Richer, Count in Luihgau and Hainaut

Count Richar (or Richer, sometimes equated to the similar name "Richard") (died 16 October 972) was a 10th century Lotharingian count. He had a well-attested county in the Luihgau, a territory between Liège and Aachen, and he is generally considered to have held comital status in the County of Hainaut also, possibly in the area of Mons.

Life

After the death of Duke Godfrey, count of Hainaut and Duke of Lower Lotharingia in 964 in Italy, it has been proposed that the Emperor Otto I gave Count Richar at least part of the county of Hainault.

Count Richar appears in a charter of 2 June 965 making a grant of land at St Villers St Ghislain in memory of Duke Godfrey.[1]

In 966 Count Richar was described in a royal charter, as the count holding a county in Liugow which included Voeren (Furon), and Cortils in Blegny (Curcella). They were described as being in pago Liuhgouui in comitatu Richarii.[2]

In 972 Richer was killed in an attack upon his apparent uncle, Wigfried, Bishop of Verdun, by a certain Count Sigebert in "Wandersalis". This was described in the chronicle of the bishops of Verdun.[3]

  • In a grant of 973 to St Pauls in Verdun, Bishop Wigfried, granted land at Lockweiler arranged between him and his two relatives (sobrini), Count Luithard and his brother Count Richwin, for the soul of his nephew (nepos) Count Richer.[4]
  • 15 March 973, the emperor Otto I granted Eckfeld in the Eifel to the Abbey of Echternach, which Count Richar had previously held.[5]
  • Richer was memorialized in both St Paul in Verdun and St Gereon in Cologne on 16 October.[6]

In 973, after the death of Richer, a Count "Richizo", appears in a Hainaut grant concerning Crespin Abbey. Although this Richizo has sometimes been equated to Richer, Hlawitschka argued in 1969 that above-mentioned apparent brother of Richer, Count Richwin.[7][8]

Legacy

It has been proposed that he had at least one child, mentioned by Alpertus of Metz as a son of a "Richizo":

However, it is argued by Hlawitschka that Richizo is a short form name for Richwin, and that Richwin was a different count, probably closely related to Richer. This Richizo, thought to be Richwin, appears in a Hainaut record in 973, after the death of Richar.[8]

After Richer died there was a battle near Mons where Reginar IV and Lambert I attempted to take it over. It was defended by two brothers, Count Werner and Renaud, who were both killed. Hlawitschka believes they may have been brothers of Richer, or in any case close relatives.[9]

Footnotes
  1. Hlawitschka 1969, p. 94.
  2. Nonn 1983, p. 99.
  3. Gesta episcoporum Virdunensium (ed. G. Waitz), in: MGH SS IV, Hannover 1841, p.46. See Hlawitschka (1969, p. 93).
  4. Hlawitschka 1969, p. 92.
  5. Verdonk (2012, p. 35). MGH DD Otto I, nr. 428, p.581.
  6. Verdonk 2012, p. 35.
  7. Verdonk 2012, pp. 41,74.
  8. Hlawitschka 1969, p. 96.
  9. Hlawitschka 1969, p. 97.

Bibliography
  • Hlawitschka, Eduard (1969), Die Anfänge des Hauses Habsburg-Lothringen. Genealogische Untersuchungen zur Geschichte Lothringens und des Reiches im 9., 10. und 11. Jahrhundert
  • Nonn, Ulrich (1983), Pagus und Comitatus
  • Vanderkindere, Léon (1902), "Chapter 10", La formation territoriale des principautés belges au Moyen Age (PDF), 2, pp. 159–183
  • Verdonk, Henk (2012), Aarts, Bas (ed.), Alzey-Zutphen. Een onderzoek naar het rijksleen te Alzey van de graven van Zutphen

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