Ricuin/Richwin (Ricuinus, Riquinus, Ricuvinus, Richizo)
Ricuin/Richwin (Ricuinus, Riquinus, Ricuvinus, Richizo)Ricuin appears on 14 August 895 in a charter of king Zwentibold Lorraine in favor of the nuns of Saint-Mihiel ["in pago Virdunensi in comitatu Ricuvini" Vanderkindere (1902), 2: 367, n. 3; "... in pago Uirdunensi in comitatu Rihuuini, ..." MGH DD Zw 21 (#3)]. On 23 January 899, he was mentioned along with Wigeric (Widiacus) as a count of king Zwentibold [Wampach #134 (p. 147); "..., quia Richquinus et Widiacus venerandi comites nostri ..." MGH DZw 66 (#27)]. On 12 February 912, Riquinis comes appeared with archbishop Dreux of Toul and his archdeacon Ingelram in an act of king Charles the Simple [Depoin (1908-10), 15: 176, n. 414; RHF 9: 516; see the Commentary section below for Depoin's conjecture that Ingelram was a son of Ricuin]. He was with Charles at the abbey of Saint-Pierre de Metz on 11 June 913, where he obtained confirmation of an act of 16 November 904 [Depoin (1908-10), 15: 176; RHF 9: 525]. In 914, Ricuin appears again as count in Verdun ["Actum in Virduno, in mallo publico, coram Ricoino comite, anno ab Incarnatione DCCCCXIIII ... anno III regnante domno Karolo rege in regno Lotarii quondam regis feliciter." Depoin (1908-10), 15: 177, n. 417; similarly with variations (e.g., "anno V regnante") in Evrard (1981), 175 and Wichmann (1891), 108-9, who quote from the Bénédictine Histoire de Metz, iii, pr., 55]. On 9 January 916, he appears in a list of the king's nobles at at Heristal, as does his son Otto and Widricus comes palatii [Parisot (1898), 616; Barth (1990), 185-7; Wampach 160-1 (#146)]. This is Wigeric's last known appearance in the records, and it was probably not long after this that Wigeric died and Ricuin married Wigeric's widow Cunégonde as his second wife (see below). On 1 February 917 or 918, Ricuin consented to a charter of the abbey of Saint-Pierre de Metz, where he appeared as lay-abbot ["In nomine Donii Riquinus misericordia Dei comes et abba monasterii Sancti Petri ... sub die Kalendarum Februarii, anno VI regnante domno Carolo rege glorioso ... Signum Riquini comitis qui hanc precarium firmavit ... Ego Adalgaudus cancellarius atque notarius, jubente seniore nostro Riquino, scripsi." Depoin (1908-10), 15: 177-8, n. 419 (giving date 917); Evrard (1981), 154 (giving date 918)]. Chatelain argues against the lay abbacy of Saint-Pierre de Metz being interpreted as "count of Metz" [Chatelain (1898-1901), 10: 101, n. 4 (both cite Histoire de Metz, iii, 56)]. In 921, he is mentioned as a rebel against king Charles the Simple ["Karolus rex in regnum Lotharii abiit, receptisque per vim quibusdam Ricuini infidelis sui praesidiis, et facta pactione usque ad missam sancti Martini cum Heinrico principe Transrhenenesi, reversus est in montem Lauduni." Flodoard, Annales, s.a. 921, 5-6]. He was killed in his bed in 923 by Boso, son of Richard of Burgundy ["Boso filius Richardi Ricuinum in lecto languentem occidit." Flodoard, Annales, 12-3], evidently at the instigation of his stepson Adalbero, later bishop of Metz ["" Vita Ioh. Gorz., c. 105, 134 (see below under Ricuin's second marriage)]. He was also lay abbot of Moyenmoutier, successor of a certain count Hillinus and being succeeded in that office by his son Otto ["Huic successit Riqwinus secundus, tercius Otto, ...", Chronicon Mediani Monasterii, MGH SS 4: 89 (describing the succession after Hillin); the chronology is uncertain]. It is also probable that Otto succeeded Ricuin as count of Verdun (see below under Otto). Although he is evidently not documented elsewhere with the title of duke, he is probably the Riquinus dux whose obituary appears in the Liber Memorialis of Remiremont (see below).
