Ezzo, Count Palatine of Lotharingia

As brother-in-law of Emperor Otto III, father of Queen Richeza of Poland and several other illustrious children, he was one of the most important figures of the Rhenish history of his time.

Ezzo received lands in Cochem on the Mosel river, in Maifeld, the Flamersheimer Wald and estates around Tomburg Castle near Rheinbach, as well as half the usufruct of Villewaldin.

Unsuccessful candidate to the imperial throne upon the death of Emperor Otto III in 1002, his relation with the new Ottonian king Henry II was immediately very tense.

He reconciled with Ezzo, recognized its rights of inheritance and gave him the royal territories of Kaiserswerth, Duisburg as well as Saalfeld in Thuringia for renouncing to the throne.

He also associated the Ezzonid dynasty to his Eastern policies, and mediated the marriage of Ezzo's daughter Richeza with the heir to the Polish throne Mieszko II Lambert.

Ezzo's growing power and the increased prestige of his house were reflected in the founding of the family, Brauweiler Abbey, the place where his marriage had been celebrated and whose construction begun after a trip to Rome of the couple in 1024.