Oda of Haldensleben (c. 955/60 – 1023) was Duchess of the Polans by marriage to Mieszko I of Poland.

Life

Oda was the eldest child of Dietrich of Haldensleben,

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 E ...

of the

North March The Northern March or North March (german: Nordmark) was created out of the division of the vast ''Marca Geronis'' in 965. It initially comprised the northern third of the ''Marca'' (roughly corresponding to the modern state of Brandenburg) and ...

. She grew up in the monastery of Kalbe, near to Milde river in the north of

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label= Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Mag ...

. Eventually she became a nun there, and later was married to Duke Mieszko I of Poland. They had: # Mieszko (born c. 979 – died after 992/95). # Świętopełk (born c. 980 – died before 991?). #

Lambert Lambert may refer to People *Lambert (name), a given name and surname * Lambert, Bishop of Ostia (c. 1036–1130), became Pope Honorius II *Lambert, Margrave of Tuscany ( fl. 929–931), also count and duke of Lucca *Lambert (pianist), stage-name ...

(born c. 981 – died after 992/95). Some 80 years later a reference in an obscure church book mentions "Ote and Dago(me)". There is no actual document and the church book mentioning from c. 1080 is known as '' Dagome iudex'' and thus assumed to be one of the earliest Polish legal documents. It's a principal source for this portion of the history of Poland under 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. Branc ...

. The undated mentioning from 1080 states that (shortly before his death?) "Dago(me)" (assumed to be Mieszko I) gifted his territory to

Pope John XV Pope John XV ( la, Ioannes XV; died on 1 April 996) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from August 985 until his death. A Roman by birth, he was the first pope who canonized a saint. The origins of the investiture controversy ...

and received his domains from him as a fief in this '' Dagome iudex'', not date, apparently issued shortly before his death, c. 991/92. This document indexes the lands of (Mieszko), referred to as "Dagome" in the document, and his wife "Ote" and her sons by him (Mieszko and Lambert are only named; probably Świętopełk was already dead by that time or was in Pomerania as a ruler, according to modern historians). Oda returned to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

and entered in the Abbey of Quedlinburg as a nun, where she died almost thirty years after her husband, in 1023. Nothing is known about the fate of her sons, but in 1032 her grandson Dietrich or Dytryk (son of either Mieszko or Lambert) returned to Poland and obtain parts of the country after the fall of Mieszko II Lambert; however, one year later he was expelled by Mieszko II, who could again reunite Poland in his hands.

Notes

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Haldensleben, Oda Von 10th-century births 1023 deaths German duchesses Polish royal consorts 10th-century Saxon people 10th-century German women 10th-century Polish women 10th-century Polish people