Eilika of Saxony ( – 16 January 1142) was a daughter of Magnus, Duke of Saxony and a member of the

Billung The House of Billung was a dynasty of Saxon noblemen in the 9th through 12th centuries. The first known member of the house was Count Wichmann, mentioned as a Billung in 811. Oda, the wife of Count Liudolf, oldest known member of the Liudol ...

dynasty. Through marriage to

Otto of Ballenstedt Otto, Count of Ballenstedt, called Otto the Rich ( – 9 February 1123), was the first Ascanian prince to call himself count of Anhalt, and was also briefly named duke of Saxony. He was the father of Albert the Bear, who later conquered Brand ...

, she was countess of Ballenstedt.

Life

Eilika was the younger daughter of Magnus, Duke of Saxony and Sophia, daughter of King

Béla I of Hungary Béla I the Boxer or the Wisent ( hu, I. Bajnok or Bölény Béla, sk, Belo I.; – 11 September 1063) was King of Hungary from 1060 until his death. He descended from a younger branch of the Árpád dynasty. Béla's baptismal name was A ...

. Since Eilika had no brothers, after her father's death in 1106, Eilika and her sister,

Wulfhilde of Saxony Wulfhilde Billung of Saxony (1072 – 29 December 1126 in Weingarten Abbey) was the eldest daughter of Magnus, Duke of Saxony and his wife, Sophia of Hungary. She married Duke Henry IX of Bavaria. As a result of this marriage, part of the ...

, inherited his property. Eilika received property in

Bernburg Bernburg (Saale) is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, capital of the Salzlandkreis district. The former residence of the Anhalt-Bernburg princes is known for its Renaissance castle. Geography The town centre is situated in the fertile Magdeburg ...

Weißenfels Weißenfels (; often written in English as Weissenfels) is the largest town of the Burgenlandkreis district, in southern Saxony-Anhalt, central Germany. It is situated on the river Saale, approximately south of Halle. History Perhaps the fir ...

, Werben and perhaps also in Burgwerden and Kreichau, as well as the Palatinate of

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

. In 1130 Eilika was in conflict with the citizens of the city of Halle, probably because of her support for Archbishop Norbert of Magdeburg. Fighting broke out, during which Conrad of Eichstadt was killed, and from which Eilika only escaped with difficulty. Around 1131 Eilika wrested the advocacy of the monastery of Goseck (monastery) from Louis of Thuringia, and took it for herself. In 1133 Eilika expelled Abbot Bertold from Goseck for incompetency. In 1134 she introduced his successor, Abbot Penther, to the abbey with a solemn address to the monks. In 1138 Eilika was accused of tyranny (''tyrannis''), and attacked at her castle of Bernburg.

Marriage and children

Eilika married Count

before 1095. With Otto, Eilika had two children:

Albert the Bear Albert the Bear (german: Albrecht der Bär; 1100 – 18 November 1170) was the first margrave of Brandenburg from 1157 to his death and was briefly duke of Saxony between 1138 and 1142. Life Albert was the only son of Otto, Count of Ba ...

and

Adelaide of Ballenstedt Adelaide of Ballenstedt ( - after 1139) was the daughter of Otto of Ballenstedt and a member of the House of Ascania. She married, successively, Henry IV, Count of Stade, and Werner, Count of Osterburg. Family Adelaide was the only daughter of ...

, who married Henry II, Margrave of the Nordmark.''Annalisto Saxo'', a.1106, p. 744
Thiele, ''Erzählende genealogische Stammtafeln'', table 158.

References

Sources

* *A. Thiele, ''Erzählende genealogische Stammtafeln zur europäischen Geschichte" Band I, Teilband 1 Deutsche Kaiser-, Königs-, Herzogs- und Grafenhäuser I'' *H. Assing, ''Die frühen Askanier und ihre Frauen'' (Bernburg, 2002). *L. Partenheimer, ''Albrecht der Bär. Gründer der Mark Brandenburg und des Fürstentums Anhalt''. (Böhlau Verlag Köln Weimar Wien, 2001).

External links

(in German)

Deutsche Biographie (in German) 1080s births 1142 deaths Place of birth unknown Place of death unknown House of Billung 11th-century German women 11th-century Saxon people 12th-century German women 12th-century Saxon people German countesses {{Germany-countess-stub