Heilwig/Hélvide
Heilwig/HélvideDate of birth: Say
855×860.
Hélvide's mother
Gisela had at least three children before the death of her father
Louis the Pious in 840 [see the page of Eberhard]. Since Hélvide had two younger
sisters, her birth could be placed after 860 only by assuming an
improbably long interval between the births of Gisela's eldest
and youngest child. On the other hand, Hélvide's first husband
was still living in 894, so her birth could be placed earlier
than 855 only with great difficulty if Hélvide were the mother
of the children of her second husband Roger. However, the lower
limit given here could be relaxed significantly if Roger's sons
were by an unknown earlier wife.
Place of birth: Unknown.
Date of death: After 894.
Her first husband was still living
in 894.
Place of death: Unknown.
Father:
Eberhard, d. 865×6, duke of Friuli.
Mother: Gisela, d. after August 874, daughter of
Emperor Louis "the Pious".
See the page of Eberhard for a detailed account of the children of Eberhard and
Gisela.
Spouses:
See the Commentary section.
(1) Hucbald, fl. 894, count of
Ostrevant.
In his history of the church at Reims,
Flodoard tells us that Hucbald married a sister of abbot Raoul
["Hucboldus quidam, sororis huius Rodulfi maritus"
Flodoard, Historia Remensis ecclesiae, iv, 1, MGH SS 13:
558] and that archbishop Hervé of Reims was a nepos ex
sorore of Hucbald ["Sequitur in pontificatu Remensi
domnus Heriveus, ex aula quoque regis ad episcopatum assumptus,
vir genere nobilis, nepos videlicet ex sorore Hucbaldi comitis,
..." ibid., iv, 11, p. 575]. Flodoard also tells us
that when the relics of St. Calixtus were being transferred to
Reims, bishop Dodilon of Cambrai wanted to give them to Hucbald
[ibid., iv, 6, p. 569; Favre (1896), 161; Grierson (1939), 111,
n. 170]. This suggests that the county ruled by Hucbald was in
the diocese of Cambrai. That he was a partisan of king Eudes is
shown by his appearance in a fragmentary charter of Eudes in the
seventh year of his reign (13 January 894 - 12 January 895)
["fidelis noster Hucbaldus comes ... anno 7 reg. Odone
gloriossimo rege" Giry (1896), 133 (#24)] and in
another undated charter of king Eudes ["Hucbaldo comite"
Favre (1896), 161, n. 5]. As noted by Grierson, the only
counties in the diocese of Cambrai which were also in the kingdom
of Eudes were Artois and Ostrevant, and since Baldwin II of
Flanders was then in control of Artois, Grierson concludes that
Hucbald was count of Ostrevant [Grierson (1939), 111, n. 170;
independently concluded by Hirsch (1910), 81-2 (not seen by me)].
(2) Roger I, d. 926, count of
Laon, lay-abbot of Saint-Amand.
Roger became lay-abbot of Saint-Amand
probably in 922 or 923, succeeding king Robert I, and he appears
as abbot on 6 April 925 ["... devotus fidelis noster
Rotgerus comes atque memorandus abbas Elnonis monasterii
coenobiique ..." RHF 9: 567 (#6)]. He appears as count
of Laon in 923 ["... quas Rotgarius comes accipiens in
Laudunum castrum abduxit ..." Flodoard, Annales,
s.a. 923, 13]. At the record of his death in 926, he is called
the stepfather of Raoul, who had died earlier the same year
["Non multo post etiam Rotgarius vitricus ejus, comes
Laudunensis pagi, decessit." Flodoard, Annales, s.a.
926, 36].
Child by Hucbald:
See the Commentary section.
Raoul de Gouy, d. 926, count of
Ostrevant; probably also count of Amiens;
probably m. NN, heiress of
Ermenfrid, count of Amiens.