Date of Birth: Unknown.
Place of
Birth: Unknown.
Date of Death: Killed 15 November 923, while weak in bed.
Place of
Death: Unknown.
The year is given by Flodoard (see above). The Liber
Memorialis of Remiremont gives 15 November for the date of
death of a "duke" Riquinus, in an entry
written by a scribe dated to approximately 915×940 ["XVII
[kal. Dec.] Riquinus dux obiit" Lib. Mem.
Remiremont 76, 34v15]. The main difficulty with this entry
is that Ricuin is not otherwise documented with the title of
duke. There is a Riquinus comes in the necrology of
Saint-Vanne de Verdun under 14 March, but this necrology has many
entries from a later time [Nec. S. Vanne 137]. While not making a
definite decision, Parisot, called the 14 March date more
probable, because it was from a Verdun necrology and because it
appears among the earlier of the entires in Flodoard's year 923.
However, it is difficult to definitively chose between these two
dates based on the placement in Flodoard's annals, for Flodoard
does not always enter events in precise chronological order.
Indeed, as Parisot acknowledges, Ricuin's son Otto changed his
loyalty from Boso's brother Raoul to king Heinrich late in 923,
the timing of which would be more easily explained by the
November date [Parisot (1898), 663]. A count
Ricuin, son of a count Louis and father of another count Louis
(who he suggested was the same as Louis de Mousson, husband of
Sophie de Bar), appears in a charter of bishop Berthold of Toul
in 1019 [Parisot (1907-8), 57: 342-3]. A Ludouicus comes
appears in the necrology of Saint-Vanne under 17 January. Bloch
suggested that the counts Ricuin and Louis in the Saint-Vanne
necrology, as well as the Teodericus comes at 15 March,
were members of the Mousson-Bar dynasty [Nek. S. Vanne, 137-8].
Not only does the entry at 15 March have a reasonable alternate
candidate, but there is good reason to believe that none of the
obituaries at Saint-Vanne were as early as Ricuin, for the
earliest identified by Bloch in his footnotes was the "Adelmarus,
abbas huius loci" who has an entry at 28 December, and
died ca. 966×9 [Nek. S. Vanne, 149]. On the other hand, if the
915×940 entry in the book is contemporary, it is very difficult
to see who a Riquinus dux dated to 915×940 might be
other than Ricuin of Verdun. Lacking another candidate (other
than a nonexistent duke Ricuin mentioned below in the Commentary
section), it is reasonable to conclude that this is a reference
to Ricuin of Verdun.
Father: Unknown.
See the Commentary section.
Mother: Unknown.
Spouses:
(1) NN, daughter of count Ingelram and Friderada.
As shown by an entry in the chronicle of Regino of Prüm, Ricuin
married a daughter (name not given), daughter of Ingelram and
Friderada. Ricuin later had this wife beheaded for adultery
["Hoc etiam tempore idem Hugo Wicbertum comitem, qui ab
ineunte aetate sibi faverat, interfecit; paucis dehinc
interpositis diebus, Bernarium, nobilem virum sibique
fidelissimum, dolo trucidari iussit, pulchitrudine illius captus
uxoris, quam absque momento sibi in matrimonium iungit. Vocabatur
autem mulier Friderada, quae antequam Bernario sociaretur,
copulata fuerat Engilrammo potenti viro, ex quo filiam peperit,
quam postmodum Richwinus comes in coniugum accepit, quam etiam
propter stuprum commissum idem comes decollari iussit."
Regino, Chronicon, s.a. 883, MGH SS 1: 594]. For more on
count Ingelram, see the page of Baldwin I of Flanders.
(2) m. after 916, Cunégonde, widow of Wigeric, living 916, count in Bidgau, maternal granddaughter of
Louis II, king of France.
