Charles was born in Laon in 953, the son of Louis IV, king of France, and Gerberga of Saxony, and younger brother of King Lothar I. He was a sixth generation descendant of Charlemagne.
About 975 Charles married Adela, of unknown parentage. They had a number of children of whom two daughters, Gerbera and Ermengarde, would have progeny, and three sons who did not. He may have married a second time, to Bonne, daughter of Godfrey I, count of Verdun.
His father probably gave Charles royal powers in Burgundy, but Lothar took them back upon reaching his majority. In 977 Charles accused Lothar's wife Emma of Italy, daughter of Lothar II, king of Italy, of infidelity with Adalberon, bishop of Laon. The council of Sainte-Macre at Fismes (near Reims) exonerated the queen and the bishop, but Charles maintained his claim. He was driven from the kingdom, finding refuge at the court of his cousin Emperor Otto II. Otto promised to crown Charles as soon as his brother Lothar was out of the way, and in May 977 in Thionville, Otto appointed Charles duke of Lower Lorraine.
In August 978, Lothar I invaded Germany and captured the imperial capital of Aachen, but he failed to capture either Otto or Charles. In October Otto and Charles in turn invaded France, devastating the land around Reims, Soissons and Laon. In the latter city, the chief seat of the kings of France, Charles was crowned by Theodoric I, bishop of Metz. Lothar fled to Paris and was besieged there. However a relief army led by Hugues Capet forced Otto and Charles to lift the siege on 30 November. Lothar and Capet, the tables turned once more, chased the German king and his liege back to Aachen and retook Laon.
As Charles had been a vassal of his brother Lothar, his acts on behalf of Otto were considered treasonous and he was thereafter excluded from the throne. On Lothar's death in 986, the magnates elected his son Louis V, and on the latter's death in 987 they elected Hugues Capet. Thus the House of Capet came to the throne over the disgraced and ignored Charles. Charles' marriage to the lowborn daughter of a vassal of Hugues was championed by his opponents as a cardinal reason to deny him the throne.
In order to have a free hand towards France, Charles resigned his duchy to the regency of his eldest son Otto. Charles made war on Hugues, even taking Reims and Laon. However, on Maundy Thursday, 26 March 991, he was captured, through the perfidy of Bishop Adalberon, and with his young second son Louis he was imprisoned by Hugues in Orléans, where he died a short while later, in or before 993.
In 1666 the sepulchre of Charles was discovered in the Basilica of Saint-Servais in Maastricht. His skin appears to have been interred there only in 1001, but that is not the date of his death as some scholars assumed.
Albert was the son of Robert, comte de Namur. While his father is last referred to in charters in 974, Albert only appears as count of Namur in 981. In 973 he joined Reginar IV and Lambert I, the sons of Reginar III, count in Hainault, who sought to reclaim the county that had been stripped from their disgraced father by Emperor Otto I. Albert was subsequently reconciled with the emperor and entrusted by him to defend Brogne Abbey in 998.
About 990 Albert married Ermengarde de Lorraine, daughter of Charles, duc de Lorraine, and his wife Adela. Of their eight children only Albert II is recorded with progeny.
Albert died shortly before 1011.
Albert was the son of Albert I, comte de Namur, and Ermengarde de Lorraine. He was count of Namur from the death of his brother Robert II between 1018 and 1031. His brother was no longer mentioned as active after 1018, though his name appears in a charter in 1031.
In 1037 Albert participated in the coalition against Eudes II, comte de Blois, Chartres, Troyes et Champagne, who sought to create a kingdom between France and Germany. In 1046 he sided with Emperor Heinrich III in his campaign against Geoffroy 'with the Bears', count of Verdun, duke of Upper-Lorraine, and Baudouin V, Graaf van Vlaanderen.
In 1047 Albert rebuilt the church of Saint-Aubin de Namur and made it a collegiate church.
With his wife Regelindis de Lorraine, daughter of Gozelo I, duke of Upper-Lorraine, Markgraf of Antwerpen, he had two sons Albert III and Henri I, who would both have progeny.
The circumstances of his death about 1063 are not known, but we know the approximate year of his death from a charter of 1070, dated to the seventh year of the reign of his son Albert III.
