Ida of Austria ( 1055 – September 1101) was a Margravine of Austria by marriage to Leopold II of Austria. She was a crusader, participating in the

Crusade of 1101 The Crusade of 1101 was a minor crusade of three separate movements, organized in 1100 and 1101 in the successful aftermath of the First Crusade. It is also called the Crusade of the Faint-Hearted due to the number of participants who joined this ...

with her own army.

Steven Runciman Sir James Cochran Stevenson Runciman ( – ), known as Steven Runciman, was an English historian best known for his three-volume ''A History of the Crusades'' (1951–54). He was a strong admirer of the Byzantine Empire. His history's negative ...

: ''Geschichte der Kreuzzüge'' ('A History of the Crusades'). München 1978 (Sonderausgabe), p. 341.

Wife

Ida was the daughter of Rapoto IV of

Cham Cham or CHAM may refer to: Ethnicities and languages *Chams, people in Vietnam and Cambodia **Cham language, the language of the Cham people ***Cham script *** Cham (Unicode block), a block of Unicode characters of the Cham script *Cham Albania ...

and Mathilde. She is also known as Itha. She married Leopold II of Austria and had a son, Leopold III. She was known as one of the great beauties of her day. In 1101, Ida, alongside Thiemo of Salzburg and the Bavarian dukes Welf IV and William IX, joined the

, and raised and led her own army toward Jerusalem. In September of that year, Ida and her army were among those ambushed at

Heraclea Cybistra Heraclea Cybistra ( grc, Ἡράκλεια Κύβιστρα), or simply Heraclea or Herakleia (Ἡράκλεια), also transliterated as Heracleia, was a town of ancient Cappadocia or Cilicia; located at the site of modern Ereğli in Konya Prov ...

by the sultan

Kilij Arslan I Kilij Arslan ibn Suleiman ( 1ca, قِلِج اَرسلان; fa, , Qilij Arslān; tr, I. Kılıç Arslan or ''Kılıcarslan'', "Sword Lion") (‎1079–1107) was the Seljuq Sultan of Rum from 1092 until his death in 1107. He ruled the Sultan ...

Ekkehard of Aura Ekkehard of Aura ( la, Ekkehardus Uraugiensis; died 1126) was the Abbot of Aura (a monastery founded by Otto, Bishop of Bamberg, on the Franconian Saale river, near Bad Kissingen, Bavaria) from 1108. A Benedictine monk and chronicler, he made upd ...

reports that Ida was killed in the fighting, but rumors persisted that she survived, and was carried off to a

harem Harem (Persian: حرمسرا ''haramsarā'', ar, حَرِيمٌ ''ḥarīm'', "a sacred inviolable place; harem; female members of the family") refers to domestic spaces that are reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A hare ...

, according to Albert von Aachen. Later legends claimed that she was the mother of the Muslim hero Zengi, as in ''

Historia Welforum The ''Historia Welforum'' is an anonymous Latin prose chronicle of the House of Welf written around 1170. The original covers the period –1167, but continuations bring it down to 1208. Because two manuscript copies originate in Weingarten (Al ...

'', but this is impossible on chronological grounds. However, Ekkehard of Aura's is probably the most likely version, as he is the only one who can rely on eyewitnesses who were survivors of the Battle of Heraclea Cybistra, whom Ekkehard met a few weeks later in

Jaffa Jaffa, in Hebrew Yafo ( he, יָפוֹ, ) and in Arabic Yafa ( ar, يَافَا) and also called Japho or Joppa, the southern and oldest part of Tel Aviv-Yafo, is an ancient port city in Israel. Jaffa is known for its association with the b ...

, while Albert von Aachen and the author of the ''Historia Welforum'' reported only after hearsay.

In fiction

Ida's fate is depicted in ''Beloved Pilgrim'' (2011) by Christopher Hawthorne.

Issue

* Leopold III (1073–1136), who succeeded his father as Austrian margrave *Adelaide (d. after 1120), married Count Theoderic II of Formbach *Elizabeth (d. 1107), married Margrave

Ottokar II of Styria Ottokar II (died 28 November 1122) was Margrave of Styria. Biography He was the son of Ottokar I and grandfather of Ottokar III, from the dynasty of the Otakars. In the investiture dispute, he sided with the pope, which resulted in a battle ...

* Gerberga (d. 1142), married Duke Bořivoj II of Bohemia *Ida, married the Přemyslid prince

Luitpold of Znojmo Luitpold of Znojmo (, , la, Lutoldus Znoyemsis; died 15 MarchThe day of deth: Z ČECHORODU, PEŠINA; ''Mars Moravicus III.3'', p. 286. and NOVOTNÝ, V.; ''České dějiny I.2'', pp. 513–515 (+ footnote 15) 1112), a member of the Přemyslid dyn ...

*Euphemia, married Count Conrad I of Peilstein *Sophia (d. 1154), married

Henry of Eppenstein Henry of Eppenstein (usually numbered Henry III; – 4 December 1122) was Duke of Carinthia and Margrave of Verona from 1090 to 1122. He was the last duke from the House of Eppenstein. He was the son of Count Markwart of Eppenstein (d. 1076) and ...

, Duke of

Carinthia Carinthia (german: Kärnten ; sl, Koroška ) is the southernmost States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is German language, German. Its regional dialects belong to t ...

from 1090 to 1122, and, secondly, Count Sieghard X of Burghausen

Family tree

References

Sources

* ''Historia Welforum Weingartensis'' *

Runciman, Steven Sir James Cochran Stevenson Runciman ( – ), known as Steven Runciman, was an English historian best known for his three-volume ''A History of the Crusades'' (1951–54). He was a strong admirer of the Byzantine Empire. His history's negative ...