Richardis of Bavaria

Richardis of Bavaria (1173 – 7 December 1231) was a German noblewoman. She was a daughter of Count Palatine Otto I of Bavaria, who later became the first Wittelsbach Duke of Bavaria, and his wife Agnes of Loon. Richardis married Otto I of Guelders, and after his death became the first abbess of the Cistercian Abbey of Roermond. She died in 1231 and was buried in the Church of Our Lady, today the only surviving part of the abbey. Life Richardis was an influential person in Gelderland politics. Her family carried the same lion in their coat of arms as the counts of Guelders. In 1186, she married Otto I, Count of Guelders. They had many children together, including three sons, as specified by the Genealogia Ottonis II Ducis Bavariæ. Their known children are: Henry, who died young, shortly after his engagement to Aleidis (born ), daughter of Dirk VII of Holland; Gerard, the Count of Guelders and Zutphen; Otto, who is recorded as Otto I's brother in one document and was Provost of Xanten before becoming Bishop of Utrecht at a very young age; Irmgard, Margaret, Matilda, and Adelaide, who married William I of Holland. Another son, Ludwig, is mentioned in two documents. Richardis was deeply religious. After Otto I died in 1207, she had a house built on the Elberg near the hermitage near Doetinchem, where she stayed from time to time. There she devoted herself to God and supported the monastic community.