In the life of abbot John of Gorz, Richizo is named as
the vitricus (stepfather) of Adalbero I, archbishop of
Metz, in a quote attributed to count Boso, in which Boso
acknowledges his part in taking revenge against Adalbero's
stepfather Richizo ["Ad quem rogo? Num ad regem nescio
quem tuum? Num ad ducem tuum illum Gislebertum? quem ego asci
servum meum reputo novissimum? Pari modo et de episcopo tuo est
Adalberone, quem ipsum utique quantum mihi virtus fuerat iuvare
decreveram, qui de vitrico quoque eius Richizone eius causa
vindictam sumpsi; sed quia nunc contra me ad Gislebertum defecit,
viderit quid ei ex hoc commodi cesserit." (Translation:
"Whom do I propose? Surely not your king, whom I do not
know? Surely not your duke Giselbert, whom I consider to be the
least of my slaves? There is little in any way with your bishop
Adalbero, especially him whom I had decided to help so much; to
me, that is a virtue. I have even taken revenge in his cause
concerning his stepfather Richizo; but because he has now
defected to Giselbert against me, he will see that he errs to
oblige to this.") Vita Ioh. Gorz., c. 105, 135].
Children:
(by first wife)
Otto, d. probably 944 ["Otho
dux Lothariensium vita decessit." Flodoard, Annales,
s.a. 944, 91; 943 according to Continuator
Reginonis, MGH SS 1: 619], (joint)
duke of Lorraine, 940-4, lay-abbot of Moyenmoutier, probably also
count of Verdun.
The historian Widukind states that Otto (Oddo),
son of Richwin (Ricwinus), was put in charge of
Lorraine, and that Henry (Heinricus), son of the
deceased duke Giselbert (Isilbertus), was handed over to
him to be brought up ["Rex autem audita victoria
suorummilitum ac morte ducum, gratias egit omnipotenti Deo, cuius
saepius auxilium expertus est oportunum; praeficiensque regioni
Lothariorum Oddonem, Ricwinis filium, et ut nutriret nepotem suum
filium Isilgerhti, optimae spei puerulum, nomine Heinricum,
reversus est in Saxoniam." Widukind, ii, 5, MGH SS 3:
445; see also Ekkehardi Chronicon Universale, MGH SS 6:
187; Annalista Saxo, s.a. 942, MGH SS 6: 604]. He is not
actually documented as count of Verdun, but since the next
documented count of Verdun, a count Raoul in 949, does not appear
until after Otto's death, it is likely that Otto succeeded his
father in that capacity [For Raoul, see Vanderkindere (1902), 2:
368, n. 2; Parisot (1907-8), 58: 240-2; and the commentary
section of Cunégonde's
page] See Wichmann 139-143, for more on
Otto.
Possible son by
Cunégonde (but perhaps a son of Wigeric instead):
There does not seem to be any strong
evidence placing Giselbert as a son of either Wigeric or Ricuin,
and it remains uncertain which one was his father. See Cunégonde's page
Giselbert, probably count in Ardennes
and lay-abbot of Moyenmoutier.
See the Commentary section for additional conjectured children.
Stepchildren:
Sons of second wife
Cunégonde by her first husband Wigeric:
See Cunégonde's page.
Adalbero I, b. say 905×910?, d. 26
April 962, bishop of Metz, 929-962.
Liutgard, living 8 April 960; m. (1) Adalbert;
m. (2) Eberhard.
Gozlin, d. 18 October 942, count,, ancestor of the dukes of
Lower Lorraine; m. Uda, who was living 18 May
963.
Sons of second wife
Cunégonde, probably also sons of Wigeric:
For the following two sons, the evidence tilts strongly in favor
of Wigeric being the father, and it seems unlikely that Ricuin
was the father. See Cunégonde's
page.
Frédéric I, d. 978, duke of Upper Lorraine 959-978, m. 954
(betrothed 951), Beatrix,
daughter of Hugues Capet, king of France.
Sigefroid/Siegfried, still living 997, ancestor of the counts of Luxemburg;
Lay abbot of Echternach, 949×950-973 (later advocate); advocate
of Saint-Maximin, 981; count in Moselgau, 982; m. Hedwig.
Falsely attributed
father (did not exist): Ricuin, d. 894, duke of Lorraine.