Raoul appears for the first time on 7 July 915, when he
intervened in an act of Charles the Simple ["... quidam
fideles nostri, videlicet Etbertus noster dilectus atque Rodulfus
comes, ..." RHF 9: 522 (#55)]. He was at the assembly
held at Heristal on 19 January 916 [Parisot (1898), 616-7; also
RHF 9: 526 (#59) (but illegible on the Gallica website copy)]. On
8 September 920, he appears in another act of Charles along with
Hagano, favorite of Charles ["... comites venerabiles
Hagano ac Rodulfus ..." RHF 9: 549 (#81)]. Raoul
appears as the stepson of count Roger in 923 ["Rodulfo,
privigno Rotgeri" Flodoard, Annales, s.a. 923,
15]. In 925, he is first referred to as Raoul de Gouy, when his
lands (along with the lands of the sons of Baldwin and the lands
of Helgaud) were excepted from a treaty between Hugues le Grand
and the Normans ["Hugo, filius Rotberti, pactum
securitatis accepit a Nordmannis, terra filiorum Balduini,
Rodulfi quoque de Gaugeio atque Hilgaudi extra securitatem
relicta." Flodoard, Annales, s.a. 925, 32]. He
is called the son of Hélvide at his death in 926 ["Rodulfus
comes, filius Heiluidis, obiit." Flodoard, Annales,
s.a. 926, 36]. His epithet of "de Gouy" (de
Gaugiaco) appears again in 943 when his son appears as
Raoul, son of Raoul de Gouy ["Rodulfum, filium Rodulfi
de Gaugiaco" Flodoard, Annales, s.a. 943, 87].
His son Raoul is generally regarded as the historical prototype
of the legendary hero Raoul de Cambrai of romance [Meyer
& Longnon (1882), xv-xxii]. Raoul de Gouy was probably also
the father of Gautier I, count of Amiens, Valois, and Vexin, and
thus ancestor of the later counts of Amiens, Valois, and Vexin
[Grierson (1939); for more details on Raoul de Gouy, see ibid.,
109-115].
Children of Roger I,
presumably by Hélvide:
There is no direct evidence that
the sons of Roger I were also sons of Hélvide. Although no
earlier wife of Roger is known, it is difficult to rule out the
existence of a previous wife, given the slender nature of the
evidence. See also the chronological comments above under
Hélvide's date of birth, and the Commentary section.
Roger II, d. 942, count of Laon,
lay-abbot of Saint-Amand.
In 927, there was a disagreement between king Raoul and count
Heribert II of Vermandois, in which Heribert wanted to give the
county of Laon to his son Eudes, but the king granted it to Roger
(II), one of the sons of Roger (I) ["Anno DCCCCXXVII,
inter Rodulfum regem et Heribertum comitem, pro Laudunensi
comitatu quem Heribertus Odoni, filio suo, dari petebat,
concedente illum rege cuidam filiorum Rotgarii, nomine Rotgario,
simultas exoritur." Flodoard, Annales, s.a.
927, 37]. He appears as lay-abbot of Saint-Amand in an act of
Louis IV dated 21 August 937 ["... fidelis noster
Rogerus ... res suæ abbatis S. Amandi ..." RHF 9: 587
(#4)]. He died in 942, while on a mission from Louis IV to
Guillaume of the Normans ["Rotgarius comes apud
Willelmum Nordmannorum principem functus legatione pro Ludowico
rege, ibidem defunctus est." Flodoard, Annales,
s.a. 942, 84].
NN, fl. 927, 928, 931. (at least one
other son)
The sons of Roger I are mentioned in the
plural by Flodoard on several occasions [e.g., Flodoard, Annales,
s.a. 927, 37, 39; s.a. 928, 41; s.a. 931, 48]. Grierson would
identify one of these with a count Hugues, son of Roger, who
appears in a charter of Hugues le Grand on 26 March 931 [RHF 9:
720; Grierson (1938), 263, n. 136; Grierson (1939), table], but
that was Hugues I, count of Maine.
