Ricfried, Count of Betuwe
Ricfried was a count in Betuwe (Batavia) during the 9th and 10th centuries, in what is now the Netherlands and possibly into parts of the Rhineland in Germany. His family is sometimes called the Balderics because his son and grandson were both bishops named Balderic. Some historians, like Leon Vanderkindere, propose he may be an ancestor of the Counts of Loon in today’s Belgian Limburg, since that family also had a bishop named Balderic.
He is mentioned in an 897 charter by Zwentibold, King of Lotharingia, as a count with lands in Betuwe. He was also known as Count Dodo (comitatu Dodonis). A memorial names his children as Balderic, Rudolph, Ehrenfried, and Nebelung, with Ricfried listed as their father.
Very little else is certain about him. The biography of Bishop Balderic I of Utrecht states that he was the son of Ricfried, who expelled the Vikings from Utrecht, after which Balderic moved the bishopric back to Utrecht.
Ricfried married Herensinda, whose family is unknown. Four sons are known from the memorial, and a daughter has been proposed.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 01:36 (CET).