Depoin would make this Ricuin a duke of
Lorraine, succeeding "duke" Meingaud [Depoin (1908-10),
15: 70, 174-6] According to Depoin (citing Calmet 2: preuves,
clx), Ricuin supposedly appears with the title of duke in an act
of the emperor Arnulf in autumn, 894, known only from a
confirmation by emperor Friedrich II ["interventu filli
nostri Zuentiboldi et Riccovindi ducis" Depoin (1908),
15: 174]. However, the name itself is an emendation by Depoin,
with the charter itself reading Vilcovindus or Vizemundus
[ibid., 175; Parisot (1898), 506 ("Vizemund")]. Depoin
would place the death of this Ricuin in 894 for the reason that
the Ricuin of Verdun in 895 is only called count [Depoin
(1908-10), 15: 175-6], and he assume that the "duke"
had died in the interval and had been succeeded by his
"son". The existence of a Riquinus dux in the Liber
Memorialis of Remiremont (see above) was used as evidence
for this duke Ricuin, who was assigned this death date, which I
have argued above to be that of Ricuin of Verdun. No evidence is
offered for the father-son relationship between this supposed
earlier Ricuin and the Ricuin who died in 923. In fact, it had
already been noted by Parisot that the charter is a fabrication
[Parisot (1898), 506-7]. Thus, there is no good reason to believe
in the existence of duke Vilcovind/Vizemund, or, as Depoin would
rename him, Riccovind/Ricuin
Conjectured brother (unproved,
status uncertain):
Regnier
I, d. 915, ancestor of the
counts of Hainaut.
According to Evrard, Clouet conjectured
that Ricuin was a brother of count Regnier I [Evrard 154, citing
Louis Clouet, Historie de Verdun et du pays vedunois
(Verdun, 1867-70), 1: 300, which I have not seen], and Anselme
gives a similar statement (see next item). The obvious logic of
this conjecture is that it would explain why Ricuin's son Otto
became guardian of the young Henri (son of duke Giselbert, son of
Regnier), and was joinly duke of Lorraine with his young charge.
Direct evidence for such a relationship is lacking. However, as
discussed on Cunégonde's
page, there is evidence of some kind of
connection between her descendants and the family of Giselbert of
Lorraine. The status of this conjecture is obviously affected by
whether or not Cunégonde was closely related to Regnier.
Falsely attributed
father: "Regnier
I", count of Hainaut.
Despite appearances, this conjecture does
not differ much from the previous one. Anselme would divide the
person commonly known as Regnier I into two individuals, Regnier
I (through 898) and Regnier II (married Alberada, father of duke
Giselbert), increasing the numbers of the other Regniers by one,
and making Ricuin the brother of his "Regnier II"
[Anselme 2: 770-1].
Conjectured children by
first wife (no proof offered, uncertain):
Ingelram (Angilramnus),
living 12 February 912, archdeacon of Toul.
NN, mother of Himo,
nepos of Ingelram.
Although the reason is not explicitly stated, this conjecture of
Depoin is evidently based on the onomastic observation that
Ricuin's first wife was a daughter of count Ingelram ["Adeuntes
genua Serenitatis nostrae Drogo praesul et Riquinus comes,
humiliter precali sunt et cuidam fideli nostro et praefati
praesulis archidiacono, nomine Angilramno, ... ut ille et nepos
ejus Himo ..." Depoin (1908-10), 15: 176, n. 414,
citing Calmet, v. I, Preuves, col. cccxxxiii]. However, since
Ingelram was identified as archdeacon of the aforesaid bishop,
and Ricuin is also named, it seems like a strange omission that
Ingelram was not also called son of the count, if that were
indeed the case. Obviously, the case involving the conjectured
daughter depends on the correctness (or lack thereof) of
Ingelram's supposed relationship.
Falsely attributed
sons:
Godefroid, count in
Ardennes, ancestor of the dukes of Lower Lorraine.
Frédéric, abbot of Saint-Hubert in
Ardennes.
