Herman, Count of Hainaut
Herman (died 3 July 1049), Count of Mons and Hainaut, son of Reginar V, Count of Mons, and Mathilde of Verdun, daughter of Herman, Count of Verdun.
As the Count of Mons, a title inherited from his father, he allied with Godfrey the Bearded, Duke of Lorraine, and Baldwin V, Count of Flanders, against Emperor Henry III. This won his the countship of Valenciennes, completing the reconstruction of Hainaut. His wife, who preferred an alliance with the emperor, attempted to get Herman to imprison Wazo, Bishop of Liège, but he refused.
In 1040, Herman married Richilde, whose origins are uncertain (see below). Herman and Richilde had two children:
- Roger de Hainaut (d. 1093), Bishop of Châlons-sur-Marne 1066-1093
- Gertrude, a nun of the Order of St. Benedict.
One possibility of the origins of Richilde is that she was actually the daughter of Reginar V. Another theory is that she is the daughter of a count of Eguisheim and Dagsbourg. After the death of Herman, Richilde married the son of Baldwin V, who arranged for Herman's children to be disinherited. Richilde's new husband, Baldwin VI the Good, became Herman's successor and count of a unified Hainaut/Flanders.
References
Sources
- Napran, Laura (Translator), Gilbert of Mons, Chronicle of Hainaut, Boydell Press, Suffolk, 2005
- Varenbergh, Emile, Herman, Académie royale de Belgique, Biographie nationale, vol. 9, Bruxelles, 1887 [détail des éditions]
- Medieval Lands Project, Comtes de Hainaut, 998-1051, Reginar Family