The battle at Andernach took place at Andernach on the Rhine on October 2, 939, between supporters and opponents of King Otto I. The battle ended with a decisive defeat of the rebels and the death of two of their leaders, the Duke of Lorraine , Giselbert II of Maasgouw and the Duke of Frank, Everhard III of Franken. Dirk I van Holland also fell.
Duke Everhard III of Frank, who had been very loyal to King Hendrik de Vogelaar, soon after the death of this king, soon became in conflict with his son and successor, Otto I, who did not himself, as his father did, as "primus inter pares". When Eberhard and other princes refused to pay tribute to Otto in 937, other opponents of Otto joined Eberhard. In 938 Eberhard reunited with Otto's older half-brother Thankmar and Duke Everhard van Beieren. This did not go well for the rebels. Thankmar was killed by Otto's followers in the church of Eresburg and Everhard van Beieren was replaced by his uncle Berthold. After a brief reconciliation with Otto, Everhard III van Franken joined the Duke of Lorraine, Giselbert II of Maasgouw and Otto's younger brother Hendrik I of Bavaria in 939 and rebelled again. Giselbert, since 928 Duke of Lorraine, had also been loyal during the reign of Hendrik de Vogelaar, now trying to escape the influence of his brother-in-law (he was married to Gerberga of Saxony, a sister of Otto I, to escape and connect with the New King of West Francia Louis IV. He joined the rebel led by Hendrik I of Bavaria and Everhard III of Franken. In a battle at Birten, King Otto first made a victory over the rebels, even though he himself could pray and watch from the other side of the Rhine. Yet he was not able to capture the conspirators. Meanwhile, Giselbert and Eberhard went south, destroying the areas of royal tombs. They received support from Louis IV, from Otto's brother-in-law Hugo de Grote (married to Hedwig van Saksen, another sister of Otto I) and other important West Frankish rulers. When Otto Breisach sieged, the insurgents stormed from Metz to the Rhine and left the Rhine at Andernach.
After this army had been raided by the Niederlahngouw, the Rhine was again crossed by Andernach (now right to left). Giselbert and Everhard III of Franken were surprised by two royal-graves, Konrad Kurzbold, the Count of Niederlahngouw, and his cousin Udo, the Count of the Wetterau and the Rijngouw. Although the Conradines and the cousins of Everhard III were both on the side of Otto, they followed the rebels with a small army and attacked when the majority of the enemy army had already crossed over and across the Rhine. Everhard III of Franken was killed in battle, and when he tried to escape, Giselbert II van Maasgouw drowned in the Rhine. That's the end of the rebellion against King Otto I.
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