widukind's tomb

8/8/2019 Widukind's Tomb

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Widukind's TombJoannes Richter

Widukind's Tomb at Enger (early 11th Century, colours reconstructedaccording to a description made 1578 by Reinerus Reineccius)Source:

Westfalian History

Fig. 1: Widukind's Tomb at Enger
http://www.westfaelische-geschichte.de/med323%20http://www.westfaelische-geschichte.de/med323%20


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1 Widukind

Widukind's tomb

A remarkable tomb in orange-red, blue and purple from theearly 11th century is to be found at Enger, Westfalia. It mayhave been related to the Plantagenet tombs at FontevraudAbbey (1189-1246) and the grave at Roermond (1240). I stillfeel unsure whether the garments found at Enger, Fontevraud

Abbey and Roermond are orange instead of red. The earlyAnglo-Saxons must have been informed of these colours andmay have taken these to their home country in France andGreat-Britain.

Obviously Widukind's name may also be related to the Indo-European sky-god, whose name has been identified by anandrogynous IU-core. Another pagan, Indo-European sky-godof the north country has been named Vit or Svantevit,which may correlate to Widu, respectively Uidu's Child.The colour combination red & blue may refer to theandrogynous character of the pagan deity1.

Widukind's lifetime2

Widukind was the leader of the Saxons against the Frankish

king Charlemagne (later emperor of the West). In 782, whenCharlemagne organized Saxony as a Frankish province andordered forced conversion of the pagan Saxons of Widukind,the Saxons resumed warfare against the Franks.

1The Hermetic Codex2Source:Widukind

2
http://www.scribd.com/doc/32981510/The-Hermetic-Codexhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Widukindhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Widukindhttp://www.scribd.com/doc/32981510/The-Hermetic-Codexhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Widukind


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Very little is known about Widukind's life. All sources abouthim stem from his enemies, the Franks, who painted a negativepicture of Widukind, calling him an "insurgent" and a "traitor".

He was mentioned first in 777, when he was the only one of theSaxon nobles not to appear at Charlemagne's court inPaderborn. Instead, he stayed with the Danish king Siegfried(possibly Sigurd Ring).

In the Bardengau in 785, Widukind agreed to surrender inreturn for a guarantee that no bodily harm would be done tohim. Widukind and his allies were then baptized in Attigny in

785, with Charlemagne as his godfather.There are no sources about Widukind's life or death after hisbaptism. It is assumed that he was imprisoned at a monastery

Since the 9th century, Widukind had been idolized as amythical hero; he started to be erroneously called a duke orking of Saxony. Around 1100, a tomb for him was made inEnger; recent excavations have found that the contents of the

tomb are indeed early medieval, but it is impossible to decidewhether the body is Widukind's. When in the 10th centurySaxon kings (of the Ottonian dynasty) replaced the Frankishkings in East Francia (the later Holy Roman Empire), thesekings proudly claimed descent from Widukind: Matilda, thewife of King Henry I, was apparently a great-great-great-granddaughter of Widukind. The House of Billung, to which

several Dukes of Saxony belonged, had Matilda's sister amongits ancestors and thus also claimed descent from Widukind.

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The abbey was originally the site of the graves of King Henry

II of England, his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, their son KingRichard I of England, their daughter Joan, their grandsonRaymond VII of Toulouse, and Isabella of Angoulme, wife oftheir son King John. However, there is no remaining corporalpresence of Henry, Eleanor, Richard or the others on the site.Their remains were possibly destroyed during the FrenchRevolution.

King Richard I, Lionheart (king of England 1189-1199)at his grave in the abbey Fonevraultdemonstrating the traces ofblue overcoat

and white & redgarments

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Fig. 3: King Richard I, Lionheart ( 1189-1199)


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3 The Tomb for Gerard v. Gelre (1240)

The famous monumental tomb in the ancient3 church for the

abbey at Roermond (Netherlands) is said to depict countGerard of Gelre and his wife Margaretha of Brabant. Thecouple has been sculptured as semi-dormant.

The count is wearing a green overcoat and a blue robe over a

red garment covering a white under-dress. The countess iswearing a brown overcoat and white garments. The count'sgreen overcoat will only be seen from the side of themonument. All clothing have been decorated with goldenborders. The main colours are red, white and blue.

