Agnes of Germany

For the Holy Roman Empress, see Agnes of Poitou.
Agnes of Germany
Duchess consort of Swabia
Margravine consort of Austria

Margravine Agnes, Babenberg pedigree, Klosterneuburg Monastery, c.1490
Spouse(s) Frederick I, Duke of Swabia
Leopold III of Austria
Noble family Salian dynasty
Father Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor
Mother Bertha of Savoy
Born 1072
Died 24 September 1143 (aged 7071)
Klosterneuburg

Agnes of Germany (1072/73 – 24 September 1143), also known as Agnes of Waiblingen, was a member of the Salian imperial family. Through her first marriage, she was a Duchess consort of Swabia; through her second marriage, she was a Margravine consort of Austria.

Family

She was the daughter of Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor, and Bertha of Savoy.[1] Her maternal grandparents were Otto, Count of Savoy, and Adelaide of Susa. Her brother was Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor.

First marriage

In 1079, aged seven, Agnes was betrothed to Frederick, a member of the Hohenstaufen dynasty; at the same time, Henry IV invested Frederick as the new duke of Swabia.[2] The couple married in 1086, when Agnes was fourteen. They had eleven children, named in a document found in the abbey of Lorsch:

Second marriage

Following Frederick's death in 1105,[4] Agnes married Leopold III (1073-1136), the Margrave of Austria (1095-1136).[5] According to a legend, a veil lost by Agnes and found by Leopold years later while hunting was the instigation for him to found the Klosterneuburg Monastery.

Their children were:[6]

According to the Continuation of the Chronicles of Klosterneuburg, there may have been up to seven other children (possibly from multiple births) stillborn or who died in infancy.

In 1125, Agnes' brother, Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor, died childless, leaving Agnes and her children as heirs to the Salian dynasty's immense allodial estates, including Waiblingen.

In 1127, Agnes' eldest surviving son, Konrad III, was elected as the rival King of Germany by those opposed to the Saxon party's Lothar III. When Lothar died in 1137, Konrad was elected to the position.

Sources and Further Reading

Notes

  1. Robinson, Henry, p. 266
  2. Robinson, Henry, pp. 189, 223.
  3. Decker-Hauff, Zeit der Staufer, III, p. 350.
  4. Robinson, Henry, p. 330.
  5. Robinson, Henry, p. 332.
  6. Decker-Hauff, Zeit der Staufer, III, p. 346
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