| Notater |
- ◦BIOGRAPHY
Egilmar, the first confirmed ancestor of the house of Oldenburg, was born about 1040. He was first mentioned as a witness in a charter dated 1091 by Archbishop Liemar of Hamburg-Bremen. As Archbishop Liemar was probably in Italy in 1091, a witness is referred to as 'growing up at the time' and the document summarises a number of transactions, the legal proceeding that Egilmar attended probably took place some years earlier.
A deed from 1108 indicates that Egilmar was accepted into the brotherhood of prayers of the Abbey of Iburg in return for a yearly stipend. It was to be picked up from 'apud Aldenburch', the first reference to Oldenburg, the later main seat of the family. Egilmar is referred to in this deed, probably written by his brother Giselbert, as _Comes in confinio Saxonie et Frisie potens et manens:_ the mighty count resident on the border between Saxony and Frisia. There is no evidence that Egilmar already had a castle in Oldenburg.
The deed of 1108 refers to many members of Egilmar's family, including his wife Richeza, his sons Christian and Egilmar, his daughter Gertrud and his brother, the churchman Giselbert.
It has been established that the mother of his wife Richeza was Ida von Elsthorp. According to the canon and chronicler Albert von Stade she was a niece of an emperor and a pope. However their identification remains a puzzle. The same applies to Richeza's father, because her mother was married three times. However it is most probable that he was Dedo, Graf von Goseck, Graf in Ditmarschen, murdered in 1056, who was count palatine of Saxony and brother of Friedrich II von Goseck, also a palatine of Saxony. That would make Richeza a niece of Archbishop Adalbert von Goseck of Bremen (1043-1072), a brother of Friedrich II von Goseck, who would have greatly favoured the rise of her husband and their descendants.
The Rastede Chronicle also suggests that after the death of Egilmar his two sons Egilmar II and Christian were driven from Jadelche by the Frisians and had to retreat to two castles in Zwischenahn and Elmendorf near the Zwischenahner Sea.
Egilmar I was possibly a relative of the Count Huno who in 1059 with his wife Willa founded a church in Rastede near Oldenburg, and an abbey next to it. According to the abbey chronicle, because of this relationship Egilmar was favoured by the founder Huno to be the steward of Rastede; however the stewardship was only received by his son Egilmar II. This information is confirmed by entries from 1165 in the book of the life of the abbey that still exists. Among the founders and benefactors of the abbey only one Egelmarus is recorded with his wife Eilika.
A reference in the chronicle of the abbey of Rastede suggests that Egilmar was burgrave in Jadelche and was responsible for the government of the Frisian territories which belonged to the archdiocese of Bremen. An abbey dedicated to St. Vitus belonged to the castle. It is possible that the castle, which could no longer be held against the Frisians, was converted by Egilmar's two sons into an abbey, in order to preserve the stewardship income that would belong to the castle. Both Egilmar, who died before 1112, and his wife Richeza, were probably buried there, since according to the Rastede chronicle their son Egilmar II was buried in Jadelche.
The exact origins of the Egilmars is unclear. Based on the estate holdings of the counts of Oldenburg they could have come from north of Osnabrück. Egilmar I may have followed Friedrich 'der Streitbare', Graf von Arnsberg, Vogt von Paderborn, who probably succeeded Count Huno as steward of Rastede, or possibly his father Konrad, Graf von Werl-Arnsberg, into the Oldenburg area. In the first half of the 11th century an Egilmar was a witness listed immediately below the four counts of Werl. Egilmar's descendants had property and countship rights in the Lerigau (the Wildeshausen area) and in the Hasegau. To what extent Egilmar already possessed these can only be assumed in the absence of sources. Egilmar had the stewardship of the Alexander Abbey in Wildeshausen, thanks to his wife Richeza. Her probable uncle Archbishop Adalbert of Bremen was the rector of Wildeshausen.
- Egilmar I. war Gf. im Lerigau (Raum Wildeshausen), im Ammer- und Hasegau und Vogt von Rastede, das Gf. Huno gegründet hatte. Er stritt besonders mit den Grafen von Stade und wurde "bei Oldenburg" genannt. er war Neffe und Erbe des Grafen Hunovon Oldenburg.
|
Skønnet 1040 - ca. 1108 (~ 68 år)
