Richardis of Schwerin, also called Richardis of Lauenburg or Rixa, (year unknown – before 1386), was a
Duchess consort of
Schleswig
The Duchy of Schleswig ( da, Hertugdømmet Slesvig; german: Herzogtum Schleswig; nds, Hartogdom Sleswig; frr, Härtochduum Slaswik) was a duchy in Southern Jutland () covering the area between about 60 km (35 miles) north and 70 km ...
and possibly a
Danish queen consort, married to
Valdemar III of Denmark (Valdemar V, Duke of Schleswig). She was the daughter of
Gunzelin VI, Count of Schwerin-Wittenburg and Richardis of
Tecklenburg
Tecklenburg () is a town in the district of Steinfurt, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Its name comes from the ruined castle around which it was built. The town is situated on the Hermannsweg hiking trail.
The coat of arms shows an anchor ...
. She was the aunt of
Richardis of Schwerin, Queen of Sweden
Richardis of Schwerin ( sv, Rikardis; 1347 – April 23 or July 11, 1377) was Queen of Sweden as the consort of King Albert.
Life
Richardis was the child of Otto I, Count of Schwerin (d. 1357) and Matilda of Mecklenburg-Werle (d. 1361) and ...
.
The year of her marriage is unknown; her spouse was king of Denmark in 1326–29, and if she married him before 1329, she would have been queen of Denmark. They had two sons, Valdemar (1338–1360) and
Henry
Henry may refer to:
People
*Henry (given name)
* Henry (surname)
* Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry
Royalty
* Portuguese royalty
** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal
** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...
(1342–1375), the latter, Henry, succeeded in Schleswig upon Valdemar's death. Richardis is mainly known for an incident in 1358, during the war between her spouse and king
Valdemar Atterdag
Valdemar IV Atterdag (the epithet meaning "Return of the Day"), or Waldemar (132024 October 1375) was King of Denmark from 1340 to 1375. He is mostly known for his reunion of Denmark after the bankruptcy and mortgaging of the country to finance ...
of Denmark. Atterdag made a siege on Sønderborg castle on
Als, which was at the time the residence of Richardis. She defended the castle successfully for a long time, but when it was no longer possible, she opened the gates and walked out to the king with her daughters and all the women of the castle ''"in an attempt to beg the victorious master for mercy"''. This succeeded, and Atterdag agreed to leave her in control of the castle, on condition that she stay out of the war. In 1364, her son made peace with Atterdag. In 1373, Richardis made Atterdag the protector of her widow fiefs, including Als. This is the last time she is mentioned; in 1386, her nephew
Otto VI, Count of Tecklenburg gave permission to her nephew
Eric of Saxony to claim Otto's inheritance after Richardis in his name.
Ancestry
References
*
Dansk biografisk Lexikon / XIV. Bind. Resen - Saxtrup
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richardis Of Schwerin, Duchess Of Schleswig
14th-century births
14th-century deaths
14th-century German women
14th-century German nobility
House of Hagen
14th-century Danish nobility
14th-century Danish women
Women in medieval European warfare
Women in 14th-century warfare