Dietrich
DietrichDietrich was a count in Westfalen (Westphalia), a region in Sachsen (Saxony) ["Cuius pater, nomine Thietricus, in occidentali regione comes fuerat gloriosus ..." Vita Mahthildis reginae, c. 2, MGH SS 4: 285]. Later sources which would make him a count of Ringelheim or of Oldenburg, or duke of Saxony, have no authority [see Waitz (1885), 17].
Date of birth: Unknown.
Place of birth: Unknown.
Date of death: After 929.
The appearance of Dietrich in two
lists of living individuals in 929 shows that he was then still
alive. See the entry on Bertheid below.
Place of death: Unknown.
Father: Unknown.
Mother: Mathilde,
living ca. 909, abbess of Herford.
["... Mahthild, mater Thietrici comitis, quae in
Herivordinense sedem possedit abbatiae, ..." Vitae
Mahthildis reginae, c. 2, MGH SS 4: 285]. See
also the page of Mathilde and the Commentary section.
Spouse: Reinhild, d.
after 931×2, of Danish-Frisian descent.
["Ab huius quoque posteris, postquam christianae
se submiserunt religioni, praedictae pater puellae proddit nomine
Tiedericus, cui nobilissima iuncta erat uxor Reinhilda, Fresonum
Danorumque genere progrediens." Vita Mahthildis
Reginae Antiquior, c. 2, MGH SS 10: 576; "A
posteris ergo eiusdem Witikini, egregii ducis, processit stirps
beatissimae Mahthildis. Cuius pater, nomine Thietricus, in
occidentali regione comes fuerat gloriosus, et venerabilem
Reinhildam, Danorum Fresonumque germine procreatum, moribus
probabilem, sibimet adiunxerat coniugum." Vita
Mahthildis Reginae, c. 2, MGH SS 4: 285]
Children:
Mathilde, d.
14 March 968;
m. Heinrich
I, d. 2 July 936, king of
Germany.
Bia, d. 25 May 929×932.
Bia was still alive in 929, when she
appears in two entries in the confraternity books of St. Gallen
and Reichenau [Althoff (1984), 366 (K 17); see below under
Bertheid]. She was deceased by 931×2, the time of composition of
a list of St. Gallen containing only deceased individuals
[Althoff (1976), 402]. Her date of death was 25 May ["VIII.
k. [Iunii] Bia soror regine Mahtild ob.." Calend.
Merseb., 114; 25 May "Bia praeposita"
Nec. Gandersheim, Althoff (1976), 402; "VIII. Kalend.
Iunii Bia soror reg. Mathildis" Trèves diptych,
Althoff (1976), 387]. See the Commentary section for a supposed
marriage.
Friderun, d. 10×12 January 971;
m. NN.
["IIII. Id. Ian. Friderim soror
Mathilt reginae" Trèves diptych, Althoff (1976), 387]
She appears as countess in the notice of her death ["Ob.
Fridarun comitissa [2. Id. Ian.]" Annales
necrologici Fuldenses, s.a. 971, MGH SS 13: 201], indicating
that she married a count, but the marriage is unknown. She
has often been identified with the daughter who married Wichmann,
but that identification does not appear feasible (see below).
Amalrada;
m. Eberhard, count of Hamaland.
The parentage and marriage of Amalrada is
given in Sigebert of Gembloux's life of her son, bishop Thierry I
of Metz ["Igitur virum vitae memorabilis et memoriae
venerabilis Deodericum, ex pago Saxoniae Hamalant oriundum,
comite Everardo patre et Amalrada matre accepimus progenitum,
orbis ad ornatum quem vere credimus ortum. ... Matrem nempe eius
scimus Mathildis reginae fuisse sororem, quae ex Heinrico rege
genuit Ottonem maiorem et Heinricum ducem, ... Hae vero erant
filiae Thiadrici ducis, ..." Sigebert, Vita
Deoderici I, MGH SS 4: 464].
NN (probably distinct from the above daughters);
m. Wichmann, d. 944, count in Saxony, brother of Hermann, duke of Sachsen.
The evidence for this marriage is indirect.
A count Egbert is referred to by the Annals of Quedlinburg and
Hildesheim as son of a matertera of Otto the Great
["Sed et rex Otto periculosissime contra Abodritos
conflixit, quos filius materterae eius Egbertus contra illum
congregavit." Annales Quedlinburgenses, s.a.
