Judith of Flanders(1030-1035 to 5 March 1095)[2]was, by her successive marriages toTostig GodwinsonandWelf I,Countess of Northumbria andDuchess of Bavaria.
| Judith of Flanders | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Countess of Northumbria | |
| Tenure | 1055–1066 |
| Duchess of Bavaria | |
| Tenure | 1071–1077 |
| Born | 1032[1] Bruges |
| Died | 5 March 1095 |
| Burial | |
| Spouse | Tostig Godwinson Welf I, Duke of Bavaria |
| Issue | Welf II, Duke of Bavaria Henry IX, Duke of Bavaria Kunizza of Bavaria |
| House | Flanders |
| Father | Baldwin IV, Count of Flanders |
| Mother | Eleanor of Normandy |
She was the owner of many books andilluminated manuscripts,which she bequeathed toWeingarten Abbey(two of which are now held at theMorgan Library & Museumin New York).[3]
Family
editJudith was born between 1030 and 1035 inBruges,the only child ofBaldwin IV, Count of Flandersby his second wife,Eleanor of Normandy,who was herself, the daughter ofRichard II of NormandyandJudith of Brittany.[4]Judith had an older half-brother,Baldwin V, Count of Flanders,who succeeded their father upon his death which had occurred when Judith was about two years old. (Some scholars argue that Judith's father was Baldwin V, not Baldwin IV.[5]) Judith's niece wasMatilda of Flanderswho marriedWilliam,the first Norman king of England, known to history as "William the Conqueror". King William was Judith's first cousin, being the son of her maternal uncle,Robert of Normandy.
First marriage
editOn an unknown date before September 1051, she married her first husband, Tostig Godwinson, brother of KingHarold II of England.In September 1051, Judith was forced to flee England forBruges,along with her husband and in-laws, after Tostig's fatherGodwin, Earl of Wessexwas exiled by KingEdward the Confessor;however, they returned home the following year.
He was created Earl of Northumbria in 1055, making Judith the Countess of Northumbria, from that date. His distinguished marriage to Judith had helped Tostig secure the earldom.[6]
Together they had children whose names and numbers are not recorded. They were described in theVita Ædwardi Regisas "unweaned" at the time of their father's death. Tostig had at least three illegitimate sons by unknown mistresses.
Judith was described as having been a "pious and inquisitive woman"; her piety was expressed in the many gifts and donations she made to theChurch of St CuthbertinDurham,which included landed estates and an ornate crucifix. The latter allegedly was a present to appease the saint after she challengedSt Cuthbert's ruling that forbade women to enter the cathedral which housed his relics. Judith, angered that women were not permitted to set foot inside the church and wishing to worship at his tomb, had decided to put Cuthbert's prohibition to the test by ordering her serving woman to go inside to see what repercussions would follow for breaking the holy decree (Judith had planned to go herself upon the latter's safe return); when the woman was about to enter the churchyard, she was stricken by a sudden, violent force of wind that left her infirm and eventually killed her. Judith, as a result of superstitious fear, had the crucifix especially made for St Cuthbert's shrine.[7]Throughout her life, she collected and commissioned many books and illuminated manuscripts, some of which are extant,[8]including theGospels of Countess Judith,which are currently housed inMorgan Library & MuseuminNew York City.These were written and illuminated by English scribes and artists to record for posterity, Judith's generosity to the Church.
In October 1065,Northumbria rose in rebellionagainst the rule of Tostig. After his brother Harold persuaded King Edward to accept the demands made by the rebels, there was an acrimonious confrontation between the two brothers, with Tostig accusing Harold of fomenting the rebellion. In November, Tostig was outlawed by King Edward, and Judith, along with Tostig and her children, was compelled to seek refuge with her half-brother in Flanders the following month. Count Baldwin appointed Tostig ascastellanof Saint-Omer. In May 1066 following the succession of Harold to the English throne in January, he returned to England with a fleet provided by Baldwin to seek revenge on his brother. He formed an alliance with KingHarold III of Norway,but they were both killed on 25 September 1066 at theBattle of Stamford Bridgeby the forces of King Harold.