The marriages and children of Hélvide
The outline of Hélvide's marriages and children depends on two key identifications:
Unfortunately, I have not yet seen the most detailed study of this problem, that of Paul Hirsch [Hirsch (1910), 80-5], so I have taken Grierson's brief outline as the basis for the following description. Hopefully, there will be a revision in the future which takes into account Hirsch's important study and gives more details.
According to Grierson, the parentage of Raoul de Gouy is based on the following considerations [Grierson (1939), 109, n. 162]:
Given these points, we can identify the Hélvide who was daughter of Eberhard of Friuli with the Hélvide who was mother of Raoul de Gouy, and further identify Hélvide as the daughter of Eberhard who was married to Hucbald.
Eckhart, Krüger:
False
identification of Heilwig:
Hadwig/Hathui, m. Otto
"der Erlauchten",
duke of Saxony.
Children of Otto
and Hedwig thus falsely attributed to Heilwig:
Thankmar.
Heinrich I,
d. 936, king of Germany.
Liudolf.
Oda, m. (1) Zwentibold,
d. 900, king of Lorraine; (2) Gerard, count.
Originally due to Eckhart in the eighteenth
century, this theory was later revived by others, most notably
Krüger [Krüger (1893)]. The life of Hathumod, abbess of
Gandersheim (sister of Otto), states that Hathumod's brother
married a neptis regum ["... quod frater eius
regum neptem in matrimonio habet, ..." Agius, Vita
Hathumodae, c. 2, MGH SS 4: 167]. Although the brother of
Hathumode in the passage is not otherwise identified, he has
usually been assumed to be Otto, and the neptis regum
has thus been generally identified with Otto's wife
Hedwig/Hathui. Krüger would identify the kings in question as
Louis/Ludwig the German and Charles the Bald, and would interpret
the word neptis to mean niece in the strict sense, thus
making Hedwig/Hathui a daughter of a sibling of these two kings
[Krüger (1893), 32]. Placing Otto's wife as a daughter of
Eberhard of Friuli and his wife Gisela would satisfy this
restriction, and thus Krüger identifies Hedwig/Hathui with
Eberhard's similarly named daughter Heilwig. However, Hedwig and
Heilwig are not the same name, and the identification has little
to recommend it. Dümmler argued convincingly against it in the
same year that Krüger's article appeared [Dümmler (1893)]. The
identification must in any case be false if Hirsch's convincing
outline of Heilwig's marriages is correct.
Decker-Hauff:
False
identification of husband Hucbald:
Hugues, son of Liutfrid, son of Hugues,
count of Tours.
Falsely attributed
children:
Eberhard, ancestor
of the House of Egisheim
Adalbero.
Conjectured son (no
basis beyond onomastics):
Hucbald, ancestor of
the House of Dillingen.
[Decker-Hauff (1955), 309-314] There is no good reason to
believe Decker-Hauff's identification of Hucbald with the
Alsatian count Hugues, and we can thus also eliminate Eberhard
and Adalbero, who are assigned as his sons based on this supposed
connection [Decker-Hauff (1955), 309, n. 275]. This supposed son
Hucbald is based on onomastics [ibid., 310]. The attribution of
the two Hucbalds as father and son was also accepted by Jackman
[Jackman (2000), 131-2], but there is no reason to accept it as
any more than guesswork [see Tellenbach (1956), 184].
Jackman:
Conjectured
daughter (no basis beyond onomastics):
Ingelmut, m. Ratold,
d. 919, margrave.
The evidence is onomastic, based on the
appearance of the name Eberhard as a son of Ratold, and on the
similarity of the name Ingelmut to the name Ingeltrud
(Engeltrude, a sister of Hélvide) [Jackman (2000),
131-2].
Keats-Rohan:
Conjectured
son (existence uncertain, extremely doubtful):
Guy, count of Senlis.