Albert was born about 1027, the son of Albert II, comte de Namur, and Regelindis de Lorraine. He was count of Namur from his father's death about 1063.
About 1067 Albert married Ida von Sachsen, widow of Friedrich, Graf von Luxemburg, duke of Lower-Lorraine, and daughter of Bernhard II, Herzog von Sachsen, and Eilica von Schweinfurt. Of their five children, Godefroid, Henri and Adelheid would have progeny.
From 1071 to 1072, Albert aided Richilde, heiress of Hainault, countess of Flanders and Hainault, to fight against her late husband Baudouin's brother Robert 'the Friesian', but Richilde was defeated and had to renounce Flanders in Robert's favour. In 1076, supported by Matilda, marchioness of Tuscany, he claimed the duchy of Bouillon through his mother, and he fought against Godefroy de Bouillon to assert his claims. During a battle near Dalhem on 20 September 1085 he killed the Count Palatine Hermann II of Lorraine, for which he was sent into disgrace by the German emperor. Finally in the Truce of God of 1086, the bishop of Liège managed to make a peace between the belligerents, though this was in Godefroy's favour.
In 1099 Bishop Otbert of Liège gave Albert the county of Brunengeruz. He appeared in a document of 1101 with his son Godefroid, but the latter was recorded alone in 1105.
Albert died on 22 June 1102.
Godefroid was born about 1069, the son of Albert III, comte de Namur, and Ida von Sachsen.
In 1087 Godefroid married Sibil de Porcean, daughter of Roger, comte de Château-Porcean, and his wife Ermengarde. In that year he became count of Château-Porcean, succeeding his father-in-law. He and Sibil had two daughters, Elisabeth and Flandrine, who would both have progeny.
In 1102 Godefroid became count of Namur and divorced his wife. She was married twice more, to Enguerrand I de Coucy, seigneur de Boves de Coucy, and Guitier, comte de Réthel, but did not have further progeny.
In 1109 Godefroid married Ermesinde, comtesse de Luxembourg, widow of Gottfried, Graf von Dagsburg, and daughter of Konrad I, Graf von Luxemburg, and Clémence de Poitou, heiress of Gleiberg. They had five children of whom Henri, Clémence, Adele and Beatrice would have progeny.
Godefroid remained a faithful supporter of the emperor in Lower Lorraine. In 1119 he supported his brother Frederic, bishop of Liège against Alexander von Jülich who was seeking to take over from Frederic as bishop. Godfried I 'with the Beard', duke of Lower-Lorraine, comte de Louvain, a supporter of Alexander, was defeated at Huy, but his forces ravaged the county of Namur and the bishopric of Liège in retreating.
In 1121 Godefroid founded the abbey of Floreffe, but he quarrelled with the religious authorities, pillaging the lands in Tourinne of the abbey of Stavelot in the Hesbaye. He also destroyed the abbey of Gembloux, following a dispute over the election of the abbot in 1136, and he massacred the monks. Three years later he renounced the county in favour of his son Henri and retired to the abbey of Floreffe. He died a few months later on 19 August 1139.
Gervase was the third son of Hugues I, comte de Réthel, and Mélisende de Monthléry. He was destined for a career in the Church, and in 1107 he was appointed archbishop of Rheims by Philippe I, king of France, instead of Raoul le Verd, dean of the cathedral chapter at Rheims, who had been elected by the chapter. He was deposed and condemned by the Council of Troyes on 23 May 1107.
Shortly after 1115 his older brother Manassès died, and his second brother Baudouin, having accompanied his cousin Godfrey of Bouillon on the First Crusade, had established himself in 1099 as count of Edessa and renounced his claim to the county of Réthel. Gervase became the heir to the county and succeeded his father on 28 December 1118.
With his wife Elisabeth de Namur, daughter of Godefroid, comte de Namur, and his first wife Sibil de Porcean, he had a daughter Melicent who would have progeny with both her husbands Robert de Marmion, sire de Fontenay-le-Marmion, and Richard de Camville, of Stanton.
Gervase died about 1124, and his widow married Clarembaud, sire de Rozoy. Gervase's sister Mathilde, married to Eudes, châtelain de Vitry, succeeded him. Her husband became comte de Réthel in her right.