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TheDuke of Lothier was purely an honorific title.^[1] It is often associated with the territory within the Duchy ofLower Lotharingia, governed by thedukes of Brabant and their successors after 1190 until the end of theAncien Régime in 1796.

In 1190, at the Diet ofHall in the abbey of Comburg, theRoman EmperorHenry VI decided that theduke of Lower Lotharingia, at that momentHenry I of Brabant, would only have ducal authority within his own Lotharingian territories (the county ofLeuven) and his imperial fiefs (theMargraviate of Antwerp, theLandgraviate of Brabant and the domain of the abbey ofNivelles). The title of duke of Lothier became purely honorific and had no further territorial or judicial authority. A few legal courts of Lothier remained in existence, but they only decided in feudal matters.

Lothier should not be confused with the far greaterLower Lotharingia. It is only applicable to:

• The county ofLeuven andBrussels, although the Dukes of Brabant assumed this Carolingian heritage to beallodial.
• Thelandgraviate, from 1183/1184Duchy of Brabant, an imperial fief lifted out of the duchy of Lower Lotharingia from about 1085/1086. It included also the advocacy of all ecclesiastic institutions within the landgraviate.
• TheMargraviate of Antwerp, a traditional administrative fief of the former Dukes of Lower Lotharingia.
• The advocacy over the abbey ofNivelles, an imperial fief.
• The advocacy over the abbey ofGembloux.

• Duchies of the Holy Roman Empire
• Former states in the Low Countries
• Dukes of Brabant
• Dukes of Lower Lorraine
• States and territories established in 1190
• States and territories disestablished in 1796
• 1796 disestablishments
• Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor

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