955, MGH SS 3: 58; cf. Ann. Hildesheimenses, ibid.], and
Widukind calls Egbert a consobrinus of the king ["consobrinus
regis Ecberhtus" Widukind, iii, 18 (p. 96); "Consobrinus
autem regis Ecberhtus", ibid., iii, 19 (p. 97)].
Thietmar states the same about count Wichmann the younger,
evidently Egbert's brother ["... Wigmannum, materterae
regis filium, et Ekbertum ..." Thietmar, ii, 6, MGH SS
3: 747]. Thus, a maternal aunt (matertera) of Otto was
married to the father of Egbert and Wichmann the younger. The
fact that Egbert and Wichmann were brothers is not directly
attested, and their parentage is also not directly attested.
However, there is strong evidence that their father was Wichmann
the elder, brother of Hermann, duke of Sachsen. For example,
Hermann is called a patruus of the yonger Wichmann
[Widukind, iii, 24 (p. 99); ibid., iii (p. 110)], and a reference
to Hermann and his nepotes is apparently referring to
Wichmann and Egbert [Widukind, iii, 29 (p. 100)]. (For the elder
Wichmann as a brother of Hermann, see the page of Hermann.) It has often been assumed that the aunt of Otto who
married Wichmann was one of the otherwise known sisters of
Mathilde, usually Friderun, sometimes Bia [see, e.g., Dümmler
(1876), 580]. However, that appears not to have been the case
[Althoff (1984), 73-4]. In events of the 950's, Widukind states
that Wichmann the younger was "destitutus a patre et
matre" [Widukind, iii, 50 (p. 110)]. Thus, Wichmann's
mother would not have been Friderun, who survived until 971.
Also, Widukind refers to the nepotes of Hermann as being
adolescentes in about 953×4 [Widukind, iii, 29 (p.
100)]. Thus, there mother would probably not have been Bia, who
was dead by 931×2 [Althoff (1984), 74]. See also the entry on
Bertheid below.
For bishop Robert of Trèves and other possible additional children, see the Commentary section.
Probable additional
daughter (perhaps the same as Wichmann's wife):
Bertheid (Perectheid/Perehtheid),
fl. 929.
Bertheid appears in two lists in memorial
books with king Heinrich, queen Mathilde, Dietrich and other
relations. The first list, from the memorial book of St. Gallen,
reads: "Heinrich, Mathilt, Otto, Heinrich, Prun,
Kerbrich, Adauui, Kysilbert, Thieterich, Reginhilt, Outo,
Amalrat, Perectheid, Fridirun, Pia omnesque debitores eius."
[see Schmid (1960), 186, plate 1; MGH Libri Confrat., 84 (I
265)]. Most of these individuals are easily identified. Besides
Bertheid, the individuals on the list are king Heinrich I and his
wife Mathilde, their children Otto I "the Great",
Heinrich, Bruno, Gerberga, and Hedwig, Gerberga's husband
Giselbert of Lorraine, Dietrich, his wife Reinhild, an otherwise
unknown Otto or Udo, and Dietrich and Reinhild's daughters
Amalrada, Friderun, and Bia. The other list, from the
confraternity book of Reichenau, starts with the same first eight
names (in a slightly different order), followed by fifteen other
names, and then "Theotirih, Uuitechind, Reginhilt,
Perehtheid, Pia, Friderun, Amalrat" and four other
names [see Schmid (1960), 187, plate 2; MGH Libri Confrat., 227
(II 247)]. The man listed here between Dietrich and Reinhild is
probably Dietrich's brother Widukind (see the page of Dietrich's
mother Mathilde). The appearance of the four names Amalrada, Friderun,
Bia, and Bertheid together on the two list argues strongly in
favor of her being another sister, or at the very least a close
relative [Schmid (1960), 188]. It is possible that Bertheid is to
be identified with the wife of Wichmann.
Probable relative:
Otto/Udo,
fl. 929.
See above under Bertheid. Although Otto/Udo
appears in only one of the above lists, every individual in that
list other than Bertheid and Otto/Udo is known to have been a
close relative of either Heinrich I or his wife Mathilde.
Ancestor: Widukind, fl. 777-785, Saxon leader.
(intervening generations
unknown)
Widukind appears in the Frankish annals
starting in 777 as a Saxon leader who refused to submit to
Charlemagne ["... excepto quod Widochindis rebellis
extitit cum paucis aliis ..." ARF, s.a. 777, 48]. The
struggle finally ended in 785, when Widukind was baptized and the
Saxons were subjugated ["Et ibi baptizati sunt
supranominati Widochindus et Abbi una cum sociis eorum; et tunc
tota Saxonia subiugata est." ARF, s.a. 785, 70]. The
date of death of Widukind is unknown.
