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 l ...
imperial family. Through her first marriage, she was
Duchess of Swabia Duchess of Alamannia
* Daughter of Theodo of Bavaria, wife of Duke Gotfrid
* Hereswind, wife of Duke Hnabi
Queen of Alamannia
Carolingian dynasty, 876–882
Duchess of Swabia
Hunfriding dynasty, 909–911
Ahalolfing dynasty, 915–917
*Non ...
; through her second marriage, she was
Margravine of Austria.
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 son ...
, 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 of ...
.
First marriage
In 1079, aged seven, Agnes was betrothed to
Frederick Frederick may refer to:
People
* Frederick (given name), the name
Nobility
Anhalt-Harzgerode
*Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670)
Austria
* Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria from 1195 to 1198
* 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 dynasty ...
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 family ...
. 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
Frederick II (1090 – 6 April 1147), called the One-Eyed, was Duke of Swabia from 1105 until his death, the second from the Hohenstaufen dynasty. His younger brother Conrad was elected King of the Romans in 1138.
Life Early career
Frederic ...
* 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 1152 k ...
* 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 List of rulers of Bavaria, Duke of Bavaria (as Henry X) from 1126 to 1138 and List of rulers of Saxony, Duke of Saxony (as Henry II) as ...
(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
This is a list of people who have ruled either the Margraviate of Austria, the Duchy of Austria or the Archduchy of Austria. From 976 until 1246, the margraviate and its successor, the duchy, was ruled by the House of Babenberg. At that time, thos ...
(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
Klosterneuburg Abbey or Monastery (german: Stift Klosterneuburg) is a twelfth-century Augustinian monastery of the Roman Catholic Church located in the town of Klosterneuburg in Lower Austria. Overlooking the Danube, just north of the Vienna city l ...
.
Their children were:
* Adalbert
*
Leopold IV
*
Henry II of Austria
Henry II (german: Heinrich; 1107 – 13 January 1177), called Jasomirgott, a member of the House of Babenberg,Lingelbach 1913, pp. 91–92. was Count Palatine of the Rhine from 1140 to 1141, Duke of Bavaria (as ''Henry XI'') and Margrave 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,
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
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Salzburg ( la, Archidioecesis Salisburgensis) is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in Austria. The archdiocese is one of two Austrian archdioceses, serving alongside the Archdiocese of ...]
* Elisabeth, married
Hermann, Count of Winzenburg
*
Judith, m. c. 1133
William V of Montferrat
William V of Montferrat (occ./piem. ''Guilhem'', it. ''Guglielmo'') ( 1115 – 1191) also known regnally as William III of Montferrat while also referred to as William the Old or William the Elder, in order to distinguish him from his eldest s ...
. 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 la ...
's immense
allodial estates, including
Waiblingen
Waiblingen (; Swabian: ''Woeblinge'') is a town in the southwest of Germany, located in the center of the densely populated Stuttgart region, directly neighboring Stuttgart. It is the capital and largest city of the Rems-Murr district. , Waibli ...
.
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.
References
Sources
*
* 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
*I.S. Robsinson, ''Henry IV of Germany, 1056-1106'' (Cambridge 2003).
*H. Decker-Hauff, ''Die Zeit der Staufer'', vol. III (Stuttgart, 1977).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Agnes of Germany
1070s births
1143 deaths
Year of birth uncertain
Austrian royal consorts
Duchesses of Swabia
Hohenstaufen
Babenberg
Salian dynasty
Daughters of emperors
Daughters of kings