Count Richar (or Richer, sometimes equated to the similar name "Richard") (died 16 October 972) was a 10th-century
Lotharingian
Lotharingia ( la, regnum Lotharii regnum Lothariense Lotharingia; french: Lotharingie; german: Reich des Lothar Lotharingien Mittelreich; nl, Lotharingen) was a short-lived medieval successor kingdom of the Carolingian Empire. As a more durable ...
count
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...
. He had a well-attested county in the
Luihgau, a territory between
Liège
Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège.
The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...
and
Aachen
Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th- ...
, and he is generally considered to have held comital status in the
County of Hainaut
The County of Hainaut (french: Comté de Hainaut; nl, Graafschap Henegouwen; la, comitatus hanoniensis), sometimes spelled Hainault, was a territorial lordship within the medieval Holy Roman Empire that straddled what is now the border of Belg ...
, possibly in the area of
Mons
Mons (; German and nl, Bergen, ; Walloon and pcd, Mont) is a city and municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the province of Hainaut, Belgium.
Mons was made into a fortified city by Count Baldwin IV of Hainaut in the 12th century. T ...
.
Life
After the death of
Duke Godfrey,
count of Hainaut
The Count of Hainaut (; ; ) was the ruler of the county of Hainaut, a historical region in the Low Countries (including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany). In English-la ...
and
Duke of Lower Lotharingia
The rulers of Lorraine have held different posts under different governments over different regions, since its creation as the kingdom of Lotharingia by the Treaty of Prüm, in 855. The first rulers of the newly established region were kings of t ...
in 964 in Italy, it has been proposed that the
Emperor Otto I
Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), traditionally known as Otto the Great (german: Otto der Große, it, Ottone il Grande), was East Francia, East Frankish king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the olde ...
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.
In 966 Count Richar was described in a royal charter, as the count holding a county in Liuhgow which included
Voeren
Voeren (; ) is a Flanders, Flemish Dutch language, Dutch-speaking Municipalities of Belgium, municipality with Municipalities with language facilities, facilities for the Walloons, French-speaking minority, located in the Belgium, Belgian provi ...
(''Furon''), and ''Cortils'' in
Blegny
Blegny (, before 2001: Blégny; wa, Blegné) is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality of Wallonia located in the Liège Province, province of liège, Belgium.
On January 1, 2006, Blegny had a total population of 12,799. The total area is 2 ...
(''Curcella''). They were described as being ''in pago Liuhgouui in comitatu Richarii''.
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.
*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.
*15 March 973, the emperor Otto I granted Eckfeld in the Eifel to the
Abbey of Echternach
The Abbey of Echternach is a Benedictine monastery in the town of Echternach, in eastern Luxembourg. The Abbey was founded in the 7th century by St Willibrord, the patron saint of Luxembourg. For three hundred years, it benefited from the pat ...
, which Count Richar had previously held.
[. MGH DD Otto I, nr. 428]
p.581
*Richer was memorialized in both St Paul in Verdun and
St Gereon in Cologne on 16 October.
In 973, after the death of Richer, a Count "Richizo", appears in a Hainaut grant concerning
Crespin Abbey
Crespin Abbey (french: Abbaye de Crespin) was a Benedictine monastery in the commune of Crespin in the department of Nord, France, founded around 648 by the reformed brigand Landelin of Crespin, also the first abbot, and dissolved in 1802.
Fo ...
. Although this Richizo has sometimes been equated to Richer, Hlawitschka argued in 1969 that above-mentioned apparent brother of Richer, Count Richwin.
After Richer died there was a battle near Mons where
Reginar IV Reginar may refer to:
* Reginar, Duke of Lorraine (c. 850–915)
* Reginar II, Count of Hainaut (c. 890–932)
* Reginar III, Count of Hainaut (c. 920–973)
* Reginar IV, Count of Mons (c. 950–1013)
* Reginar V, Count of Mons (c. 995–1039)
* Ho ...
and
Lambert I attempted to take it over. It was defended by two brothers,
Count Werner and
Renaud
Renaud Pierre Manuel Séchan (), known as Renaud (), born 11 May 1952, is a French singer, songwriter and actor. His characteristically 'broken' voice makes for a very distinctive vocal style. Several of his songs are popular classics in F ...
, who were both killed. Hlawitschka believes they may have been brothers of Richer, or in any case close relatives.
Legacy
It has been proposed, for example by
Leon Vanderkindere
Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to:
Places
Europe
* León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León
* Province of León, Spain
* Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again fro ...
, that he had at least one child, mentioned by
Alpertus of Metz as a son of a "Richizo":
* Godizo of Aspel
Heimbach
Heimbach is a town in the district of Düren of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the river Rur, in the Eifel hills, approx. 20 km south of Düren. Heimbach has the smallest population of any town in North Rhin ...
(d. 1011–1015)
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.
Footnotes
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Richer, Count in Luihgau and Hainaut
972 deaths
Year of birth unknown
Dukes of Lower Lorraine
Counts of Mons
Medieval Belgium