Dietrich's descent from the famous Saxon leader is given in a number of places, including by the historians Widukind and Thietmar, without specifying the exact nature of the descent ["Et hi erant stirpis magni ducis Widukindi, qui bellum potens gessit contra magnum Karolum per triginta ferme annos." Widukind, i, 31 (p. 38); "[Mathildis] ... filiam Theodrici et Reinildae, ex Widukinni regis tribu exortam, ..." Thietmar, Chronicon, i, 6, MGH SS 3: 737].
Supposed son (evidence
weak):
Robert, d.
18×19 May [or 19 June?] 956, archbishop of Trèves, 931-956.
Robert died of the pestilence in 956
["Rotbertus Trevirensis episcopus, et Baldericus, et duo
alii episcopi ex ea peste sine mora defuncti sunt."
Flodoard, Annales, s.a. 956, 142; "...
pestilentia ... Ex qua Rodbertus archiepiscopus Treverensis et
Hadamarus abbas Fuldensis obierunt; ..." Regino, Chronicon
(continuation), s.a. 956, 169; Ann. Hildesheim., s.a.
956, MGH SS 3: 58; Lambert, Annales, s.a. 956, ibid.,
59]. Dümmler states that the necrology of St. Maximinus at
Hontheim gives 18 May for his death [Dümmler (1876), 281, n. 6,
citing Prodromus II, 977], and cites the necrology of Weissenburg
as giving 19 May [ibid.], but that source actually gives 19 June
["xiii. [kal. iul.] Ruodbertus archiepus Trever."
Kalendarium necrologicum Weissenburgense, Fontes
rerum Germ., 4: 312].
Although the claimed relationship between Dietrich and Robert was commonly accepted in the past, the evidence is either indirect or late, and arguments against the relationship began to appear in the 1980's [Hlawitschka (1987b), 40, n. 123, citing Winter (1981) and Hlawitschka (1987a), 36ff. (the latter two not seen by me)]. A document of Rather (10th century), indicates that Mathilde's son Bruno was a nepos of Robert ["Ne concessum nostris diebus illi suo atque (= atque suo) nepoti [Bruno], primatum scilicet dignissimo, ..." Rather, Conclusion deliberativa, c. 27, Waitz (1885), 108, n. 7, citing Ballerini's edition of Rather, p. 208]. One recension of Gesta Treverorum states that Robert's sister was married to the "emperor" ["Iste [Rubertus archiepiscopus] ... quod soror eius imperatori in matrimonio iuncta fuit; ..." Gesta Treverorum, MGH SS 8: 168]. That this "emperor" was king Heinrich I is suggested indirectly by Rather, but only stated explicitly by the late work of Aubry de Troisfontaines, who makes Robert a son of Dietrich and brother of Mathilde ["Quo tempore factus est Treverensis archiepiscopus Rupertus filius Theoderici Saxonie ducis, frater Mathildis regine Alemannie." Aubry de Troisfontaines, Chron., s.a. 921, MGH SS 23: 756]. Robert does not appear in two lists of 929 which include Dietrich and Reinhild and their daughters (see above under Bertheid), where we would expect him to appear if her really were a son of Dietrich.
Supposed son (unlikely): Ansfried, count, patruus
of bishop Ansfried.
Supposed son (unlikely): Lambert, father
of bishop Ansfried.
Supposed grandson (unlikely): Ansfried, d. 3 May 1010, count, bishop
of Utrecht, 995-1010.
Ansfried, a layman and count, became bishop
of Utrecht in 995 [Ann. Hildesheim., s.a. 995, MGH SS 3:
91] and died in 1010 [Ann. Quedlinburg., s.a. 1010, MGH
SS 3: 80; Ann. Hildesh., Ann. Lambert, s.a.
1010, ibid. 93; Althoff (1984), 299 (B 36)]. The father of bishop
Ansfried is stated to have been named Lambert [MGH SS 3: 777, n.
