Ehrenfried, Count of Toxandria

Iremfrid (or Ehrenfried etc. a name which could be shortened to Immo, Emmo, Immed etc.) was a 10th-century noble born to a family which had its power base in the delta region where the Rhine and Maas rivers meet near the modern border of the Netherlands and Germany, the eldest son of Ricfrid Count of Batavia, and his wife Herensinda. The memorial of Ricfried refers to him as either "Rector Yrimfredus" or "Victor Yrimfredus", neither of which are interpreted as meaning that he was a count at the time the grave was made. Aarts has for example interpreted the term "rector" as meaning he was a lay abbot of an Abbey, and Jongbloed has speculated that "victor" means he was successful in some military endeavor.

There are various disputed identifications of this Ehrenfried which might be other nobles from this region with the same name, most importantly Erenfried II of the "Ezzonid" family, who were established in the area around Cologne, and there may also have been another Count Eremfried in the Hesbaye region in Belgium. This makes it difficult to be sure about the trajectory of his life, and he may have died relatively young. In contrast, authors such as Jongbloed (2009) claim a long career, ending about 965 or even later.

Many of the surviving records for an Iremfrid in this region and period are for a person with the rank of count. On his parents' memorial he was not marked as a count, but one brother certainly was, Nevelung, and another, Rodolf, was described as preses, which could refer either to a secular or church title. The grave however mentions that two brothers were buried with the parents, presumably not too long after. One is probably Nevelung, according to the 943 grant which Irimfrid's brother Bishop Balderic of Utrecht addressed to Nevelung's wife. So as pointed out by Aarts, probably also either Irimfrid or Rodolf must also have died not long after the memorial was made (when Nevelung was still alive), and probably by 943. Jongbloed argues that the 943 record's reference to the family sins of Nevelung and his brother-in-law Regnier II implies that he lost his title before dying, and that Irimfrid must have inherited this comital title. This was presumably during the rebellions which ended with the Battle of Andernach in 939, which his in-laws were certainly involved in.

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