Agnes of Waiblingen (1072/73 – 24 September 1143), also known as Agnes of Germany, Agnes of Poitou and Agnes of Saarbrücken, was a member of the
Salian
The Salian dynasty or Salic dynasty (german: Salier) was a dynasty in the High Middle Ages. The dynasty provided four kings of Germany (1024–1125), all of whom went on to be crowned Holy Roman emperors (1027–1125).
After the death of the la ...
imperial family. Through her first marriage, she was Duchess of Swabia; through her second marriage, she was
Margravine of Austria
This is a list of the Austrian empresses, archduchesses, duchesses and margravines, wives of the rulers of Austria. The monarchy in Austria was abolished at the end of the First World War in 1918.
The different titles lasted just a little unde ...
.
Family
She was the daughter of
Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor
Henry IV (german: Heinrich IV; 11 November 1050 – 7 August 1106) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1084 to 1105, King of Germany from 1054 to 1105, King of Italy and Burgundy from 1056 to 1105, and Duke of Bavaria from 1052 to 1054. He was the ...
, and
Bertha of Savoy
Bertha of Savoy (21 September 1051 – 27 December 1087), also called Bertha of Turin, was Queen of Germany from 1066 and Holy Roman Empress from 1084 until 1087 as the first wife of Emperor Henry IV.
Life
Bertha of Savoy was a daughter ...
.
First marriage
In 1079, aged seven, Agnes was betrothed to Frederick, a member of the
Hohenstaufen
The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynast ...
dynasty; at the same time, Henry IV invested Frederick as the new
duke of Swabia
The Dukes of Swabia were the rulers of the Duchy of Swabia during the Middle Ages. Swabia was one of the five stem duchies of the medieval German kingdom, and its dukes were thus among the most powerful magnates of Germany. The most notable famil ...
. The couple married in 1086, when Agnes was fourteen. They had eleven children, named in a document found in the abbey of Lorsch:
* Hedwig-Eilike (1088–1110), married Friedrich, Count of Legenfeld
* Bertha-Bertrade (1089–1120), married Adalbert, Count of Elchingen
* Frederick II of Swabia
* Hildegard
*
Conrad III of Germany
Conrad III (german: Konrad; it, Corrado; 1093 or 1094 – 15 February 1152) of the Hohenstaufen dynasty was from 1116 to 1120 Duke of Franconia, from 1127 to 1135 anti-king of his predecessor Lothair III and from 1138 until his death in 115 ...
* Gisihild-Gisela
* Heinrich (1096–1105)
* Beatrix (1098–1130), became an
abbess
An abbess (Latin: ''abbatissa''), also known as a mother superior, is the female superior of a community of Catholic nuns in an abbey.
Description
In the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic), Eastern Orthodox, Coptic ...
* Kunigunde-Cuniza (1100–1120/1126), wife of
Henry X, Duke of Bavaria
Henry the Proud (german: Heinrich der Stolze) (20 October 1139), a member of the House of Welf, was Duke of Bavaria (as Henry X) from 1126 to 1138 and Duke of Saxony (as Henry II) as well as Margrave of Tuscany and Duke of Spoleto from ...
(1108–1139)
* Sophia, married Konrad II, Count of Pfitzingen
* Fides-Gertrude, married Hermann III, Count Palatine of the Rhine
Second marriage
Following Frederick's death in 1105, Agnes married Leopold III (1073–1136), the Margrave of Austria (1095–1136). According to a legend, a veil lost by Agnes and found by Leopold years later while hunting was the instigation for him to found the Klosterneuburg Monastery.
Their children were:
* Adalbert
* Leopold IV
* Henry II of Austria
* Berta, married Heinrich of Regensburg
* Agnes, "one of the most famous beauties of her time", married Wladyslaw II of Poland
* Ernst
* Uta, wife of Liutpold von Plain
*
Otto of Freising
Otto of Freising ( la, Otto Frisingensis; c. 1114 – 22 September 1158) was a German churchman of the Cistercian order and chronicled at least two texts which carries valuable information on the political history of his own time. He was Otto I ...
, bishop and biographer
*
Conrad
Conrad may refer to:
People
* Conrad (name)
Places
United States
* Conrad, Illinois, an unincorporated community
* Conrad, Indiana, an unincorporated community
* Conrad, Iowa, a city
* Conrad, Montana, a city
* Conrad Glacier, Washington ...
,
Bishop of Passau
The Diocese of Passau is a Roman Catholic diocese in Germany that is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising.Archbishop of Salzburg
* Elisabeth, married Hermann, Count of Winzenburg
* Judith, m. c. 1133 William V of Montferrat. Their children formed an important Crusading dynasty.
* Gertrude, married Vladislav II of Bohemia
According to the ''Continuation 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.
In 1125, Agnes' brother,
Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor
Henry V (german: Heinrich V.; probably 11 August 1081 or 1086 – 23 May 1125, in Utrecht) was King of Germany (from 1099 to 1125) and Holy Roman Emperor (from 1111 to 1125), as the fourth and last ruler of the Salian dynasty. He was made co-ru ...
, died childless, leaving Agnes and her children as heirs to the
Salian dynasty
The Salian dynasty or Salic dynasty (german: Salier) was a dynasty in the High Middle Ages. The dynasty provided four kings of Germany (1024–1125), all of whom went on to be crowned Holy Roman emperors (1027–1125).
After the death of the ...
's immense allodial estates, including Waiblingen.
In 1127, Agnes' second son, Konrad III, was elected as the rival King of Germany by those opposed to the Saxon party's Lothar III. When Lothar died in 1137, Konrad was elected to the position.