Petronilla of Lorraine ( 1082 – 23 May 1144) was Countess of Holland by marriage to

Floris II, Count of Holland Floris II, called Floris the Fat ( – 2 March 1121) was the first from the native dynasty of Holland to be called Count of Holland, reigning from 1091 until his death. Life Floris was the son of his predecessor Dirk V and his wife Othilde. Fl ...

, and regent of the County of Holland during the

minority Minority may refer to: Politics * Minority government, formed when a political party does not have a majority of overall seats in parliament * Minority leader, in American politics, the floor leader of the second largest caucus in a legislative b ...

of her son Dirk VI in 1121-1129. She was a daughter of Theodoric II, Duke of Lorraine and Hedwig of Formbach.

Biography

Named after her maternal grandmother, she changed her name from Gertrude to Petronilla after her marriage in 1100. In 1121, after her husband's early death, she became regent for their son, Dirk VI. She is described as an ambitious and dominant regent who ruled with a "strong hand". In 1123-25, she gave military support to her brother the emperor in his struggle with his rival emperor Henry. After Baldwin VII, Count of Flanders died without heirs, she supported her son's claim to become

Count of Flanders The count of Flanders was the ruler or sub-ruler of the county of Flanders, beginning in the 9th century. Later, the title would be held for a time, by the rulers of the Holy Roman Empire and Spain. During the French Revolution, in 1790, the co ...

during the Flemish succession war of 1127, but Baldwin was eventually succeeded by Charles I. Her mandate as regent formally expired when her son reached maturity in 1129, but according to contemporary Egmond chronicle, she remained de facto regent until 1133.Kloek, Els (2013), 1001 Vrouwen uit de Nederlandse Geschiedenis, Nijmegen: Vantilt, pp. 20–22, In the struggle for power between Dirk and his younger brother, Floris the Black in 1129-31, she supported the latter upon his first attempt. In 1131, however, she retracted her support and refused to support him. Petronilla founded Rijnsburg Abbey in 1133, where it seems that she retired from court and politics and spent the rest of her life. She was also buried there after her death in 1144. Petronilla descendant Ada was still in charge in the 1200s. She was abbess when her cousin sold the abbey and Ada was obliged to use her own money to repurchase it.

Issue

With Floris II she had the following children: * Dirk VI (c. 1115–1157) * Floris the Black

References

* 1080s births 1144 deaths 12th-century women rulers People of Lorrainian descent Burials at Rijnsburg Abbey {{Europe-noble-stub