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Birth:          ABT 1025 
Death:          BEF 1083 

Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richenza_of_Swabia
Richenza (also spelled as Richeza or Richza) (c.?1025 – before 1083) was a German 
noblewoman. By her first marriage, she was Countess of Werl. By her second marriage, 
she was Countess of Northeim, and from 1061 to 1070, Duchess of Bavaria.

She is known as Richenza of Swabia, based on the theory that she was a daughter of 
Duke Otto II of Swabia. However, that theory is hard to maintain with the current state 
of research.
Descent[edit]

Emil Kimpen published a theory in 1933, that Richenza and Ida of Elsdorf might be 
daughters of Otto II of the Ezzonian dynasty, who was Count Palatine of Swabia and 
from 1061 Duke of Swabia. Although Kimpen himself later rejected this theory, his 
students Lange and Hucke included this theory in their theses about the Counts of 
Northeim and Stade. Extensive research into the theory about Ida of Elsdorf has not 
confirmed this theory. Much less research was done into the theory that her alleged 
sister Richenza was a daughter of Otto II. On the contrary, this theory was often cited 
as an explanation for the elevation of her second husband Otto of Northeim to Duke 
of Bavaria.

Later research has cast doubt on this theory. Ursula Lewald pointed out in 1979 that it 
would be unusual for Otto II's sister to be his heir if he had daughters. Sabine 
Borchert has pointed out in 2005 that Richenza inherited land in the Elbe-Weser area, 
suggesting that her family came from that area. She left her sons about 150 oxgangs 
of land on the left bank of the lower Elbe, next to the land of Wichmann the Younger 
of the Billung dynasty, suggesting that she might have been a daughter of his brother 
Egbert the One-Eyed.

Death[edit]

There are no reliable sources about her death. It is believed that she died before her 
second husband, Otto of Northeim, died in 1083. Until recently, it was believed that 
she died in March; this was based on an entry in the register of the St. Blaise church 
in Brunswick. However, Sabine Borchert has shown that the Rikce ducissa mentioned 
in that entry was a 14th-century Duchess. She has suggested 1 May, based on a 
mysterious note in the obituary of Harsefeld Abbey.

For a while, it was assumed that Richenza had been buried with her second husband 
before the altar of the St. Nicholas Abbey in Northeim. However, no female skeleton 
was found when this site was excavated. Borchert has suggested that she may have 
been buried in the St. Nicholas chapel of the later Harsefeld Abbey — the grave lay of 
the Counts of State — as she possessed land in the area and her daughter Oda was 
married to the Count of Stade, who resided there.

Marriages and issue[edit]

Richenza married twice. Her first husband was Herman III, Count of Werl. Herman and 
Richenza had one daughter together:
Oda (1050 – 11 January 1111), married Lothair Udo II, Margrave of the Nordmark (d. 
1082)

After Herman's death, she married Otto of Northeim (d. 1083), who was Duke of 
Bavaria as Otto II from 1061 until his death. Otto and Richenza had seven children 
together:
Henry the Fat, Margrave of Frisia
Kuno, Count of Beichlingen
Siegfried III, Count of Boyneburg
Otto II, Count of Northeim
Ida, married Thimo the Brave, Count of Brehna
Ethelinde, married: 1.Welf I, divorced in 1070
2.Herman I, Count of Calvelage

Mathilda, married Conrad II, Count of Arnsberg-Werl

Parents
----- ----- ()
____ ----- dtr of Ekbert OneEyed (ABT  980 - )

Siblings
OF SWABIA Richenza (ABT 1025 - BEF 1083)

Marriage To VON NORTHEIM Otto I (ABT 1020 - 11 Jan 1083)
    m. AFT 1050 

Notes

Parents
VON NORTHEIM Benno (Bernard) (ABT  990 - ABT 1048)
____ Eilika (ABT  990 - )

Children by VON NORTHEIM Otto I ABT 1020 - 11 Jan 1083
____ Henry ("the Fat") (ABT 1055 - 1101)
VON NORTHEIM Ida (ABT 1057 - )

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