[Anselme 2: 770] Anselme's treatment is
characteristic of the careless early treatments of these
families. Godefroid is perhaps intended to represent Ricuin's
stepson Gozlin (which could be a hypochoristic form of Godefroid), the
Godefroid of the next item, or Godefroid of Verdun, or is
perhaps a composite of more than one of them, but in any case
does not represent a historical son of Ricuin. Frédéric was a patruus
of Ricuin's stepson Adalbero, which term cannot be reasonably
interpreted to make Frédéric a son of Ricuin.
Falsely attributed son
by Cunégonde:
Godefroid, count of Jülich, 945, count palatine.
[See Godefroid's page for details.]
Falsely attributed
second wife (supposely instead of Cunégonde):
Amalrada, daughter of Dietrich, count of Westfalen; she supposedly m. (1) Wigeric of Bidgau; (3) Eberhard of Hamaland.
[See Wigeric's page for details]
Anselme = Père Anselme, Histoire généalogique et chronologique de la maison royale de France, 9 vols (Paris, 1726-33).
Barth (1990) = Rüdiger E. Barth, Der Herzog in Lotharingien im 10. Jahrhundert (Sigmaringen, 1990).
Chatelain (1898-1901) = V. Chatelain, "Le Comté de Metz et la vouerie épiscopale du VIIIe au XIIIe siècle", Jahr-Buch der Gesellschaft für lothringische Geschichte und Altertumskunde 10 (1898): 71-119; 13 (1901): 245-311.
Depoin (1908-10) = Joseph Depoin, "Études sur le Luxembourg à l'époque carolingienne. II. Le roman de s. Meingaud", Ons Hemecht 14 (1908): 220-4, 313-318, 377-381, 417-424, 454-461; 15 (1909): 69-76, 110-4, 132-136, 174-8, 219-222, 260-265, 298-306, 321-328, 378-385; 16 (1910): 4-10, 41-6, 84-9, 125-131, 162-8, 202-8, 244-9, 284-295.
Evrard (1981) = Jean-Pol Evrard, "Les comtes de Verdun aux Xe et XIe siècles", Publications de la Section historique de l'Institut Grand-Ducal de Luxembourg 95 (1981): 153-182.
Flodoard, Annales = Ph. Lauer, ed., Les Annales de Flodoard (Paris, 1905).
Lib. Mem. Remiremont = Eduard Hlawitschka, Karl Schmid, & Gerd Tellenbach, eds., Liber Memorialis von Remiremont (MGH Libri Memoriales 1, 1970) [Part 1: text; part 2: photographic copy of original manuscript]
MGH SS = Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores series.
Nek. S. Vanne = "Das Nekrolog des Klosters S. Vanne", in Bloch (1898-1902), 14: 131-150.
Parisot (1898) = Robert Parisot, Le Royaume de Lorraine sous les Carolingiens (1898, reprinted Geneva, 1975).
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.
Vanderkindere (1902) = Léon Vanderkindere, La Formation Territoriale des Principautes Belge au Moyen Age (2 vols., 2nd ed., Brussels, 1902, reprinted 1981).
Vita Ioh. Gorz. = Michel Parisse, ed. & trans., La Vie de Jean, abbé de Gorze (Picard, 1999) [Vita Iohannis Gorziensis, Latin with parallel French translation; also edited (Latin only) by Georg Heinrich Pertz, MGH SS 4: 335-377; citations are by chapter number and page in Parisse's edition].
Wampach (1935) = Camillus Wampach, Urkunden- und Quellenbuch zur Geschichte der altluxemburgischen Territorien bis zur burgundischen Zeit, I (Luxemburg, 1935).
Wichmann (1891) = Wichmann, "Adelbero I. Bischof von Metz, 929-962." Jahr-Buch der Gesellschaft für lothringische Geschichte und Altertumskunde 3 (1891): 104-174.
I would like to thank Peter Stewart for his comments on the internet newsgroup/mailing list soc.genealogy.medieval/GEN-MEDIEVAL in response to many of my postings there on this subject, and for sharing copies of many sources with me.
Compiled by Stewart Baldwin
First uploaded 5 April 2007.