View source for Richer, Count in Luihgau and Hainaut

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}}
'''Count Richar''' or '''Richer''' (died 16 October 972) was a 10th-century [[Lotharingian]] [[count]]. He had a well-attested county in the [[Luihgau]], a territory between [[Liège]] and [[Aachen]], and he is generally considered to have held comital status in the [[County of Hainaut]], possibly in the area of [[Mons, Belgium|Mons]].
==Life==
After the death of [[Godfrey I, Duke of Lower Lorraine|Duke Godfrey]], [[count of Hainaut]] and [[Duke of Lower Lotharingia]] in 964 in Italy, it has been proposed that the [[Emperor Otto I]] gave Count Richar at least part of the county of Hainault.
Count Richar appears in a charter of 2 June 965 making a grant of land at St Villers St Ghislain in memory of Duke Godfrey.{{sfn|Hlawitschka|1969|p=94}}
In 966 Count Richar was described in a royal charter, as the count holding a county in Liuhgow which included [[Voeren]] (''Furon''), and ''Cortils'' in [[Blegny]] (''Curcella''). They were described as being ''in pago Liuhgouui in comitatu Richarii''.{{sfn|Nonn|1983|p=99}}
In 972 Richer was killed in an attack upon his apparent uncle, Wigfried, Bishop of Verdun, by a certain Count Sigebert in "Wandersalis". This was described in the chronicle of the bishops of Verdun.<ref>''Gesta episcoporum Virdunensium'' (ed. G. Waitz), in: MGH SS IV, Hannover 1841, [https://www.dmgh.de/mgh_ss_4/index.htm#page/46/mode/1up p.46]. See {{harvtxt|Hlawitschka|1969|p=93}}.</ref>
*In a grant of 973 to St Pauls in Verdun, Bishop Wigfried, granted land at Lockweiler arranged between him and his two relatives (''sobrini''), Count Luithard and his brother Count Richwin, for the soul of his nephew (''nepos'') Count Richer.{{sfn|Hlawitschka|1969|p=92}}
*15 March 973, the emperor Otto I granted Eckfeld in the Eifel to the [[Abbey of Echternach]], which Count Richar had previously held.<ref>{{harvtxt|Verdonk|2012|p=35}}. MGH DD Otto I, nr. 428, [https://www.dmgh.de/mgh_dd_ko_i__dd_h_i__dd_o_i/index.htm#page/581/mode/1up p.581].</ref>
*Richer was memorialized in both St Paul in Verdun and [[St. Gereon's Basilica, Cologne|St Gereon in Cologne]] on 16 October.{{sfn|Verdonk|2012|p=35}}
In 973, after the death of Richer, a Count "Richizo", appears in a Hainaut grant concerning [[Crespin Abbey]]. Although this Richizo has sometimes been equated to Richer, Hlawitschka argued in 1969 that above-mentioned apparent brother of Richer, Count Richwin.{{sfn|Verdonk|2012|pp=41,74}}{{sfn|Hlawitschka|1969|p=96}}
After Richer died there was a battle near Mons where [[Reginar IV]] and [[Lambert I, Count of Louvain|Lambert I]] attempted to take it over. It was defended by two brothers, [[Werner, Count of Valenciennes|Count Werner]] and [[Renaud, Count of Mons|Renaud]], who were both killed. Hlawitschka believes they may have been brothers of Richer, or in any case close relatives.{{sfn|Hlawitschka|1969|p=97}}
==Legacy==
It has been proposed, for example by [[Leon Vanderkindere]], that he had at least one child, mentioned by [[Alpertus of Metz]] as a son of a "Richizo":
* Godizo of Aspel [[Heimbach]] (d. 1011–1015)
However, it is argued by Hlawitschka that Richizo is a short form name for Richwin, and that Richwin was a different count, probably closely related to Richer. This Richizo, thought to be Richwin, appears in a Hainaut record in 973, after the death of Richar.{{sfn|Hlawitschka|1969|p=96}}
==Footnotes==
<references/>
== Bibliography==
*{{citation|title=Die Anfänge des Hauses Habsburg-Lothringen. Genealogische Untersuchungen zur Geschichte Lothringens und des Reiches im 9., 10. und 11. Jahrhundert |last=Hlawitschka |first= Eduard |year=1969 |url=http://digital.sulb.uni-saarland.de/viewer/image/427855411/1/LOG_0000/}}
*{{citation|last=Nonn |first=Ulrich |title=Pagus und Comitatus |year=1983}}
*{{citation|last=Vanderkindere| first=Léon |title=La formation territoriale des principautés belges au Moyen Age| volume=2| year=1902| url=http://digistore.bib.ulb.ac.be/2006/DL2632839_002_f.pdf |chapter=Chapter 10| pages=159–183}}
*{{citation|last=Verdonk |first=Henk |title=Alzey-Zutphen. Een onderzoek naar het rijksleen te Alzey van de graven van Zutphen |year=2012 |url=http://www.alzey-zutphen.nl/p/boek-bestellen_12.html |editor-last=Aarts |editor-first=Bas}}
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[[Category:972 deaths]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:Dukes of Lower Lorraine]]
[[Category:Counts of Mons]]
[[Category:10th-century counts in Europe]]