Balderich of Drenthe

Balderich von Drenthe (* around 965; † June 5, 1021 at Heimbach Castle in Heimbach (Eifel) ) was Count in Düffelgau ( pagus Dublinsis , Tubalgouw ) and from 1003/06 Count of Drenthe . He earned the reputation of one of the greatest troublemakers of his time on the Lower Rhine.

Origin, marriage and first feuds

Balderich was probably the son of a sister of the count and "praefectus" Gottfried / Godefrid in the Hattuariergau from a connection that was not befitting of his class. He therefore had little inherited property . His free float was mainly in Gelderland .

Through his marriage (no later than December 8, 996) to Adela von Hamaland , the widow of Immedinger Count Immed IV. († 983) and younger daughter of Count Wichmann von Hamaland , he acquired claims to considerably larger property. However - even after the decade-long inheritance dispute between Adela and her older sister Luitgard, the first abbess of Elten Abbey , in 996 - the legacy of her father in Hamaland , in the Veluwe , in the Betuwe , in Teisterbant , in the Düffelgau, as well as around Zütphen , the Elten monastery and the Uflach / Upladen castle to protracted arguments with Adela's son from his first marriage, Dietrich von Hamaland , the emperor Otto III. had transferred the count's office. When Dietrich von Hamaland was finally murdered by his own ministerials on April 7, 1014 , Dietrich's mother Adela and Balderich were widely believed to be at least complicit, as the two immediately seized his estates and castles.

Driven by ambition, his supposedly improper origin and his power-hungry wife, Balderich became a constant troublemaker on the Lower Rhine. In 1003 he was first announced as a count. In 1006 he appeared as a count in Drenthe and probably also in Salland . In the same year, as the governor of "Prefect" Gottfried, he fended off a Viking invasion of Tiel .

Quarrel with Wichmann and Godizo

After Gottfried's death there were also serious inheritance disputes about the Hattuariergau an der Niers with the castles Gennep and Geldern . Emperor Otto had there as guardian for Gottfried's feeble-minded son (Adelbert?) Living in Gennep, his brother-in-law, Billunger Wichmann III. , who married Gottfried's daughter Reinmodis (Reginmodis). Balderich, who felt ignored as Gottfried's nephew and cousin of the incapacitated, took legal action against it with armed force. He was supported by Count Lambert I von Löwen (around 955-1015), Count Gerhard III. von Metz, "Mosellanus" (965-1024 / 1025), the Archbishop of Cologne Heribert and his suffragan Bishop Adalbald II of Utrecht . Wichman III, aided by Godizo von Aspel and Heimbach , defended Adalbert's (and his own) claims, and a new bloody feud began. Balderich himself was captured and had to be ransomed by Adela. Peace was made twice, but both times the bargain was broken and the feud continued. Around 1010, Balderich was finally able to assert himself when King Heinrich II appointed him prefect, ignoring Wichmann's claims. Soon afterwards Balderich captured Gennep by force of arms. After Godizo died in 1011/1012, Balderich took Aspel Castle near Haldern and finally took Godizo's Hengebach Castle in Heimbach an der Rur .

First conviction

Balderich took part on the side of Reginar V and Lambert von Löwen in the battle of Florennes, lost against Duke Gottfried II of Lower Lorraine , on September 12, 1015, in which Lambert von Löwen was killed. On his way home, Balderich was caught by his opponents and taken to Wichmann's Monterberg Castle . He had to do without Aspel, swear primal feuds and buy himself out. In January 1016 the imperial court sentenced him and Adela to further assignments.

Wichmann's murder

Only a few months later, on October 6, 1016, Count Wichmann was slain on his way home from a meeting with Balderich at his castle Uflach not far from the castle. Since Balderich and Adela were blamed for the murder, Bishop Adalbald II of Utrecht, who had long since switched to Balderich's opponents, moved to Uflach Castle to besiege them and bring Balderich to account. Adela fled to Archbishop Heribert in Cologne and died there between 1021 and 1028. Balderich initially entrenched himself in Uflach, but then fled in time to Gerhard von Metz, who gave him Heimbach Castle. Uflach Castle was captured and destroyed by Bishop Adalbald.

Second conviction

The next year, Balderich was captured for a short time, but was released on condition that he stand at the 1018 Reichstag in Nijmegen . There he was convicted of the murder of Wichmann and lost all his offices and property. In the following year he was acquitted of the murder of Wichmann at the Reichstag in Dortmund, but he never got his possessions back.

Last years and death

He moved to Heimbach Castle, from where he made the area unsafe with nightly raids. After a few years there was a reconciliation with the emperor. Balderich died in Heimbach Castle in 1021 and was buried in the Zyfflich Monastery near Nijmegen , which he and Adela had donated between 1014 and 1016.

Remarks

1. ↑ Zyfflich , Doesburg , Hummelo , Angerlo , Voorthuizen , Didam , Tongeren, Dieren, Soeren, Doornspijk , Helbergen, Voorst , Azewijn and Westervoort as well as in the not exactly identified places Swelle, Eliza, Merclede, Hecra, Hecheim, Dule, Eltna and Lopena . ( [1] Balderik)
2. ↑ He was probably related to both; with Gerhard about Kunigunde von Hennegau and with Lambert about Reginar II from Hennegau and Richar von Aspel .

Web links

• Balderich, at Holland & Frisia (Engl.)
• Balderik, Graaf van Drenthe en Salland (Dutch)
• Upladen / Opladen in the Middle Ages (Dutch)
• The history of Heimbach (PDF file; 1.96 MB)

literature

• AG van Dalen, Balderik en Adela: pleidooi voor rehabilitatie. In: Archief, orgaan van de Oudheidkundige vereniging "De Graafschap." 1977, pp. 121–128 (Dutch)
• Edith Ennen: Women in the Middle Ages. 5th edition. Beck, Munich 1994, ISBN 3-406-37799-8