Judith of Bavaria, Duchess of Swabia (19 May 1100 – 27 August 1130) was a duchess of Swabia by marriage to Frederick II, Duke of Swabia. She was the mother of Frederick I,

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (disambiguation), Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and h ...

, also known as "Barbarossa".

Life

Judith was born 19 May 1100, the eldest daughter of Henry IX, Duke of Bavaria and Wulfhilde of Saxony, daughter of Magnus, Duke of Saxony and Sophia of Hungary, and thereby a member of the powerful German

House of Welf The House of Welf (also Guelf or Guelph) is a European dynasty that has included many German and British monarchs from the 11th to 20th century and Emperor Ivan VI of Russia in the 18th century. The originally Franconian family from the Meuse-Mo ...

. She had three brothers, Henry, Conrad and Welf; and three sisters, Sophia, Matilda and Wulfhild. The '' Historia Welforum'' names in order ''Iuditham, Mahtildem, Sophium and Wulfildem'' as the four daughters of ''Henricus dux ex Wulfilde''. This is evidence that Judith was the eldest daughter. She had, in addition to her seven legitimate siblings, one half-brother, Adalbert, born of her father's relationship with an unnamed mistress.

Duchess of Swabia

On an unknown date between 1119 and 1121, she married as his first wife, Frederick II, Duke of Swabia (1090 – 6 April 1147); this dynastic marriage united the House of Welf and the

House of Hohenstaufen The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynasty ...

, the two most powerful and influential families in Germany. The ''Historia Welforum'' specified that Judith married ''Friderico Suevorum duci'', but did not mention the date. In 1125, her father initially supported the candidacy of her husband to succeed Emperor Henry V as King of Germany; however, he eventually switched his support to Lothar III, Holy Roman Emperor. The defection of Judith's father created an enmity between the Welfs and the Swabians that would have far-reaching consequences in Germany which would last throughout the 12th century. It is not known how this affected relations between Judith and her husband. No further children were born to the couple after the birth of their daughter Bertha in 1123. She died on 27 August 1130 and was buried at Waldburg in Heiligen Forest,

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

. Shortly after Judith's death Frederick married, as his second wife, Agnes of Saarbrücken.

Issue

She had two children: *

Frederick I Barbarossa Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (; ), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death in 1190. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aa ...

, Holy Roman Emperor (1122 – 10 June 1190), married on 9 June 1156

Beatrice I, Countess of Burgundy Beatrice I (1143 – 15 November 1184) was countess of Burgundy from 1148 until her death, and was also Holy Roman Empress by marriage to Frederick Barbarossa. She was crowned empress by Antipope Paschal III in Rome on 1 August 1167, an ...

, by whom he had 12 children. * Bertha (also called Judith) of Swabia (1123 – 18 October 1194/25 March 1195), married in 1138 Matthias I, Duke of Lorraine, by whom she had seven children.

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Judith of Bavaria, Duchess of Swabia 1100 births 1131 deaths Women of medieval Bavaria House of Welf Duchesses of Swabia Bavarian princesses 12th-century German nobility 12th-century German women Daughters of dukes Mothers of Holy Roman Emperors Mothers of Italian monarchs Mothers of German monarchs