The German monarch insisted on naming some creature of his own to the dignity of duke; but Lambert II., count of Louvain, and Robert, count of Namur, having married the sisters of Othon, respectively claimed the right of inheritance to his title.

Baldwin of the comely beard, count of Flanders, joined himself to their league, hoping to extend his power to the eastward of the Scheldt.

And, in fact, the emperor, as the only means of disuniting his two powerful vassals, felt himself obliged to cede Valenciennes and the islands of Zealand to Baldwin.
The imperial power thus lost ground at every struggle.
Amid the confusion of these events, a power well calculated to rival or even supplant that of the fierce counts was growing up.

Many circumstances were combined to extend and consolidate the episcopal sway.

It is true that the bishops of Tournay had no temporal authority since the period of their city being ruined by the Normans.