Iremfrid (or Ehrenfried etc. a name which could be shortened to Immo, Emmo, Immed etc.) was a 10th-century noble born to a family which had its power base in the delta region where the Rhine and Maas rivers meet near the modern border of the Netherlands and Germany, the eldest son of Ricfrid Count of Batavia, and his wife Herensinda. The memorial of Ricfried refers to him as either "Rector Yrimfredus" or "Victor Yrimfredus", neither of which are interpreted as meaning that he was a count at the time the grave was made.[1] Aarts has for example interpreted the term "rector" as meaning he was a lay abbot of an Abbey, and Jongbloed has speculated that "victor" means he was successful in some military endeavor. (Rector could be a term for a leader in both church or secular positions.)
There are various disputed identifications of this Ehrenfried which might be other nobles from this region with the same name, most importantly Erenfried II of the "Ezzonid" family, who were established in the area around Cologne, and there may also have been another Count Eremfried in the Hesbaye region in Belgium. This makes it difficult to be sure about the trajectory of his life, and he may have died relatively young. In contrast, authors such as Jongbloed (2009) claim a long career, ending about 965 or even later.
Many of the surviving records for an Iremfrid in this region and period are for a person with the rank of count. On his parents' memorial he was not marked as a count, but one brother certainly was, Nevelung, and another, Rodolf, was described as preses, which could refer either to a secular or church title. The grave however mentions that two brothers were buried with the parents, presumably not too long after. One is probably Nevelung, according to the 943 grant which Irimfrid's brother Bishop Balderic of Utrecht addressed to Nevelung's wife. So as pointed out by Aarts, probably also either Irimfrid or Rodolf must also have died not long after the memorial was made (when Nevelung was still alive), and probably by 943. Jongbloed argues that the 943 record's reference to the family sins of Nevelung and his brother-in-law Regnier II implies that he lost his title before dying, and that Irimfrid must have inherited this comital title. This was presumably during the rebellions which ended with the Battle of Andernach in 939, which his in-laws were certainly involved in.
Even if Iremfrid was a count, identifying possessions of his is made difficult because he had contemporaries with the same name, most notably, Ehrenfried II of the Ezzonids, ancestor of the Count Palatine (Pfalzgrafen) of Lotharingia, whose family's power base was near Bonn in what is now Germany. But there may have been more. For example, there are many references to men of this name in the area of what is now Belgium, and not all can be accounted for by these two counts.
Areas held by a Count of this name in what is now Germany include the Zülpichgau (942), the Bonngau (945), the Tubalgau (Duffelgau) (948), Hubbelrath in the Keldachgau (950), Hettergau (956), and Mühlgau (966). Other generations of the Ezzonid family did not hold Hettergau or Duffelgau, which do however border on Betuwe (as well as Keldachgau), and so Hettergau and Duffelgau are argued by some historians such as Jongbloed and Aarts to be adult sightings of Iremfrid the son of Ricfrid, now a count. Other evidence which associates them with the area includes the necrologium in Xanten, in Hettergau (and later Guelders) there is a death commemorated for an "Irimfrith comes" (23 October), normally accepted to be Ricfrid's son, because the death is also noted in the Salvator church in Utrecht, and Bishop Balderic is also commemorated at both (27 December). Furthermore, later records about Bishop Balderic call say that he was "of Cleves", and that his father Ricfrid was "count of Cleves". Although such claims from the later middle ages are anachronistic, Jongbloed points out that Cleves covers territory equivalent to the earlier Tubalgau or Duffelgau.
Jongbloed also proposes that the contemporary Emmo or Ehrenfried who had the advocacy of Stavelot Abbey in Belgium, and was Count in the Condroz and Huy, was the son of Ricfrid, all being areas where he had family connections. Furthermore, he equates him with the rebellious and crafty Count Emmo described by Widukind of Corvey as an important magnate in Lotharingia, respected by the Duke for his council.
Also called Ansfried?
Vanderkindere suggested that Ehrenfried was also called Ansfried. This proposal became widespread in derivative literature but is not widely accepted by historians.
Thietmar of Merseburg refers to the "like-named paternal uncle (patruus) of Count Ansfrid" who held fifteen countships. (The uncle and nephew are sometimes referred to as Ansfried I and II, or II and III.)
To make his scheme work, Vanderkindere had to suggest that the elder Ansfried, was maternal, not paternal, uncle, and that he was the same person as Ehrenfried son of Ricfrid. According to this proposal Ehrenfried had a sister Herwesindis (not mentioned in the memorial of his father, but having the same name as his mother) who married a Lambert, Count of Louvain and Abbot of Gembloux, and they were parents of Ansfried III. In the ensuing generations, Baerten and other historians have shown this proposal to be unconvincing.
Ehrenfried and Ansfried are thought to have had some type of family relationship. As an example of a recent proposal, Jongbloed proposes alternatively that this younger Hereswind was the daughter of Ehrenfried, and wife of Ansfried II, not the mother of Ansfried III. Widukind of Corvey reported a Count Ehrenfried who offered his daughter's marriage to a Count Ansfried, at a siege near Liège.
Ehrenfried van de Betuwe | ||||||||||||||||||