Hildegarde van Melle, dame van Melle - Hildegarde van Melle (aka van Rode) seems to have been married only once!

Hildegarde van Melle marriage(s)?

Firstly, Warlop At Meele says,
× Gerard I of Schelderode (At Ghent, Rijksarchief (Public Record Office), Ecclesiastical Archives, St. Bavon Abbey, no. 108, pp. 88-89 (1214, May 14)). Children :- see SCHELDERODE.
(Warlop, 980)

Warlop at Schelderode says,
7. GERARD I.
1170 (ARA. Brussels, Ecclesiastical Archives, Affligem, cartul., f° 128, no.
732)
- 1218 (n.s.), January 26 (Affligem, no. CCLXXXVII, Pp. 373-374) (a).
Lord of Schelderode (St. Bavon, no. 108, pp. 88-89)
nob. (Duvivier: Actes, II, no. 127, pp. 249-252).
Knight (Ename, no. 390, p. 364 (before 1190).
Crusade 1191 (Ename, no. 94, p. 77 (1189)).
× Hildegarde, lady of Melle (Ibidem, loc. cit. (1189); St. Bavon, no. 167,
p. 165).
Children: (Afflighem, no. CCLXXXVII, Pp. 373-374 (1218 (n.s.)
January 26)).
- Ralph aka Radulf
- Gerard
- Gerbod
- Beatrice
- Alice

Note: no one named Arnold van Rode appears in Warlop, either chapter.

Secondly, From Warlop, Ernest. “De Heren Van Rode in De 12de En 13de Eeuw.” Land Van Rode, no. Jaarboek, 1969, pp. 19–30.
https://www.landvanrode.be/jaarboeken/Land%20Rode%20JB%201969.pdf

“Gerard I daarentegen werd na de dood van zijn vader het hoofd van de familie. Hij verschijnt in de historische bronnen van 1170 tot 1218. In de oorkonden wordt hij uitdrukkelijk heer van Rode genoemd, edelman en ridder. Hij nam deel aan de Kruistocht in 1 191 en was gehuwd met Hildegarde, vrouwe van Melle. Gerard I had minstens vijf kinderen, met name Radulf, Gerard, Gerbod, Beatrix en Alix (22).”

Gerard I, on the other hand, became the head of the family after the death of his father. He appears in historical sources from 1170 to 1218. In the charters he is expressly referred to as lord of Rode, nobleman and knight. He took part in the Crusade in 1191 and was married to Hildegarde, Lady of Melle. Gerard I had at least five children, namely Radulf, Gerard, Gerbod, Beatrix and Alix (22).

(22) E. WARLOP, De Vlaamse adel, II, nr. 196/7 ; J.N./II, p. 274-278.

Included in this article is a genealogical chart of the family of Rode headed: De genealogie van de heren van Rode tot 1300 is dus, vooral door het werk van E.H. J. Noterdaeme, duidelijk en samen­ hangend geworden. Schematisch kan deze stamboom als volgt voorgesteld worden :

The genealogy of the lords of Rode up to 1300 is therefore, mainly through the work of E.H. J. Noterdaeme, become clear and cohesive. Schematically this family tree can be represented as follows:

It shows Hildegarde married only once to
Gerard I
(1170-1218)
Heer van Rode, Ridder, Kruistocht 1191

Hildegarde is not shown with a second husband…

Thirdly, from Potter, F. De, and Jan Broeckaert. Geschiedenis Van De Gemeenten Der Provincie Oost-Vlaanderen. Drukkerij, 1889. Chapter: Schelderode pg. 21-22

“Zij verklaart daarbij dat de adelvrouw Heila van Rode insgelijks eene som van 4 pond groote geschonken heeft ter verbetering van het inkomen des pastoors van Schelderode”(1)

She also declares that the noblewoman Heila van Rode likewise donated a sum of 4 pounds to improve the income of the pastor of Schelderode(1).

From a charter by Hildegarde van Rode (van Melle) cited (1) Charters van St.-Pietersabdij.-Prov. Arch.

“…diligenter et gratanter anime adhibente, de consilio et consensu primo geniti mei Radulfi de Roden et Gerardi fatris sui et aliorum heredum meorum, pro salute anime meae nec non et bonae memoriae mariti mei Gerardi cujus animaetur Deus, et pro salute antecessorum
meorum.”

…diligently and gratefully using my soul, with the advice and consent of my firstborn Ralph de Roden and Gerard his father and my other heirs, for the safety of my soul and not only and the good memory of my husband Gerard, may God bless him, and for the safety of my ancestors
of mine.

From the three sources above, it is clear that Hildegarde van Rode was married once to Gerard, had at least five children by him the eldest being first Ralph and secondly Gerard…

I find no mention of a second husband named Arnold van Rode in either primary or secondary documentation, although he exists in tertiary internet trees without documentation. This appears to be a workaround on Geni to be able to connect a daughter of the same name to the then van Rode genealogy, although sources I’ve seen show Hildegarde van Rode wife of Lodewijk Liedekerke van Herzele, heer van Herzele en Eksaerde without identifiable parents.

I am therefore disconnecting Hildegarde van Rode from her purported husband Arnold van Rode unless and until further discovery is confirmed.