Gerberga of Burgundy (c. 965/966 – 7 July 1018/1019) was a member of the
Elder House of Welf
An elder is someone with a degree of seniority or authority.
Elder or elders may refer to:
Positions Administrative
* Elder (administrative title), a position of authority
Cultural
* North American Indigenous elder, a person who has and tr ...
. She was married firstly to Herman I, count of Werl and secondly to
Herman II, Duke of Swabia
Herman II (also ''Hermann'') (died 4 May 1003) was a member of the Conradine dynasty. He was Duke of Swabia from 997 to his death. In 1002, Herman unsuccessfully attempted to become king of Germany.
Life
Herman II was the son of Conrad I. There ...
.
Life and Issue
Gerberga was born in
Arles
Arles (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Arle ; Classical la, Arelate) is a coastal city and commune in the South of France, a subprefecture in the Bouches-du-Rhône department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in the former province of ...
. She was the daughter of King
Conrad of Burgundy
Conrad I, called the Peaceful (french: Conrad le Pacifique; german: Konrad der Friedfertige; – 19 October 993), a member of the Elder House of Welf, was King of Burgundy from 937 until his death.
Life
He was the son of King Rudolph II, the fir ...
and his second wife,
Matilda
Matilda or Mathilda may refer to:
Animals
* Matilda (chicken) (1990–2006), World's Oldest Living Chicken record holder
* Matilda (horse) (1824–1846), British Thoroughbred racehorse
* Matilda, a dog of the professional wrestling tag-team The ...
, daughter of
Louis IV of France
Louis IV (September 920 / September 921 – 10 September 954), called ''d'Outremer'' or ''Transmarinus'' (both meaning "from overseas"), reigned as King of West Francia from 936 to 954. A member of the Carolingian dynasty, he was the only son o ...
and
Gerberga of Saxony
Gerberga of Saxony (c. 913 – 5 May 968/9 or 984?) was a French queen who ruled as regent of France during the minority of her son Lothair in 954–959. She was a member of the Ottonian dynasty. Her first husband was Gilbert, Duke of Lorraine. ...
.
Her paternal aunt was
Empress Adelaide
Adelaide of Italy (german: Adelheid; 931 – 16 December 999 AD), also called Adelaide of Burgundy, was Holy Roman Empress by marriage to Emperor Otto the Great; she was crowned with him by Pope John XII in Rome on 2 February 962. She was the f ...
. Through her mother, she was related to
Louis IV of France
Louis IV (September 920 / September 921 – 10 September 954), called ''d'Outremer'' or ''Transmarinus'' (both meaning "from overseas"), reigned as King of West Francia from 936 to 954. A member of the Carolingian dynasty, he was the only son o ...
,
Emperor Otto I
Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), traditionally known as Otto the Great (german: Otto der Große, it, Ottone il Grande), was East Francia, East Frankish king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the olde ...
and
Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy ...
.
First marriage
Gerberga married her first husband, Herman I, Count of Werl, c. 978. Herman of Werl died sometime between 985-988.
With Herman of Werl, Gerberga had the following children:
*Herman II, count of Werl (c. 980 – 1025)
*Rudolf (or Liudolf) of Werl (c. 982/986 – 1044)
*Bernard I of Werl (c. 983 – 1027)
Second marriage
Gerberga married
Herman II, Duke of Swabia
Herman II (also ''Hermann'') (died 4 May 1003) was a member of the Conradine dynasty. He was Duke of Swabia from 997 to his death. In 1002, Herman unsuccessfully attempted to become king of Germany.
Life
Herman II was the son of Conrad I. There ...
in 988. With Herman of Swabia, Gerberga had several children, including:
*
Matilda of Swabia
Matilda of Swabia (german: Mathilde von Schwaben; – 29 July 1032), a member of the Conradines, Conradine dynasty, was Duchy of Carinthia, Duchess of Carinthia by her first marriage with Duke Conrad I, Duke of Carinthia, Conrad I and List of c ...
[Stefan Weinfurter, ''The Salian Century: Main Currents in an Age of Transition'', transl. Barbara M. Bowlus, (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999), 46.]
*
Gisela, who became Queen consort of Germany then
Empress consort of the Holy Roman Empire.
*
Herman III, who succeeded his father in 1003, but died young, in 1012.
*Berthold (992–993)
*Beatrice (?) (died after 25 February 1025),who was married to
Adalbert of Eppenstein
Patronage
In September 997 Otto III donated the estate of Stockhausen to the female monastery at
Meschede
Meschede () is a town in the Hochsauerland district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the capital of the district Hochsauerlandkreis.
Education
One of the five branches of South Westphalia University of Applied Sciences (also: Fachhoc ...
at Gerberga's intervention. Stockhausen was located in the medieval district of ''Lochtrop'', which was part of the county of Werl. In 997 the county of Werl was ruled by Gerberga's son from her first marriage, Herman II of Werl. The counts of Werl had long-standing connections with this monastery. Herman II's father, Herman I of Werl, was the advocate of Meschede. And one of his ancestors, also called Herman, likewise acted as advocate for Meschede in 913. Meschede may have been founded by Emhilids, one of Herman's ninth-century ancestors.
In May 1000 Otto III issued a diploma taking the female monastery of
Oedingen into his protection. The diploma records that Oedingen, which was located in the district of Lochtrop, in the county of Werl, had been founded by Gerberga, with the permission of her son, Herman II of Werl. In 1042 Gerberga's granddaughter, also called Gerberga (she was the daughter of Herman II of Werl), became abbess of Oedingen.
Death
Gerberga died in
Nordgau, Bavaria. A
necrology
An obituary ( obit for short) is an article about a recently deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on positive aspects of the subject's life, this is not always the case. Ac ...
entry indicates that she died on 7 July, probably in 1018 or 1019.
[Glocker, ''Verwandten'', p. 300.]
Notes
Sources
*
*P. Leidinger, 'Die Grafen von Werl und Werl-Arnsberg (ca. 980-1124): Genealogie und Aspekte ihrer politischen Geschichte in ottonischer und salischer Zeit,' in, H. Klueting, ed., ''Das Herzogtum Westfalen, Band I, Das kurkölnische Herzogtum Westfalen von den Anfängen der kölnischen Herrschaft im südlichen Westfalen bis zur Säkularisierung 1803'' (Münster, 2009).
*W. Glocker, ''Die Verwandten der Ottonen und ihre Bedeutung in der Politik. Studien zur Familienpolitik und zur Genealogie des sächsischen Kaiserhauses'' (1989).
*E. Brandenburg, ''Die Nachkommen Karls des Großen'' (1935).
*J. Bohmer and M. Uhlirz, ''Regesta Imperii II,3: Die Regesten des Kaiserreiches unter Otto III. 980 (983)-1002'' (Graz-Cologne, 1956), accessible online at
Regesta Imperii II,3
External links
*[http://www.manfred-hiebl.de/genealogie-mittelalter/welfen/rudolfinger_koenige_von_burgund/gerberga_von_burgund_herzogin_von_schwaben_1019/gerberga_von_burgund_herzogin_von_schwaben_1019.html Gerberga von Burgund, Herzogin von Schwaben] (in German)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerberga of Burgundy
960s births
1010s deaths
Year of birth uncertain
Year of death uncertain
House of Burgundy
Elder House of Welf
10th-century French nobility
10th-century French women
11th-century French nobility
11th-century French women
10th-century German nobility
10th-century German women
11th-century German nobility
11th-century German women
Daughters of kings