5]. Thietmar states that bishop Robert of Trèves was a patruus
of bishop Ansfried, and that the latter had another patruus
count Ansfried ["Vir felicis memoriae comes profecto
Ansfridus, vir omni inquam bonitate conspicuus, alto progenitorum
germine, dum adhuc esset puerulus, cum omni lege mundana a patruo
suo Rodberto, Trevericae civitatis episcopo, tum divina adprime
est institutus; inde a patruo suo, scilicet suo equivoco, 15
comitatuum comite, ..." Thietmar, iv, 22, MGH SS 3:
777]. Thus, the placement of these individuals in the family of
Dietrich depend on the supposed father-son relationship between
Dietrich and bishop Robert, and on the assumption that the word patruus
is to be interpreted strictly as "paternal uncle" in
both cases [see Wilmans (1867), 438; Baerten (1961), 1153-7].
Wilmans (and many others):
Falsely
attributed father:
NN/Immed/Sigebert, brother of Wikbert,
bishop of Verden, 873×4-908?
Falsely attributed
grandfather: Waltbert,
count, d. after 872, son of Wikbert,
son of Widukind.
Wilmans postulated that Dietrich's father was an unnamed
son of Waltbert [Wilmans (1867), 436-8; see Hlawitschka (2006),
72-4, for a list of references which have followed Wilmans,
usually without giving Dietrich's father a name, but sometimes
with a name conjectured (e.g., Immed, Sigebert)] As the only
descendants of Widukind whose exact line of descent is clearly
documented, Wikbert, bishop of Verden, his father Waltbert, and
Waltbert's father Wikbert (son of Widukind) make natural
candidates to whom previous researchers have tried to connect
those descendants whose exact line of descent is not known.
However, as Schmid has shown, the documents of Wildeshausen have
enough information about bishop Wikbert to show that Mathilde's
husband was not a brother of Wikbert or a descendant of Waltbert
[Schmid (1964), 14]. Whatever the relationship was between
Dietrich and bishop Wikbert, Dietrich was not Wikbert's nephew.
Wenskus:
Falsely
attributed father (existence uncertain): Waltbert, son or
grandson of Abbo, son-in-law of Widukind.
[Hlawitschka (2006), 73 cites Wenskus (1976), 131ff. (not seen by
me) for this hypothesis.] The theory is based on the separation
of Waltbert, the founder of Wildeshausen and Vreden, into two
different people. [See Hlawitschka (2006), 73-4]
Depoin:
Supposed
marriage of daughter Bia (doubtful, source unknown): Friedrich, ancestor of the counts of
Wettin.
[Depoin (1907), 348, no source cited]
Depoin:
Falsely
attributed earlier husbands of Amalrada: (1) Wigeric
of Bidgau, d. 916×9; (2) Ricuin of Verdun, d. 923.
These marriages were first proposed by
Depoin [Depoin (1907), 329-330], and the proposal was later
developed further by Brière [Brière (1962)]. The basis of the
hypothesis was a misinterpreted statement from the chronicle of
Sigebert of Gembloux, which stated that bishop Thierry of Metz
was succeeded by his nephew (fratruelis) Adalbero
["Deoderico Mettensium episcopo defuncto, succedit
Adelbero fratruelis eius, ..." Sigebert of Gembloux, Chron.,
s.a. 1046, MGH SS 6: 358]. From the chronological placement of
this entry, Sigebert is clearly referring to Thierry II
(1005-46), son of Sigefroid
of Luxemburg, and his nephew Adalbero
III (1046-72), son of Frédéric. Depoin misread
this as a reference to bishops Thierry I (son of Eberhard of
Hamaland and Amalrada) and Adalbero II (son of duke Frédéric of
Upper Lorraine), and sought a way to make them uncle and nephew.
The scenario he suggested was that Wigeric's wife Cunégonde died
during his lifetime, and that he next married Amalrada, by whom
he had Frédéric, duke of Upper Lorraine. In this scenario, it is
Amalrada (and not Cunégonde) who then married Ricuin, before
marrying Eberhard of Hamaland, by whom she was mother of bishop
Thierry I of Metz. This theory was severely criticized by Parisot
[Parisot (1907-8), 58: 101-4; Parisot (1909)], and there is no
reason to give it the slightest credence.
Decker-Hauff:
Falsely
attributed daughter:
Hildegard,
m. Hermann, d. 1 April 973, duke of Sachsen.
This is based on the suggestion that
Hermann's brother Wichmann (see above) was actually a
brother-in-law [Decker-Hauff (1955), 269-70; against this, see
Tellenbach (1956), 177]. There is no good reason to accept
Decker-Hauff's hypothesis.
Althoff (1976) = Gerd Althoff, "Unerkannte Zeugnisse vom Totengedenken der Liudolfinger", Deutsches Archiv für Erforschung des Mittelalters 32 (1976): 370-404.