After her husband's death at Stamford Bridge, Judith moved toDenmark.It is presumed that she brought her "unweaned" children with her to Denmark; however, nothing certain is known of their subsequent fates. A pair of Norwegian king-sagas,FagrskinnaandMorkinskinna,identify Skuli Konungsfóstri, male-line ancestor of KingInge II of Norway,as son of Tostig, butHeimskringlagives him different parentage. Neither names Judith as his mother. Less than a month after Tostig's death, Judith's brother-in-law was killed at theBattle of Hastingsby the Norman army led by her cousin,Duke William,who then became king of England.
Second marriage
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In 1071, when she was 38 years of age, she married her second husband,Welf I, Duke of Bavaria,[9]who had divorced his first wife,Ethelinde of Northeimin 1070.[10]Upon her marriage, she became Duchess of Bavaria; however in 1077, her husband was deprived of his title, and did not regain it until 1096, a year after her death.
They made their principal home at the castle ofRavensburgand together they had:
- Welf II, Duke of Bavaria(1072 – 24 September 1120), married Matilda of Tuscany,[9]but the marriage did not produce issue.
- Henry IX, Duke of Bavaria(1074 – 13 December 1126),[9]married Wulfhild of Saxony, by whom he had seven children.
- Kunizza of Bavaria (died 6 March 1120), married Frederich Rocho, Count of Diesen
Death
editOn 12 March 1094 Judith and her husband listed donations to the family monastery atWeingarten Abbey,where she was buried after her death on 5 March 1095, and where she was (wrongly) remembered as a widowed queen of England.[2]The abbey which had been built by Duke Welf on the Martinsberg in Weingarten, and had received Judith's patronage. She also had bequeathed her magnificent library and arelicofChrist's Bloodto the abbey.[11]Her husband Duke Welf died in 1101 inCypruswhile returning home from theFirst Crusade.
References
edit- ^Harrsen, Meta. "The Countess Judith of Flanders and the Library of Weingarten Abbey".The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America,vol. 24, no. 1/2, 1930, pp. 1–13. JSTOR
- ^abvan Houts, Elisabeth (2004)."Judith of Flanders, duchess of Bavaria (1030x35–1095)".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/54458.Retrieved25 October2016.(subscription orUK public library membershiprequired)
- ^Gospels of Judith of Flanders, MS. M. 708, Morgan Library & MuseumandGospels of Judith of Flanders, MS. M. 709, Morgan Library & Museum. For discussion: Dockray-Miller,The Books and the Life of Judith of Flanders.
- ^Schneidmüller,Die Welfen,pp. 134-135
- ^e.g. Robinson,Henry IV,p. 70
- ^Frank Barlow,Edward the Confessor,p.195, Google Books, retrieved 5 March 2010
- ^William M. Aird,The Boundaries of Medieval Misogyny: Gendered Urban Space in Medieval Durham,Cardiff University, pp.49-50, retrieved 4 March 2010
- ^Francis Newton,The Scriptorium and Library at Monte Cassino, 1058-1105,p.234, retrieved on 4 March 2010
- ^abcLuscombe & Riley-Smith 2006,p. 755.
- ^Schneidmüller,Die Welfen,p. 134;Creber, Alison (22 April 2019). "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do: Dissolving Royal and Noble Marriages in Eleventh-Century Germany".German History.37(2): 149–171.doi:10.1093/gerhis/ghy108.ISSN0266-3554..
- ^Michael Heinlen,An Early Image of a Mass of St Gregory and Devotion to the Holy Blood at Weingarten Abbey,University of North Texas, retrieved 5 March 2010
Sources
edit- Luscombe, David; Riley-Smith, Jonathan, eds. (2006).The New Cambridge Medieval History.Cambridge University Press.
- B. Schneidmüller:Die Welfen. Herrschaft und Erinnerung (819–1252).(Stuttgart, 2000), pp. 119–123
- I.S. Robinson,Henry IV of Germany, 1056-1106(Cambridge, 2003).
- M. Dockray-Miller,The Books and the Life of Judith of Flanders(Farnham, 2015).
External links
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