Maria of Swabia (1199/1200 – 29 March 1235) was a member of the powerful Hohenstaufen dynasty of German kings.

Family

Maria of Hohenstaufen was born in

Arezzo Arezzo ( , , ) , also ; ett, 𐌀𐌓𐌉𐌕𐌉𐌌, Aritim. is a city and ''comune'' in Italy and the capital of the province of the same name located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about southeast of Florence at an elevation of above sea level. ...

, Tuscany, Italy around 1199/1200. She was the second daughter of

Philip of Swabia Philip of Swabia (February/March 1177 – 21 June 1208) was a member of the House of Hohenstaufen and King of Germany from 1198 until his assassination. The death of his older brother Emperor Henry VI in 1197 meant that the Hohenstaufen rule (whi ...

and Irene Angelina of

Byzantium Byzantium () or Byzantion ( grc, Βυζάντιον) was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium'' cont ...

. In 1208, at the age of seven, Maria was left an orphan by the unexpected deaths of her parents. On 21 June, her father was murdered by Otto of Wittelsbach, and two months later her mother died after giving birth to a daughter, who did not live beyond early infancy.

Marriage and issue

Sometime before 22 August 1215, she married Henry II, heir to the Duchy of Brabant (present-day Belgium) and Lothier. They had: * Matilda of Brabant (14 June 1224 – 29 September 1288), married firstly, Robert I of Artois, by whom she had two children,

Robert II of Artois Robert II (September 1250 – 11 July 1302) was the Count of Artois, the posthumous son and heir of Robert I and Matilda of Brabant. He was a nephew of Louis IX of France. He died at the Battle of the Golden Spurs. Life An experienced soldier, ...

and Blanche of Artois; she married secondly

Guy III, Count of Saint-Pol Guy III of Châtillon, Count of Saint-Pol (died 1289) was a French nobleman, and was a younger son of Hugh I, Count of Blois, and Mary, Countess of Blois. While his elder brother John I of Châtillon succeeded to their mother's County of Blois, G ...

, by whom she had six children. * Beatrix of Brabant (1225 – 11 November 1288), married firstly Henry Raspe, Landgrave of Thuringia, and secondly William III of Dampierre. She died childless. * Maria of Brabant (c. 1226 – 18 January 1256), married

Louis II, Duke of Bavaria Louis the Strict (german: Ludwig der Strenge) (13 April 1229 – 2 February 1294) was Duke of Upper Bavaria and Count Palatine of the Rhine from 1253. He is known as Louis II or Louis VI following an alternative numbering. Born in Heidelberg, h ...

. She was beheaded by her husband on suspicion of infidelity. *Margaret of Brabant (died 14 March 1277), Abbess of Herzogenthal. * Henry III, Duke of Brabant (c. 1230 – 28 February 1261), married Adelaide of Burgundy (c. 1233 – 23 October 1273), daughter of Hugh IV, Duke of Burgundy, by whom he had issue *Philip of Brabant, died young.

Death

Maria of Hohenstaufen died on 29 March 1235 in

Leuven Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the historic ...

, Brabant, five days before her thirty-fourth birthday. Less than six months later, her husband succeeded his father as Duke of Brabant and Lothier.

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Maria Of Hohenstaufen 1201 births 1235 deaths People from Arezzo Hohenstaufen 13th-century German women Daughters of kings