Richenza (Werl-Northeim)

Richenza (also: Richeza, Richza ) (* around 1025; † before 1083?) Was Countess von Werl due to her first marriage and Countess von Northeim and from 1061 to 1070 Duchess of Bavaria .

After her supposed father, Duke Otto II of Swabia, she is also called Richenza of Swabia . According to the current state of research, the thesis of this descent is hardly tenable.

Life

origin

In 1933 Kimpen put forward the thesis that Richenza and Ida von Elsdorf were daughters of Ezzonen Otto, first Count Palatine and then Duke of Swabia. Although Kimpen himself later rejected his hypothesis, it was adopted by fellow students Lange and Hucke in their dissertations on the Northeimers and Udonen. While the extensive genealogical considerations on Ida von Elsdorf did not confirm this thesis, the descent of her alleged sister Richenza was little questioned by Duke Otto von Schwaben. On the contrary, she served several times as a reason for the rise of her second husband Otto von Northeim to Duke of Bavaria. Lewald in particular pointed out in their 1979 investigation of the Ezzone that Duke Otto von Schwaben could not have been inherited by his sister if he had had daughters. In 2005, Borchert came to the conclusion that the Richenza inheritance was in the Elbe-Weser region and that she must come from a family there. Since Richenza left her sons three main courtyards along the left bank of the Lower Elbe with around 150 hooves , which are mixed up with the genetic makeup of Billunger Wichmann II , she is likely to have been a descendant of his brother Ekberts the One-Eyed .

Marriages and children

Her first husband was Hermann III. , Count of Werl .

Daughter from this marriage:

• Oda von Werl (* 1050; † January 13, 1111) ∞ Lothar Udo II. , Count von Stade († March / May 1082)

Her second husband was Count Otto von Northeim , as Otto II Duke of Bavaria († 1083). From this marriage there were seven children:

• Henry the Fat , Margrave of Friesland
• Kuno von Northeim , Count of Beichlingen
• Siegfried III. , Count of Boyneburg
• Otto II, Count of Northeim
• Ida ∞ Thiemo , Count of Brehna (Wettiner)
• Ethelinde ∞ I Welf I , Duke of Bavaria, divorced 1070, ∞ II Hermann, attested 1105–1144, 1115 Count of Calvelage
• Mathilde ∞ Count Konrad von Arnsberg-Werl

death

There is no known evidence of the Richenza's death. It is believed that she died before her second husband Otto von Northeim, who died in 1083. So far, based on an entry in St. Blasien in Braunschweig, March was assumed to be the month of her death. Borchert pointed out that the Rikce ducissa mentioned there belongs to the 14th century and, based on an enigmatic note in the Harsefeld monastery necrology, suggested May 1st as the possible date of death.

So far it was assumed that Richenza was buried together with Otto von Northeim in front of the altar of St. Nicholas in Northeim Monastery. Since no female corpse was found there, Borchert proposes a burial in the Nikolaikapelle in the monastery and later Harsefeld monastery - the burial place of the Udons - as a new hypothesis , as Richenza had extensive genetic material in Harsefeld and her daughter Oda was married to the counting count there .

literature

• Sabine Borchert: Duke Otto von Northeim (around 1025-1083). Reich policy and personal environment (= publications of the Historical Commission for Lower Saxony and Bremen 227). Hahn, Hannover 2005, ISBN 3-7752-6027-7 (at the same time: Leipzig, Univ., Diss., 2003), in particular pp. 223–225: Excursus: On the origin of Richenza von Northeim , with extensive references to older literature.
• Eduard Hlawitschka , The ancestors of the high medieval German kings, emperors and their wives. An annotated table work (= Monumenta Germaniae historica, aid 25, 2). Volume 1: 911-1137. Part 2. Hahn, Hannover 2006, ISBN 3-7752-1132-2 , pp. 683-685: Richenza, Witwe Gf. Hermann III v. Werl, as mother Gf. Heinrichs (des Fetten) , pp. 688–690: Assumptions on the descent of Richenzas .