Gothelo was the youngest son of Godfrey I, Count of Verdun, and Matilda,[2] daughter of Herman, Duke of Saxony.
On his father's death, he received the march of Antwerp and became a vassal of his brother, Godfrey II, who became duke of Lower Lorraine in 1012.
[3] In the Battle of Bar on 15 November 1037, Gothelo dealt a decisive blow to Odo, who was trying to create an independent state between France and Germany.
This caused a long rebellion in Lotharingia between the allies of Godfrey (the counts of Flanders and Leuven) and imperial forces (1044–1056).
The name of Gothelo's wife is not known, the name Barbe de Lebarten (and in fact her entire ancestry), being a spurious concoction of later genealogists.