Origin
Siegfried is traditionally considered the son of Wiegerich, Count Palatine of Lorraine and Count of Bidgau [2] . Although the name of Siegfried's father is not mentioned in historical sources, in the 11th century a genealogy was created of Cunegonde of Luxembourg , the wife of the Holy Roman Emperor Henry II , linking her to the Carolingians . Siegfried's mother was shown to be Cunegonde , the daughter of Irmentrude and granddaughter of Louis II the Stammerer , King of the West Frankish Kingdom [3] . Later researchers identified her with Wiegerich's wife, who was also named Cunegonde [4] .
The relationship of the Wiegerichids with the Carolingians is supported by an act of the West Frankish king Charles III the Simple , who calls the future bishop of Metz Adalberon I nepotem (i.e. "nephew" or "grandson"). Adalberon was the son of Wiegerich and Cunigunde. However, Charles III did not have a sister or daughter named Cunigunde. In order to remove this contradiction, Leon Vanderkinder translated nepotem as "cousin" [2] . It is not precisely established who was Cunigunde's father.
Siegfried's relationship with the Wiegerichids is established on the basis of a letter dated 985, written by Gerbert of Aurillac . In it, he calls Siegfried patruus (paternal uncle) of Gottfried the Captive , Count of Verdun . Gottfried was the grandson of Wiegerich, on the basis of which Siegfried is considered the son of Wiegerich. Onomastic data also support the hypothesis of Siegfried's belonging to the Wiegerichids : among the children of Siegfried there are the names Kunigunda, Liutgarda, Adalberon, Friedrich, Giselbert, which are characteristic of the Wiegerichids.
There are, however, chronological problems which prevent the version that Siegfried was the son of Wiegeric from being fully accepted. Wiegeric died no later than 919. Adalberon became bishop of Metz in 929 and was born no later than 909. Then Cunegonde, Wiegeric's wife, must have been born in the second half of the 880s, but her mother Ermentrude could not have been born earlier than 876 and, in that case, could not have been Cunegonde's mother. Furthermore, Siegfried himself, if he were the son of Wiegeric, must have been born no later than 919. Moreover, he is not mentioned in a deed dated 943, written by the widow of Goslin , Count of Bidgau, son of Wiegeric, to which three other brothers of Goslin signed [5] . However, he first appears in historical sources only in 959. Siegfried's children were born in the 950s–980s. Based on these data, it is more likely that he was born in the 930s or 940s and therefore could not have been the son of Wigerich [6] . In order to explain the discrepancies in chronology, a version has been proposed according to which Siegfried was not the son, but the grandson of Wigerich. In this case, his mother, Kunigunde, is not identical to Kunigunde, Wigerich's wife.
There are arguments, however, that cast doubt on Siegfried's relationship with the Wiegerichids. There was constant antagonism between the Wiegerichids and Siegfried's descendants, which was not very typical for feudal families in the early Middle Ages, in which relatives usually supported each other. In addition, there were several marriages between the Wiegerichids and Siegfried's descendants, and the Catholic Church forbade marriages between close relatives. For example, Friedrich , Siegfried's son, married the granddaughter of Gerberga, the sister of Count Gottfried. Leon Vanderkinder considers her to be the daughter of Gozlin, Count of Bidgau, and the sister of Gottfried the Captive, Count of Verdun [2] . However, not all researchers agree with this identification. According to another version, Gerberga's brother could have been Gottfried of Metz , Vice- Duke of Lower Lorraine .
In order to resolve such contradictions, researchers also put forward other versions of Siegfried's origin. According to one version, Siegfried could have been the son of Rikuin , Count of Verden, and Kuniguda, the widow of Wiegerich. However, Rikuin died in 923/924, so this version also has problems with chronology [6] . In order to resolve chronological problems, some historians consider Siegfried to be the son of Kuniguda from a hypothetical third marriage concluded after Rikuin's death [7] , but there is no documentary evidence of such a marriage.
Notes
- Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Record #136863256 // Gemeinsame Normdatei (German) - 2012-2016.
- Vanderkindere Leon.La Formation territoriale des principautés belges au Moyen Âge, vol. II. - P. 328-333.
- Tabula Genealogica ex Codice Bibl. Regiæ Monacensis // MGH SS II. - P. 314.
- Rösch S. Caroli Magni Progenies. - Neustadt an der Aisch: Verlag Degener & Co, 1977. - P. 119.
- Urkundenbuch zur Geschichte der, jetzt die Preussischen Regierungsbezirke Coblenz und Trier bildenden Mittelrheinischen Territorien. Vol. I. (Mittelrheinisches Urkundenbuch I) / Beyer H. (ed.). - Coblenz, 1860. - P. 241.
- Foundation for Medieval Genealogy
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%97%D0%B8%D0%B3%D1%84%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B4_(%D0%B3%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%84_%D0%9B%D1%8E%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%B5%D0%BC%D0%B1%D1%83%D1%80%D0%B3%D0%B0)