Counts of Montaigu
The Counts of Montaigu were 12th century nobles of Lower Lotharingia who were closely associated with the Counts of Duras and Clermont. Montaigu was a castle located on the river Ourthe, opposite Marcourt near La Roche in the Ardennes. The castle of Montaigu has been mostly destroyed, but a chapel dedicated to Saint Thibaut still resides the mountain on which it was built. The Counts of Montaigu also held the title of Lord of Rochefort. Rochefort is a municipality in Namur, and these holdings passed by inheritance to the Walcourt family, who married into the family of Counts of Chiny, particularly Louis III.
The Counts of Montaigu were:
- Gozelo I
- Cono, son of the previous
- Gozelo II, son of the previous
- Lambert, also Count of Clermont, brother of the previous
- Godefroi, also Count of Clermont and Duras, son of the previous
- Gilles, also Count of Clermont and Duras, son of the previous
- Cono, also Count of Duras, brother of the previous
- Wery II, also Seigneur of Walcourt, brother-in-law of the previous
- Thierry, also Seigneur of Walcourt, son of the previous and married to Gertrude, daughter of Louis III, Count of Chiny.
Cono I and his sons participated in the First Crusade with Godfrey of Bouillon. Thierry appears to have given up the countship of Montaigu although his great-grandson Thierry IV appears to have claimed dominion over three villages in the County of Montaigu.
The Counts of Clermont appear to have originated with a Widrich, father of Ermengarde, wife of Gozelo I, and passed on to the Counts of Montaigu through either marriage to a daughter of or sale by Giselbert, Count of Clermont.
