Ezzonids

Named after Ezzo, Count Palatine of Lotharingia from 1015 to 1034, they dominated the politics of the middle and lower Rhine and usually represented the royal interests.

The political ascent of the Ezzonid dynasty becomes historically visible with the number of counties they acquired in the second half of the tenth century.

In spite of their military accomplishments in the service of the Emperors, the Ezzonids did not succeed in building a territorial entity in Lotharingia.

It is the eldest and only surviving branch of the House of Berg, which was among the most powerful dynasties in the region of the lower Rhine during the Middle Ages.

The Ezzonid line probably survived in the counts of Limburg Stirum, who are believed to descend from Adolf I of Lotharingia, youngest son of Hermann I.