Agnes of Waiblingen
Agnes of Waiblingen | |
---|---|
Duchess consort of Swabia Margravine consort of Austria | |
Margravine Agnes, Babenberg pedigree,Klosterneuburg Monastery,c. 1490 | |
Born | c. 1072 |
Died | 24 September 1143 (aged 70–71) Klosterneuburg |
Noble family | Salian |
Spouse(s) | |
Issue | |
Father | Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor |
Mother | Bertha of Savoy |
Agnes of Waiblingen(1072/73 – 24 September 1143), also known asAgnes of Germany,Agnes of FranconiaandAgnes of Saarbrücken,was a member of theSalianimperial family. Through her first marriage, she wasDuchess of Swabia;through her second marriage, she wasMargravine of Austria.[1][2]
Family
[edit]She was the daughter ofHenry IV, Holy Roman Emperor,andBertha of Savoy.[3]She was named after her paternal grandmother,Agnes of Poitou.She had two siblings, Adelaide/Adelheid and Henry, who died in infancy, and two brothers,Conrad,andHenry.Her mother died when she was around 15, and around 17, her father remarried toEupraxia of Kiev.
First marriage
[edit]In 1079, aged seven, Agnes was betrothed toFrederick,a member of theHohenstaufendynasty; at the same time, Henry IV invested Frederick as the newduke of Swabia.[4]The couple married in 1086, when Agnes was fourteen. They had two sons and three daughters:
- Frederick II of Swabia[5]
- Conrad III of Germany[5]
- Gertrud, who married Hermann III, Count Palatine of the Rhine[6]
- Heilika, who married Frederick III ofPettendorf-Lengenfeld-Hopfenche
- Richildis, who married Hugh I,Count of Roucy
In 1977, German genealogist and historian Hansmartin Decker-Hauff revealed the existence of several other children he claimed to have found in documents from the abbey ofLorch,the Staufers' family monastery. These claims were later exposed as forgeries.[7]Historian Heinz Bühler's suggestion that Berta of Boll, the wife of Count Adalbert of Elchingen-Ravenstein, was Agnes' and Frederick's daughter is purely speculative.[8]
Second marriage
[edit]Following Frederick's death in 1105,[9]Agnes marriedLeopold III(1073–1136), theMargrave of Austria(1095–1136).[10]According to a legend, a veil lost by Agnes and found by Leopold years later while hunting was the instigation for him to found theKlosterneuburg Monastery.[1]
Their children were:[11]
- Adalbert
- Leopold IV
- Henry II of Austria
- Berta, married Heinrich III, Burgrave ofRegensburg
- Agnes,"one of the most famous beauties of her time", marriedWladyslaw II of Poland
- Ernst
- Uta, married Luitpold I, Count of Plain
- Otto of Freising,bishop and biographer
- Conrad,Bishop of Passau,andArchbishop of Salzburg
- Elisabeth, marriedHermann, Count of Winzenburg
- Judith,married c. 1133William V of Montferrat.Their children formed an important Crusading dynasty.
- Gertrude,marriedVladislav II of Bohemia
According to theContinuation of the Chronicles of Klosterneuburg,there may have been up to seven other children (possibly from multiple births) stillborn or who died in infancy.
In 2013, documentation regarding the results of DNA testing of the remains of the family buried in Klosterneuburg Abbey strongly favor that Adalbert was the son of Leopold and Agnes.[12]
In 1125, Agnes' brother,Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor,died childless, leaving Agnes and her children as heirs to theSalian dynasty's immenseallodial estates,includingWaiblingen.
In 1127, Agnes' second son,Konrad III,was elected as the rival King of Germany by those opposed to the Saxon party'sLothar III.When Lothar died in 1137, Konrad was elected to the position.[1]
References
[edit]- ^abcWilhelm Muschka (22 May 2012).Agnes von Waiblingen - Stammmutter der Staufer und Babenberger-Herzöge: Eine mittelalterliche Biografie.Tectum Wissenschaftsverlag. p. 74.ISBN978-3-8288-5539-7.
- ^Thomas Oliver Schindler (20 February 2003).Die Staufer - Ursprung und Aufstieg eines Herrschergeschlechts.Grin.Retrieved29 February2020.
- ^Robinson 2003,p. 266.
- ^Robinson 2003,p. 189, 223.
- ^abBolton 2008,p. 183.
- ^Lyon 2013,p. 244.
- ^Graf, Klaus (2010). "Der Mythos der Staufer – Eine schwäbische Königsdynastie wird erinnert und instrumentalisiert".Schwäbische Heimat.No. 61. pp. 296–306.
- ^Weller, Tobias (2005). "Auf dem Weg zum 'staufischen Haus'".In Seibert, Hubertus (ed.).Grafen, Herzöge, Könige. Der Aufstieg der frühen Staufer und das Reich (1079–1152).Thorbecke. pp. 58 ff.ISBN978-3-7995-4269-2.
- ^Robinson 2003,p. 330.
- ^Robinson 2003,p. 332.
- ^Decker-Hauff,Zeit der Staufer,III, p. 346
- ^Bauer, Christiane Maria; Bodner, Martin; Niederstätter, Harald; Niederwieser, Daniela; Huber, Gabriela; Hatzer-Grubwieser, Petra; Holubar, Karl; Parson, Walther (February 2013)."Molecular genetic investigations on Austria's patron saint Leopold III".Forensic Science International. Genetics.7(2): 313–315.doi:10.1016/j.fsigen.2012.10.012.PMC3593208.PMID23142176.
Sources
[edit]- Bolton, Brenda (2008). "A Matter of Great Confusion: King Richard I and Syria'sVetus de Monte".In Beihammer, Alexander Daniel; Parani, Maria G.; Schabel, Christopher David (eds.).Diplomatics in the Eastern Mediterranean 1000-1500: Aspects of Cross-Cultural Communication.Brill. pp. 171–206.
- Lyon, Jonathan R. (2013).Princely Brothers and Sisters: The Sibling Bond in German Politics, 1100-1250.Cornell University Press.
- Karl Lechner,Die Babenberger,1992.
- Brigitte Vacha & Walter Pohl,Die Welt der Babenberger: Schleier, Kreuz und Schwert,Graz, 1995.
- Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America Before 1700 by Frederick Lewis Weis, Line 45-24
- Robinson, I.S. (2003).Henry IV of Germany, 1056-1106.Cambridge University Press.
- H. Decker-Hauff,Die Zeit der Staufer,vol. III (Stuttgart, 1977).