Ricfried, Count of Betuwe explained

Ricfried was a 9th and 10th century count in Betuwe (Batavia) now in the Netherlands, possibly into parts of the Rhineland now in Germany.

Historians sometimes refer to his family as the "Balderics" because both his son and grandson were bishops named Balderic. Partly for this reason it has been proposed by historians such as Leon Vanderkindere that he may be an ancestor of the Counts of Loon (Looz) in modern Belgian Limburg, because this family also included a bishop named Balderic.

Life

He was mentioned in an 897 charter by Zwentibold, King of Lotharingia, as a Count with possessions in Betuwe.

He was also known as Count Dodo (comitatu Dodonis), his memorial calling him "Ricfridus hoc nomine Dodo vocatus … comes". The memorial names presul Baldricus … preses Rodolphus … victor Yrimfredus pariterque comes Nevelongus [prelate Balderic, governor Rudolph, victor Ehrenfried and count Nebelung] as his children. Virtually all that we know about Ricfried is based on this memorial and the one charter which mentions him.

The biography of Bishop Balderic I of Utrecht states that “he was the son of Count Ricfried in the Betuwe, who expelled the Vikings from Utrecht, after which Balderic, who like his immediate predecessors had resided in Deventer, was able to move the bishopric back to Utrecht.” Balderic is also identified as a cousin of Gilbert, Duke of Lorraine, and uncle of Baldrick I, Bishop of Liège.

Family

Ricfried married Herensinda, from an unknown family. Four sons are known from the monument, and a daughter has been proposed:

• Balderic, Bishop of Utrecht.
• "Victor" or "Rector" Iremfrid (died after 966). Apparently known for military prowess at his father's death, but not yet a count. Jongbloed (2016) argued that he must have taken over Nevelung's inheritance.
• "Preses" Rudolfe. Leon Vanderkindere proposed that he was Bishop of Laon. Jongbloed (2016) argued that the grave record shows he was a count, with a wife and offspring. Aarts (1994) thinks praeses refers to the military "prefecture" known in this area which had historically suffered from Viking raids.
• Count Nevelung (died before 943). According to Jongbloed, Ricfried was initially succeeded by his son Nevelung as Count of Betuwe upon his death. However he had also died by 943. Jongbloed (2016) suggests he was part of the Regnarid rebellion which ended with the Battle of Andernach.
• An otherwise unknown daughter was proposed by Vanderkindere to have married Lambert. However this was part of a complex scenario which is no longer widely accepted.

Sources

• Aarts, Bas (1994) "Ansfried, graaf en bisschop. Een stand van zaken", in: J. Coolen en J. Forschelen (ed.), Opera Omnia II. Een verzameling geschied- en heemkundige opstellen, 7-85
• Vanderkindere, L. (1900) ‘A propos d´une charte de Baldéric d’Utrecht’, Académie royale de Belgique Bulletin de la Classe des Lettres et des Sciences Morales et Politiques (Bruxelles), https://archive.org/stream/bulletinmededeli1900acaduoft#page/36/mode/2up
• Weigle, Fritz, Balderich, Neue Deutsche Biographie, Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 1953
• Jongbloed, Hein H., (2006), "Immed “von Kleve” (um 950) – Das erste Klevische Grafenhaus (ca. 885-ca. 1015) als Vorstufe des geldrischen Fürstentums", Annalen des Historischen Vereins für den Niederrhein, Heft 209 http://www.mgh-bibliothek.de/dokumente/b/b035293.pdf
• Jongbloed, Hein H., (2009) "Listige Immo en Herswind. Een politieke wildebras in het Maasdal (938-960) en zijn in Thorn rustende dochter", Jaarboek. Limburgs Geschied- en Oudheidkundig Genootschap vol. 145 (2009) p. 9-67
• Vanderkindere, Léon, La Formation territoriale des principautés belges au Moyen Âge, Bruxelles, H. Lamertin, 1902 http://digistore.bib.ulb.ac.be/2006/DL2632839_002_f.pdf
• Warner, David A., Ottonian Germany. The Chronicon of Thietmar of Merseburg. Manchester, 2001