Adelaide of Vohburg (german: Adela or ''Adelheid''; – 25 May after 1187) 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 ...

from 1147 and

German queen German queen (german: Deutsche Königin) is the informal title used when referring to the wife of the king of the Kingdom of Germany. The official titles of the wives of German kings were Queen of the Germans and later Queen of the Romans ( la, ...

from 1152 until 1153, as the first wife 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 ...

king Frederick Barbarossa, the later Holy Roman Emperor.

Life

Adelaide was a daughter of the Bavarian

margrave Margrave was originally the medieval title for the military commander assigned to maintain the defence of one of the border provinces of the Holy Roman Empire or of a kingdom. That position became hereditary in certain feudal families in the Em ...

Diepold III of Vohburg Diepold III, Margrave of Vohburg (c. 1079 – 1146), also known as Diepold von Vohburg and Diepold III von Giengen, was a Bavarian noble in the 12th century. He had two wives. His daughter with Adelaide of Poland (daughter of Władysław I Herman a ...

(c. 1079 – 1146), probably from his first marriage with Adelaide (''Adelajda''; c. 1091 – 1127), a daughter of the

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

duke

Władysław I Herman Władysław I Herman ( 1044 – 4 June 1102) was the duke of Poland from 1079 until his death. Accession Władysław was the second son of the Polish duke Casimir the Restorer and Maria Dobroniega of Kiev. As the second son, Władysław was not ...

and

Judith of Swabia Judith of Swabia ( hu, Sváb Judit, pl, Judyta Szwabska, Judyta Salicka; Summer 1054 – 14 March ca. 1105?), a member of the Salian dynasty, was the youngest daughter of Emperor Henry III from his second marriage with Agnes of Poitou. By her t ...

. Since the days of Emperor Henry IV, her father's ancestors ruled over the

Egerland The Egerland ( cs, Chebsko; german: Egerland; Egerland German dialect: ''Eghalånd'') is a historical region in the far north west of Bohemia in what is today the Czech Republic, at the border with Germany. It is named after the German name ''Eg ...

territory in the Bavarian

March of the Nordgau The Margraviate of the Nordgau (german: Markgrafschaft Nordgau) or Bavarian Nordgau () was a medieval administrative unit ('' Gau'') on the frontier of the German Duchy of Bavaria. It comprised the region north of the Danube and Regensburg (Ratisb ...

, which, however, was seized by King Conrad III of Germany upon the margrave's death in 1146. To secure his hold on the Egerland, Conrad III married his nephew Frederick of Hohenstaufen to Diepold's daughter, Adelaide, before 2 March 1147 in the city of

Eger Eger ( , ; ; also known by other alternative names) is the county seat of Heves County, and the second largest city in Northern Hungary (after Miskolc). A city with county rights. Eger is best known for its castle, thermal baths, baroque bui ...

. Frederick had just returned from the Second Crusade; he succeeded his father Frederick the One-Eyed as Duke of Swabia one month later and added his wife's extended dowry to his estates. Adelaide and Frederick's marriage was not successful, however. According to some later sources, this was because Adelaide committed

adultery Adultery (from Latin ''adulterium'') is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal ...

. Adelaide rarely made public appearances and was not present for Frederick's

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

as the successor of his paternal uncle, Conrad III, on 4 March 1152, nor for his coronation as

King of Germany This is a list of monarchs who ruled over East Francia, and the Kingdom of Germany (''Regnum Teutonicum''), from the division of the Frankish Empire in 843 and the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 until the collapse of the German Emp ...

at Aachen Cathedral five days later. Adelaide was Frederick's queen consort, but the couple remained childless. In 1153 Frederick petitioned

Pope Eugene III Pope Eugene III ( la, Eugenius III; c. 1080 – 8 July 1153), born Bernardo Pignatelli, or possibly Paganelli, called Bernardo da Pisa, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 February 1145 to his death in 1153. He ...

for an annulment. The separation was granted and confirmed by the

Bishop of Constance The Prince-Bishopric of Constance, (german: Hochstift Konstanz, Fürstbistum Konstanz, Bistum Konstanz) was a small ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire from the mid-12th century until its secularisation in 1802–1803. In his dua ...

in March 1153; the justification given on grounds of

consanguinity Consanguinity ("blood relation", from Latin '' consanguinitas'') is the characteristic of having a kinship with another person (being descended from a common ancestor). Many jurisdictions have laws prohibiting people who are related by blood fr ...

. Frederick immediately began to court the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

princess Maria Komnena, though to no avail. No longer a queen, Adelaide, apparently unhampered by her former husband, soon after entered into a

morganatic marriage Morganatic marriage, sometimes called a left-handed marriage, is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which in the context of royalty or other inherited title prevents the principal's position or privileges being passed to the spous ...

with Dietho of Ravensburg, a '' ministerialis'' in the service of Duke

Welf VI Welf VI (111515 December 1191) was the margrave of Tuscany (1152–1162) and duke of Spoleto (1152–1162), the third son of Henry IX, Duke of Bavaria, and a member of the illustrious family of the Welf. Biography Welf inherited the familial po ...

. The marriage produced several children. Dietho died about 1187; Adelaide died shortly afterwards at the Premonstratensian abbey of Weissenau near Ravensburg.

References

Sources

* * * * * * * *

External links

A listing of Margraves of Vohburg and their children
* , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Adelheid of Vohburg 1120s births 1190 deaths 12th-century German nobility 12th-century German women Duchesses of Swabia German queens consort Hohenstaufen Remarried royal consorts