Research Notes:

[The] sources are conflicting about whether Count Herman or his wife was the child of Count Reginar [IV]. In contrast to the relatively clear statements in favour of Herman being Reginar's son, numerous sources describe Richilde as his daughter. These include the Annales Hanoniæ which name "Richildis" as the daughter of "secundi Ragineri, vel secundum aliquos tercii" and clarify in a later passage that she was "filiam Ragineri comitis Montensis tercionis". The Gesta Episcoporum Leodiensium also names "Richildis comitissa Haynonie filia Raineri comitis filii comitis Raineri Longicolli". The Historia Comitum Ghisnensium names "Richildis Montensis comitis filia". Other primary sources give her name and specify that her first husband was Comte Herman, but do not refer to her origin: "Richilde mater Arnulphum et Balduino" is named in the Cartulaire de Saint-Bertin; the Genealogica Comitum Flandriæ Bertiniana names "Richelde vidua Herimanni comitis Montensis" as wife of "Balduinum Haanoniensem"; the Chronicon S. Andreæ records "Balduinus filius comitis Flandrensis, Richildem comitissam, quæ antea Hermanno nepoti ipsius comitis nupseat, uxorem dixit", specifying that it was "eo autem tempore" with reference to other events dated 1050 which are recounted in the same paragraph.

Although the question is not free from doubt, it is probable that the sources which refer to Herman as the son of count Reginar are correct. It is assumed that the sources which support the alternative case were misled by the unusual inheritance of the county of Hainaut/Mons by Count Herman's widow and her transmission of the county to her second husband and her children by this second marriage. However, Nicholas highlights the "universal community" property regime, customary by the 1050s in Germanic eastern Flanders, under which a surviving spouse received the entire deceased spouse's estate if a child had been born of the marriage. He also records that Richilde's second husband, Baudouin VI Count of Flanders, enshrined this regime into his constitution for Geraardsbergen. This suggests that Richilde's inheritance may not have been as unusual as at first sight appears. If it is correct that Herman was the son of Count Reginar [IV], what then was the origin of Ctss Richilde? Several clues are provided by different sources. The Chronicon Hanoniense names "Hermanno comite…" and "eius uxore Richelde comitissa", specifying that "defuncto comite Valencenensi absque proprii corporis herede" Richilde inherited his county "tam iure hereditario quam coemptione facta", the comte de Valenciennes in question presumably being a descendant of Comte Arnoul [II]. The Flandria Generosa provides another line of enquiry by referring to Pope Leo IX as "eiusdem Richeldis avunculo", when recording that her second husband was excommunicated by Engelbert Bishop of Cambrai for his marriage with "cognati sui Herimanni comitis uxorem", the Pope later lifting the penalty. The Annales Hanoniæ also name Richildis as neptis of Pope Leo, and specify that "de Macourt iuxta Condatum…priorissam" was also neptis of the Pope and of Richildis, although this prioress has not yet been identified. A continuator of Sigebert is more precise, recording that "Balduinus Hasnoniensis" married "Richeldem, relictam Herimanni comitis Montensis, que erat de sanguine imperiali et soror sancti Leonis pape noni", but a sibling relationship with Pope Leo is impossible from a chronological point of view. No other mention has been found of any "Richilde" in the family of the counts of Egisheim in Alsace to which Pope Leo belonged. A further indication of Richilde´s family origin is provided by the Gesta Cameracensium which names "iuvenculam Adame neptem Richeldis Montensis comitiissæ" as the wife of Hugues Châtelain de Cambrai.... Another possible clue is provided by the first name "Roger", given by Richilde to her son by her first marriage, which is otherwise unknown in the family of the Comtes de Hainaut. The name Roger was used in the families of the 10th century Comtes de Laon, the 11th century Comtes de Porcéan, and the earliest known ancestor of the Comtes de Saint-Pol..., but positing a precise connection with any of the families would be speculative. ²

  Marriage Information:

Richildis married Herman DE HAINAUT dit "de Mons", son of Régnier V DE HAINAUT et de Mons and Mathilde DE VERDUN, about 1043. (Herman DE HAINAUT died about 3 Jul 1049.)

  Marriage Information:

Richildis also married Cte Baudouin VI DE FLANDRE, Comte (I) de Hainaut, son of Cte Baudouin V "le Pieux" DE FLANDRE and Adela CAPET, Comtesse de Contenance, in 1051. (Baudouin VI DE FLANDRE was born about 1030 in Flanders and died on 7 Jul 1070 in Abbey of Hasnon, Belgium.)

  Marriage Information:

Richildis also married Guillaume FITZ OSBERN, 1st Earl of Hereford, son of Osbern DE CRÉPON, Steward of Normandie, and Emma D' IVRY, before 1071. (Guillaume FITZ OSBERN was born in 1016 in Poitier, Poitou, France, died on 20 Feb 1070/1 in Battle of Cassel, Flanders and was buried in Abbey of Cormeilles, Normandy, France.)