal helm and Gérard was imprisoned. Gérard, however, had the support of the chiefest of his bishops, that of Toul, Bruno of Eguisheim-Dagsburg (later the sainted Pope Leo IX), who procured his liberation in 1049.
The emperor gave him troops to assist him in his fight, for the rebels had the support of some elements in the church. His alliance with the church was regular but inconstant and he afforded his protection to Moyenmoutier Abbey, Saint-Mihiel Abbey, and Remiremont Abbey.
The former was the abbey of Cardinal Humbert of Silva Candida, who excommunicated the patriarch of Constantinople, Michael I Cerularius, in 1054, thus precipitating the Great Schism, and the latter was his own final resting place.
On 18 June 1053, Gérard and Prince Rudolf of Benevento led papal and Swabian troops into battle on behalf of Pope Leo. This was the Battle of Civitate and it was a disastrous loss for the pope. Gerard, however, returned to Lorraine.
Among his other construction projects, was that of the castle of Prény, in the centre of the duchy, the beginnings of the capital city, Nancy.
He died at Remiremont while trying to kill a revolt. Poisoning was suspected.
The date of his death is either 14 April or 11 August. This marriage helped patch up relations with the baronage.
They had the following issue:
Thierry II (c1055-1115), successor in Lorraine
Gérard (1057–1108), count of Vaudémont
Beatrice, married Stephen I, Count of Burgundy, Mâcon, and Vienne
Gisela, abbess of Remiremont
He was the patrilineal ancestor of the line of dukes which ruled Lorraine until 1737 and of the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty that ruled Tuscany (1737–1859), the Holy Roman Empire (1745–1807), Austria-Hungary (1780–1918), the Duchy of Parma (1814–1847), Duchy of Modena (1815–1859), and Mexico (1864–1867).