3 founded 1224 by count Gerard III of Gelre

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Fig. 4: Tomb in the Munsterkerk at Roermond (NL)


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Born 1295 Reinout II has been married twice. His firstmarriage had been sealed at Roermond:

11 January 1311 Marriage:Roermond, Sofia ofBerthout * 1290 6 May 1329

28 October 1331Marriage:Nimwegen,wEleanorPlantagenet * 8 June 1318 22 April 1355

13 May 1333 Birth of a child: Reinaud III ofGelre* 13 May 1333 4 December 1371

1336 Birth of a child: Eduard of Gelre* 1336 1371

12 October 1343 died at:Arnhem

Burial location: Gravendal

The attributes marked yellow refer to interconnections between

the Plantegenets and the counts of Gelre, which may have beenestablished in former times as well. Maybe the colours red,white and blue have also been used as common symbols.

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http://nl.rodovid.org/wk/Familie:3532http://nl.rodovid.org/wk/Familie:3532http://nl.rodovid.org/wk/Place:Roermondhttp://nl.rodovid.org/wk/Place:Roermondhttp://nl.rodovid.org/wk/Speciaal:Tree/10499http://nl.rodovid.org/wk/Speciaal:Tree/10499http://nl.rodovid.org/wk/Persoon:10499http://nl.rodovid.org/wk/Persoon:10499http://nl.rodovid.org/wk/Familie:3523http://nl.rodovid.org/wk/Familie:3523http://nl.rodovid.org/wk/Place:Nimwegenhttp://nl.rodovid.org/wk/Speciaal:Tree/10444http://nl.rodovid.org/wk/Speciaal:Tree/10444http://wikipedia.org/wiki/nl:Eleonora_van_Engeland_%5C(1318-1355%5C)http://wikipedia.org/wiki/nl:Eleonora_van_Engeland_%5C(1318-1355%5C)http://nl.rodovid.org/wk/Persoon:10444http://nl.rodovid.org/wk/Persoon:10444http://nl.rodovid.org/wk/Speciaal:Tree/11862http://nl.rodovid.org/wk/Persoon:11862http://nl.rodovid.org/wk/Persoon:11862http://nl.rodovid.org/wk/Speciaal:Tree/11863http://nl.rodovid.org/wk/Persoon:11863http://nl.rodovid.org/wk/Persoon:11863http://nl.rodovid.org/wk/Place:Arnhemhttp://nl.rodovid.org/wk/Place:Arnhemhttp://nl.rodovid.org/wk?title=Place:Gravendal&action=edithttp://nl.rodovid.org/wk/Familie:3532http://nl.rodovid.org/wk/Place:Roermondhttp://nl.rodovid.org/wk/Speciaal:Tree/10499http://nl.rodovid.org/wk/Persoon:10499http://nl.rodovid.org/wk/Persoon:10499http://nl.rodovid.org/wk/Familie:3523http://nl.rodovid.org/wk/Place:Nimwegenhttp://nl.rodovid.org/wk/Speciaal:Tree/10444http://wikipedia.org/wiki/nl:Eleonora_van_Engeland_%5C(1318-1355%5C)http://nl.rodovid.org/wk/Persoon:10444http://nl.rodovid.org/wk/Persoon:10444http://nl.rodovid.org/wk/Persoon:10444http://nl.rodovid.org/wk/Speciaal:Tree/11862http://nl.rodovid.org/wk/Persoon:11862http://nl.rodovid.org/wk/Persoon:11862http://nl.rodovid.org/wk/Speciaal:Tree/11863http://nl.rodovid.org/wk/Persoon:11863http://nl.rodovid.org/wk/Place:Arnhemhttp://nl.rodovid.org/wk?title=Place:Gravendal&action=edit


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4 Isabella of Angouleme (1246)

Isabella of Angoulme (1188 1246) was suo jure Countess ofAngoulme and queen consort of England as the second wifeof King John. She was queen from 1200 until John's death on19 October 1216.

At her tomb inFontevraud Abbey she is wearing a golden robeover blue garment. Her couch has been draped with a redtissue.

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Fig. 7: Isabella of Angouleme & King Richard I
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fontevraud_Abbeyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fontevraud_Abbeyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fontevraud_Abbey

widukind's tomb

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