Althoff (1984) = Gerd Althoff, Adels- und Königsfamilien im Spiegel ihrer Memorialüberlieferung (Munich, 1984).
Baerten (1961) = J. Baerten, "Les Ansfrid au X siècle", Revue belge de philologie et d'histoire 39 (1961): 1144-58.
Brière (1962) = Pierre Brière, "Les origines de la première Maison de Luxembourg", Publications de la Section historique de l'Institut Grand-Ducal de Luxembourg 79 (1962): 9-22.
Calend. Merseb. = Ludwig Hesse, "Calendrium Merseburgense", Zeitschrift für Archivkunde, Diplomatik und Geschichte 1 (1834): 101-150.
Decker-Hauff (1955) = Hansmartin Decker-Hauff, "Die Ottonen und Schwaben", Zeitschrift für Württemburgische Landesgeschichte 14 (1955), 233-371.
Depoin (1907) = Joseph Depoin, "Wicman II, comte du Hamaland, bienfaiteur de Saint-Pierre de Gand au Xe siècle", in Paul Bergmans, ed., Annales du XXe Congrès (Gand, 1907), 2 vols (Ghent, 1907), 2: 315-351.
Dümmler (1876) = Rudolf Köpke & Ernst Dümmler, Kaiser Otto der Große (Leipzig, 1876).
Flodoard, Annales = Ph. Lauer, ed., Les Annales de Flodoard (Paris, 1905).
Hlawitschka (1987a) = Eduard Hlawitschka, "Kontroverses aus dem Umfeld von König Heinrichs I. Gemahlin Mathilde", in Deus qui mutat tempora, Festschrift für Alfons Becker (Sigmaringen, 1987), 33-54. [I have not seen this work.]
Hlawitschka (1987b) = Eduard Hlawitschka, Untersuchungen zu den Thronwechseln der ersten Hälfte des 11. Jahrhunderts und zur Adelsgeschichte Süddeutschlands (Sigmaringen, 1987).
MGH Libri Confrat. = Paul Piper, ed., Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Libri Confraternitatum Sancti Galli Augiensis Fabariensis (Berlin, 1884).
MGH SS = Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores series.
Parisot (1907-8) = Robert Parisot, "Les Origines de la Haute-Lorraine et sa première maison ducale (959-1033), Mémoires de la Société d'Archéologie Lorraine et du Musée historique Lorrain 57 (1907): 151-428; 58 (1908): 5-265.
Parisot (1909) = Robert Parisot, review of Depoin, Wicmann II, comte du Hamaland, bienfaiteur de Saint-Pierre de Gand au dixième siècle, in Annales de l'Est et du Nord 5 (1909): 457-460.
Regino, Chronicon = Friedrich Kurze, ed., Reginonis abbatis Prumiensis Chronicon cum continuatione Treverensi (MGH SRG, Hannover, 1890).
Schmid (1960) = Karl Schmid, "Neue Quellen zum Verständnis des Adels im 10. Jahrhundert", Zeitschrift für die Geschichte des Oberrheins 108 (1960): 185-232.
Schmid (1964) = Karl Schmid, "Die Nachfahren Widukinds", Deutsches Archiv für Erforschung des Mittelalters 20 (1964): 1-47.
Tellenbach (1956) = Gerd Tellenbach, "Kritische Studien zur großfränkischen und alemanniscen Adelsgeschichte", Zeitschrift für Württemburgische Landesgeschichte 15 (1956): 169-190.
Waitz (1885) = Georg Waitz, Jahrbücher des Deutschen Reichs under König Heinrich I. (3rd, ed., Leipzig, 1885).
Wenskus (1976) = Reinhard Wenskus, Sächsischer Stammesadel und fränkischer Reichsadel (Göttingen, 1976). [I have not seen this work]
Widukind = Georg Waitz & Karl Andreas Kehr, eds., Widukindi monachi Corbeiensis Rerum Gestarum Saxonicarum libri tres (4th ed., MGH SRG 55, Hannover & Leipzig, 1904).
Wilmans (1867) = Roger Wilmans, Die Kaiserurkunden der Provinz Westfalen 777-1313 (I: Die Urkunden des Karolingischen Zeitalters 777-900) (Münster, 1867).
Winter (1981) = J. M. van Winter, "Ansfried en Dirk, twee namen uit de Nederlandse geschiedenis van de 10e en 11e eeuw", Naamkunde 13 (1981): 39-59. [I have not seen this work.]
Compiled by Stewart Baldwin
First uploaded 3 April 2011.