Matilda of Brandenburg ( pl, Matylda brandenburska, german: Matilda von Brandenburg; b. ca. 1270 – d. bef. 1 June 1298), was a German princess member of

House of Ascania The House of Ascania (german: Askanier) was a dynasty of German rulers. It is also known as the House of Anhalt, which refers to its longest-held possession, Anhalt. The Ascanians are named after Ascania (or Ascaria) Castle, known as ''Schlos ...

and by marriage

Duchess Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranke ...

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, r ...

and High Duchess of Poland. She was the second daughter of Otto V the Long, Margrave of Brandenburg-

Salzwedel Salzwedel (, officially known as Hansestadt Salzwedel; Low German: ''Soltwedel'') is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is the capital of the district (''Kreis'') of Altmarkkreis Salzwedel, and has a population of approximately 21,500. Salz ...

, by his wife Judith of Henneberg, daughter of Count

Herman I, Count of Henneberg Herman I, Count of Henneberg (1224 – 18 December 1290) was the son of Count Poppo VII of Henneberg and his wife, Jutta of Thuringia (born: 1184; died: 6 August 1235 in Schleusingen), the eldest daughter of Landgrave Herman I of Thuringia. Th ...

and heiress of

Coburg Coburg () is a town located on the Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only in 1920. Until the revolution of 1918, it was ...

and

Schmalkalden Schmalkalden () is a town in the Schmalkalden-Meiningen district, in the southwest of the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is on the southern slope of the Thuringian Forest at the Schmalkalde river, a tributary to the Werra. , the town had a popula ...

Life

Family

Matilda had six siblings, three brothers and three sisters. Two of her brothers, Albert and Otto, died young and the eldest,

Herman Herman may refer to: People * Herman (name), list of people with this name * Saint Herman (disambiguation) * Peter Noone (born 1947), known by the mononym Herman Places in the United States * Herman, Arkansas * Herman, Michigan * Herman, Min ...

, inherited the whole paternal domains. Matilda's older sister Beatrice married

Bolko I the Strict Bolko (Bolesław) I the Strict also known as the Raw or of Jawor ( pl, Bolko I Surowy or ''Srogi'' or ''Jaworski''; german: Bolko I. von Schweidnitz; 1252/56 – 9 November 1301), was a Duke of Lwówek (Löwenberg) 1278–81 (with his brother as c ...

, Duke of

Świdnica Świdnica (; german: Schweidnitz; cs, Svídnice; szl, Świdńica) is a city in south-western Poland in the region of Silesia. As of 2019, it has a population of 57,014 inhabitants. It lies in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, being the seventh larges ...

in 1284. The other two sisters are Kunigunde, who died unmarried, and Judith, who married

Rudolph I Rudolf I (1 May 1218 – 15 July 1291) was the first King of Germany from the House of Habsburg. The first of the count-kings of Germany, he reigned from 1273 until his death. Rudolf's election marked the end of the Great Interregnum which h ...

, Duke of Saxe-Wittemberg in 1303. The marriage of Matilda's sister into the Silesian branch of the

Piast dynasty The House of Piast was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I (c. 930–992). The Piasts' royal rule in Poland ended in 1370 with the death of king Casimir III the Great. Branch ...

probably was instrumental to her own future wedding.

Marriage

By 1287/1288 Matilda married

Henry IV Probus Henryk IV Probus (Latin for ''the Righteous'') ( pl, Henryk IV Probus or ''Prawy''; german: Heinrich IV. der Gerechte) ( – 23 June 1290) was a member of the Silesian branch of the royal Polish Piast dynasty. He was Duke of Silesia at Wro ...

, Duke of

and

High Duke of Poland Poland was ruled at various times either by dukes and princes (10th to 14th centuries) or by kings (11th to 18th centuries). During the latter period, a tradition of free election of monarchs made it a uniquely electable position in Europe (16t ...

and became his second wife. Henry IV's previous marriage with the daughter of Duke Władysław of Opole (perhaps named

Constance Constance may refer to: Places *Konstanz, Germany, sometimes written as Constance in English *Constance Bay, Ottawa, Canada * Constance, Kentucky * Constance, Minnesota * Constance (Portugal) * Mount Constance, Washington State People * Consta ...

) ended either with her death or her repudiation and exile to her homeland. According to other sources, the real reason around the disputed dismissal of the Opole princess was because Henry IV maintained an affair with Matilda and wanted to marry her.Ewa Maleczyńska, ''Wrocławskie panie piastowskie i ich partnerzy'', Wrocław 1966, p. 79. As the couple were relatives, they needed a

Papal dispensation In the jurisprudence of the canon law of the Catholic Church, a dispensation is the exemption from the immediate obligation of law in certain cases.The Law of Christ Vol. I, pg. 284 Its object is to modify the hardship often arising from the ...

, which probably was given shortly after the wedding. They had no children. On 23 June 1290 Henry IV died unexpectedly, probably poisoned. Soon after, Matilda returned to

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an ar ...

, where she died before 1 June 1298 and was buried in a

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

Kloster Lehnin Kloster Lehnin, or just Lehnin, is a municipality in the German state of Brandenburg. It lies about west-south-west of Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It ...

References

Bibliography

*K. Jasinski, ''Rodowód Piastów śląskich'', Second Edition, Kraków 2007, part I, pp. 160–162. *M. Spórna and P. Wierzbicki, ''Słownik władców Polski i pretendentów do tronu polskiego'', Kraków 2003, pp. 335–336. {{DEFAULTSORT:Brandenburg, Matilda of, Duchess of Poland Polish queens consort 1270s births 1290s deaths

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 ...

13th-century Polish nobility 13th-century Polish women 13th-century German nobility 13th-century German women Daughters of monarchs