The Rorgonids were a powerful Frankish family dating from the eighth century. They are sometimes referred to as the first Mayennaise dynasty, referring to the city of

Mayenne Mayenne ( ) is a landlocked department in northwest France named after the river Mayenne. Mayenne is part of the administrative region of Pays de la Loire and is surrounded by the departments of Manche, Orne, Sarthe, Maine-et-Loire, and Il ...

, and are the original counts of Maine. The Rorgonids were named after

Rorgon I, Count of Maine Rorgon I or Rorico(n) I (also ''Rorgo'' or ''Rorich''; died 16 June 839 or 840) was the first count of Maine and progenitor of the Rorgonid dynasty, which is named for him. He was count of Rennes from 819 and of Maine from 832 until his death. ...

, who was the progenitor of the dynasty. His son,

Gauzfrid, Count of Maine Gauzfrid of Maine (died 878) was both Count of Maine and Margrave of the Norman March from 865 until his death. He was a son of Rorgon of Maine by his wife Bilechilde. In 861, Charles the Bald, king of West Francia, created the March of Neustria ...

, was the first to hold power in the Norman March of Neustria. The Rorgonids controlled the County of Maine throughout the ninth century. The Rorgonids and the Widonids competed for control of the

Breton March The Marches of Neustria (; ; Norman: ''Maurches de Neûtrie'') were two marches created in 861 by the Carolingian king of West Francia Charles the Bald. They were ruled by officials appointed by the Monarchy of France (or the Crown), known as w ...

through much of that time. The first known ruler of Maine (called the Duke of Maine) was Charivius, who is conjectured by

Christian Settipani Christian Settipani (born 31 January 1961) is a French genealogist, historian and IT professional, currently working as the Technical Director of a company in Paris. Biography Settipani holds a Master of Advanced Studies from the Paris-Sorb ...

to be the brother or nephew of Lambert, Count of Hesbaye. Further, Settipani identifies Charivius as a direct ancestor of the Rorgonids. Charivius was displaced as ruler of Maine by the Carolinians in 748, with his dynasty restored in 832. The House of Châteaudun descended from Gauzfred I (or Geoffrey I) whom Count Theobald I of Blois made viscount of Châteaudun in 956. Recent research makes him a direct-line

agnatic Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritanc ...

descendant of the Frankish family Rorgonides.

Sources

*Barton, Richard E., ''Lordship in the County of Maine, c. 890-1160'', Boydell Press, 2004 (available o
Google Books
*

. "Addendum to the Ancestors of Charlemagne"
PDF
. History of Normandy Frankish noble families