Gertrud of Brunswick (german: Gertrud von Braunschweig; – 9 December 1117) was Countess of Katlenburg by marriage to Dietrich II, Count of Katlenburg, Margravine of Frisia by marriage to

Henry, Margrave of Frisia Henry the Fat ( – 1101), also known as Henry of Nordheim or Northeim, was Count in Rittigau (part of Liesgau) and Eichsfeld from 1083 onwards, and was the Margrave of Frisia from 14 April 1099 until he was murdered in 1101. He was the father of ...

, and Margravine of Meissen by marriage to margrave

Henry I Henry I may refer to: 876–1366 * Henry I the Fowler, King of Germany (876–936) * Henry I, Duke of Bavaria (died 955) * Henry I of Austria, Margrave of Austria (died 1018) * Henry I of France (1008–1060) * Henry I the Long, Margrave of the ...

. She served as regent of the County of Katlenburg during the minority of her son Dietrich III of Katlenburg in 1085-?, as regent of the Margrave of Frisia during the minority of her son Count Otto III of Northeim in 1090-?, and as regent of the County of Northeim during the minority of her son Henry II, Margrave of Meissen in 1103-?. She was also one of the leaders of the insurrections against Emperor Henry IV and his son Henry V.

Life

Gertrud was the only daughter of Margrave Egbert I of Meissen (d. 1068) and

Immilla of Turin Immilla (also Emilia, Immula, Ermengard or Irmgard) (born c.1020, died January 1078) was a Duchess of Swabia, duchess consort of Swabia by marriage to Otto III, Duke of Swabia, and a List of margravines of Meissen, margravine of Meissen by marriag ...

(d. 1078), and as such a member of the Brunonid dynasty. Through her father, Gertrude was a great-granddaughter of

Brun I, Count of Brunswick Brun (Latin Bruno; born around 975, died around 1010), was Count in the Derlingau, the Nordthüringgau, the Hastfalagau, the Salzgau, the Gau Gretinge, and the Gau Mulbeze, with Brunswick as his residence. Brun was a member of the Brunones d ...

and

Gisela of Swabia Gisela of Swabia ( 990 – 15 February 1043), was queen of Germany from 1024 to 1039 and empress of the Holy Roman Empire from 1027 to 1039 by her third marriage with Emperor Conrad II. She was the mother of Emperor Henry III. She was regent of ...

; since Gisela later became German queen and empress consort (from 1024 to 1043), Gertrude was closely related to

Emperor Henry III Henry III (28 October 1016 – 5 October 1056), called the Black or the Pious, was Holy Roman Emperor from 1046 until his death in 1056. A member of the Salian dynasty, he was the eldest son of Conrad II and Gisela of Swabia. Henry was raised by ...

and Emperor Henry IV. Through her mother, Gertrude was the niece of

Adelaide of Turin Adelaide of Turin (also ''Adelheid'', ''Adelais'', or ''Adeline''; – 19 December 1091) was the countess of part of the March of Ivrea and the marchioness of Turin in Northwestern Italy from 1034 to her death. She was the last of the Arduin ...

and first cousins with

Bertha of Savoy Bertha of Savoy (21 September 1051 – 27 December 1087), also called Bertha of Turin, was Queen of Germany from 1066 and Holy Roman Empress from 1084 until 1087 as the first wife of Emperor Henry IV. Life Bertha of Savoy was a daughter ...

, German queen and empress consort from 1066 to 1087.

Katlenburg

She was married to Count Dietrich II of Katlenburg (d. 1085). In 1090, after the childless death of her older brother Margrave Egbert II of Meissen, last of the male Brunonids, she inherited the ancestral seat of Brunswick in

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 ...

. When her husband died, she acted as regent for their son Dietrich III.

Frisia

About 1086, Gertrude married again, this time to the

Northeim Northeim (; nds, Nuurten) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, seat of the district of Northeim, with, in 2011, a population of 29,000. It lies on the German Half-Timbered House Road. History Northeim is first mentioned in 800 in a document ...

count Henry the Fat (d. 1101), who was appointed Margrave of Frisia on 14 April 1099. Their daughter

Richenza of Northeim Richenza of Northeim (c. 1087/1089 – 10 June 1141) was Duchess of Saxony from 1106, Queen of Germany from 1125 and Holy Roman Empress from 1133 as the wife of Lothair of Supplinburg. Family She was the daughter of Count Henry the Fat of Nort ...

(d. 1142) married Lothar of Süpplingenburg, Duke of Saxony and future Holy Roman Emperor. He received the Brunonen's seat at Brunswick. After Henry's death in 1101, Gertrud again acted as regent, this time for her second son Count Otto III of Northeim.

Meissen

Gertrud's third husband was the Wettin scion

Eilenburg Eilenburg (; hsb, Jiłow) is a town in Germany. It lies in the district of Nordsachsen in Saxony, approximately 20 km northeast of the city of Leipzig. Geography Eilenburg lies at the banks of the river Mulde at the southwestern edge ...

(d. 1103), Margrave of Margraviate of Meissen since 1089. Their son, Henry II was probably born after his death in 1103; Gertude acted as regent during his minority. She was one of the leaders of the insurrections against Emperor Henry IV and his son Henry V. She protected the interests of her sons and Margrave Henry II later secured the Wettin authority over Meissen.Posse, ''Die Wettiner,'' table 1.

Notes

References

*B. Elpers, ‘Gertrud von Braunschweig (gest. 1117): die Akkumulation von Macht durch Herkunft und Heirat: eine übermächtige Witwe in Sachsen,’ in B. Elpers, ''Regieren, Erziehen, Bewahren. Mütterliche Regentschaften im Hochmittelalter'' (Frankfurt am Main, 2003), pp. 35-57. *Tania Brüsch, ''Die Brunonen, ihre Grafschaften und die sächsische Geschichte. Herrschaftsbildung und Adelsbewußtsein im 11. Jahrhundert'' (Matthiesen Verlag 2000). ISBN 978-3786814597 *L. Fenske, ''Adelsopposition und kirchliche Reformbewegung im östlichen Sachsen'' *L. Partenheimer, ''Albrecht der Bär. Gründer der Mark Brandenburg und des Fürstentums Anhalt'' (Cologne, 2001). *O. Posse, ''Die Wettiner'' (Leipzig, 1897). *A. Thiele, ''Erzählende genealogische Stammtafeln zur europäischen Geschichte. Band I, Teilband 1 Deutsche Kaiser-, Königs-, Herzogs- und Grafenhäuser I''.

External links

genealogie-mittelalter.de
*The information in this article is based on and/or translated from its German equivalent. {{Authority control 1060s births 1117 deaths Margravines of Meissen Brunonids Gertrude 11th-century women rulers House of Wettin 12th-century women rulers 11th-century German women 11th-century women of the Holy Roman Empire 12th-century German women Burials at Brunswick Cathedral