Guy appears
only in the eleventh century Norman chronicle Annales
Rouennaises, which states that he was the father of Poppa,
wife of Rollo of
Normandy ["Mortua est Gisla
absque omni prole, et Rollo duxit Popam uxorem, filiam Wydonis
comitis Sylvanectensis, sororem Bernardi, de qua genuit
Willelmum." Keats-Rohan (1997), 198, n. 31].
Keats-Rohan would keep Bernard as the son of this otherwise
unknown Guy, but reject Guy's relationship to Poppa, and would
make Guy a son of Hucbald and Hélvide [Keats-Rohan (1997),
196-7, 203]. The supposed connection between Hucbald and Guy
appears to be based on the statement that Hucbald was count of
Senlis around 890 [Keats-Rohan (1997), 202 & n. 48, citing
Bischoff (1984), 131-2 (not seen by me)]. This thinly-based
construction, using selective information from a late source, is
unconvincing.
Bischoff (1984) = Bernhard Bischoff, Analecta Novissima. Texte des vierten bis sechzehnten Jahrhunderts (Stuttgart, 1984). [I have not seen this work.]
Decker-Hauff (1955) = Hansmartin Decker-Hauff, "Die Ottonen und Schwaben", Zeitschrift für Württemburgische Landesgeschichte 14 (1955), 233-371.
Dümmler (1893) = Ernst Dümmler, critique of Krüger (1893), Deutsche Zeitschrift für Geschichtswissenschaft 9 (1893): 319-321, with response by Krüger, ibid., 321-2.
Favre (1896) = Édouard Favre, "La famille d'Évrard marquis de Frioul dans le royaume franc de l'ouest", in Études d'histoire du Moyen Age dédiées à Gabriel Monod (Paris, 1896), 155-162.
Flodoard, Annales = Ph. Lauer, ed., Les Annales de Flodoard (Paris, 1905).
Giry (1896) = Arthur Giry, "Études carolingiennes", in Études d'histoire du Moyen Age dédiées à Gabriel Monod (Paris, 1896), 107-136.
Grierson (1938) = Philip Grierson, "La maison d'Evrard de Frioul et les origines du comté de Flandre", Revue du Nord 24 (1938): 241-266.
Grierson (1939) = Philip Grierson, "L'origin des comtes d'Amiens, Valois et Vexin", Le Moyen Age 49 (1939): 81-125.
Hirsch (1910) = Paul Hirsch, Die Erhebung Berengars I von Friaul zum König in Italien (Strasbourg, 1910). [I have not seen this work.]
Jackman (2000) = Donald C. Jackman, "Cousins of the German Carolingians", in Keats-Rohan & Settipani, eds., Onomastique et Parenté dans l'Occident médiéval (Oxford, 2000), 117-139.
Keats-Rohan (1997) = K. S. B. Keats-Rohan, "Poppa of Bayeux and her Family", The American Genealogist 72 (1997): 187-204. Also available in French as "Poppa 'de Bayeux' et sa famille", in Keats-Rohan & Settipani, eds., Onomastique et Parenté dans l'Occident médiéval (Oxford, 2000), 140-153.
Krüger (1893) = Emil Krüger, "Ueber die Abstammung Heinrich's I. von den Karolingern", Deutsche Zeitschrift für Geschichtswissenschaft 9 (1893): 28-61. [see also Dümmler (1893)]
Meyer & Longnon (1882) = P. Meyer & A. Longnon, Raoul de Cambrai chanson de geste (Paris, 1882).
MGH SS = Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores series.
Parisot (1898) = Robert Parisot, Le Royaume de Lorraine sous les Carolingiens (1898, reprinted Geneva, 1975).
RHF = Recueil des historiens des Gaules et de la France.
Tellenbach (1956) = Gerd Tellenbach, "Kritische Studien zur großfränkischen und alemanniscen Adelsgeschichte", Zeitschrift für Württemburgische Landesgeschichte 15 (1956), 169-190.
Compiled by Stewart Baldwin
First uploaded 20 September 2008.