Reinhild
ReinhildReinhild is stated to have been of Danish-Frisian origin in two lives of her daughter queen Mathilde ["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].
Date of birth: Unknown.
Place of birth: Unknown.
Date of death: 11 May, prob. after 931×2.
["V. id. [Maii] ...
Reinhild. mat. regine Mahtild. ob." Calend.
Merseb., 114; "V. Id. Maii Reinhild mater reg.
Mahtildis" Trèves diptych, Althoff (1976), 386] Since
her name is lacking in a necrology composed in 931×2, she was
probably still alive at that time [Althoff (1976), 400-4; Althoff
(1984), 365 (K 14)].
Place of death: Unknown.
Father: Unknown.
Mother: Unknown.
See the Commentary section.
Spouse: Dietrich, d. after 929, count in Westfalen.
Children:
See the page of Dietrich.
Mathilde, d.
14 March 968;
m. Heinrich
I, d. 2 July 936, king of
Germany.
Bia, d. 25 May 929×932.
Friderun, d. 10×12 January 971.
Amalrada;
m. Eberhard, count of Hamaland.
NN (probably distinct from the above daughters);
m. Wichmann, d. 944, count in Saxony, brother of Hermann, duke of Sachsen.
Possible additional
daughter:
Bertheid (Perectheid/Perehtheid),
fl. 929.
See the page of Dietrich.
In the ninth century, several Danish kings and princes, who appear to have been related to each other, also held power in parts of Frisia. On 24 June 826, the exiled Danish king Harald was baptized at Mainz, and granted Rüstringen in Frisia by the emperor ["Eodem tempore Herioldus cum uxore et magna Danorum multitudine veniens Mogontiaci apud sanctum Albanum cum his, quos secum adduxit, baptizatus est; multisque muneribus ab imperatore donatus per Frisiam, qua venerat via, reversus est. In qua provincia unus comitatus, qui Hriustri vocatur, eidem datus est, ut in eum se cum rebus suis, si necessitas exigeret, recipere potuisset." ARF, s.a. 826, 170]. On 17 June 837, Harald's apparent brother Hemming, son of Halfdan, was killed on the island of Walcheran ["... in Walchram insulam ... et Hemmingum Halpdani filium cum aliis multis XV. Kal. Iulii occiderunt ..." Ann. Fuld., s.a. 837, 28]. In the 850's, we find Harald's nepos Rorik ["Rorich, nepos Herioldi" Ann. Bertin., s.a. 850, 38] and son Godefrid ["Godefridus, Herioldi Dani filius, qui quondam sub imperatore Ludowico Mogontiaci fuerat baptizatus, a Lothario deficiens, ad suos se confert." Ann. Bertin., s.a. 852, 42] in Frisia. At the beginning of 855, Rorik and Godefrid attempted to gain the throne of Denmark ["Unde Roric et Godofridus patriam, id est Daniam, repedant spe potestatis regiae nanciscendae." Ann. Bertin., s.a. 855 (beginning), 45], but failing in that goal, at the end of 855 they took Dorestadt and made themselves master of the greater part of Frisia ["Roric et Godefridus, nequaquam arridentibus sibi successibus, Dorestado se continent et parte maxima Fresia potiuntur." Ann. Bertin., s.a. 855 (end), 46]. In 882, a Godefrid, who may or may not be the same man as Harald's son, was given the daughter of Lothair II in marriage, along with the rule of Frisia, which Rorik had previously held ["Godefridus vero rex ad eum exiit, cui imperator regnum Fresonum, quod olim Roricus Danus tenuerat, dedit. Coniugemque ei dedit Gislam filiam Hlotharii regis ..." Ann. Vedast., s.a. 882, 51-2].
Given this background, along with the description of Reinhild as being of Danish-Frisian origin, it is hardly surprising that some have given in to the temptation of assuming that Reinhild was a member of this Danish-Frisian dynasty:
Conjectured father (no
good evidence):
Godefrid, d. June 885, Danish king, duke in Friesland.
[Banniza-Müller (1939), 27-8, 34; ES 2:
104] In addition to assigning Reinhild as a daughter of Godefrid,
both Banniza-Müller and ES include a mixture of historical and
unreliable legendary material in giving Godefrid's supposed
ancestry. However, even if we assumed that Reinhild was a member
of the above Danish-Frisian dynasty (which itself is more than
what the sources tell us), she need not have been a daughter of
Godefrid. For chronological reasons, she was certainly not a
daughter of Godefrid's known marriage to the Carolingian Gisèle
(see the page of Lothair
II). Banniza-Müller (following Jaekel)
conjecture (qualified by a question mark) that Reinhild's mother
was a daughter of a chieftain of the Frisians of Ostergau
[Banniza-Müller (1939), 27].
Conjectured brother (no
good evidence):
Gardolf, fl. 885, count by Dokkum.
[Dobbertin (1962), 66-7, 69 ("dotted
line" in table); no reason given]
Ann. Bertin. = G. Waitz, ed., Annales Bertiniani (MGH SRG 6, Hannover, 1883).
Ann. Fuld. = Friedrich Kurze, ed., Annales Fuldenses (MGH SRG 7, Hannover, 1891).
Ann. Vedast. = B. de Simson, ed., Annales Xantenses et Annales Vedastini (MGH SRG 12, 1909), 41-82.
ARF = Georg Pertz & Friedrich Kurze, Annales Regni Francorum (Annals of the kingdom of the Franks), MGH SRG 6 (Hannover, 1895).
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).
Banniza-Müller (1939) = Heinrich Banniza v. Bazan & Richard Müller, Deutsche Geschichte in Ahnentafeln (Berlin, 1939).
Calend. Merseb. = Ludwig Hesse, "Calendrium Merseburgense", Zeitschrift für Archivkunde, Diplomatik und Geschichte 1 (1834): 101-150.
Dobbertin (1962) = Hans Dobbertin, "Das Verwandtschaftsverhältnis der 'schwäbischen' Edlen Ida von Elsdorf zum Kaiserbruder Ludolf IV. von Braunschweig (+1038) und zu Papst Leo IX. (+1054)". Braunschweigisches Jahrbuch 43 (1962): 44-76.
ES = Detlev Schwennicke, Europäische Stammtafeln (neue Folge), (Marburg, 1980-present).
MGH SS = Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores series.
Compiled by Stewart Baldwin
First uploaded 3 April 2011.