Rudolf, son of Nevelong
Rudolf, son of Nevelong, was a medieval noble from a family with ties to Utrecht and the Hesbaye region (in today’s Belgium). He is known from one 943 document, when he was still a boy. The record is a grant from his uncle, Bishop Balderic of Utrecht, to Rudolf’s widowed mother. Rudolf’s older brother Balderic would later become Bishop of Liège.
The 943 document also hints that Rudolf might inherit lands near the Abbey of Hereberc (Sint Odiliënberg) around Roermond, including places like Roer, Linne, Swalmen, Vlodrop, Asselt, Melick, and Maasniel.
Rudolf is described as the younger son of Nevelung, Count of Betuwe, and a daughter of Reginar II, Count of Hainaut. Because records from this period often give only first names, historians have long debated exactly who Rudolf was and what titles he held in Hesbaye. Some suggested he was a count in Hesbaye, perhaps the Rodulfus who appears as a witness in a 967 grant; others thought the various mentions of Count Rudolf referred to different people, including his uncles. The evidence is unclear, and many names in these records are easy to mix up.
Despite the uncertainty, many scholars follow a view that Rudolf was the ancestor of three notable brothers in the next century: Balderic II of Liège, Arnuldus (Arnulf) of Haspinga, and Gilbert of Loon. There is also debate about whether Giselbert, Count of Looz, was Rudolf’s son or the son of another person named Otto.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 14:23 (CET).