Agnes of Waiblingen (1072/73 – 24 September 1143), also known as Agnes of Germany, Agnes of Poitou and Agnes of Saarbrücken, was a member of the

Salian The Salian dynasty or Salic dynasty (german: Salier) was a dynasty in the High Middle Ages. The dynasty provided four kings of Germany (1024–1125), all of whom went on to be crowned Holy Roman emperors (1027–1125). After the death of the la ...

imperial family. Through her first marriage, she was

Duchess of Swabia Duchess of Alamannia * Daughter of Theodo of Bavaria, wife of Duke Gotfrid * Hereswind, wife of Duke Hnabi Queen of Alamannia Carolingian dynasty, 876–882 Duchess of Swabia Hunfriding dynasty, 909–911 Ahalolfing dynasty, 915–917 *None ...

; through her second marriage, she was

Margravine of Austria This is a list of the Austrian empresses, archduchesses, duchesses and margravines, wives of the rulers of Austria. The monarchy in Austria was abolished at the end of the First World War in 1918. The different titles lasted just a little unde ...

Family

She was the daughter of

Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV (german: Heinrich IV; 11 November 1050 – 7 August 1106) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1084 to 1105, King of Germany from 1054 to 1105, King of Italy and Burgundy from 1056 to 1105, and Duke of Bavaria from 1052 to 1054. He was the ...

, and

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 ...

First marriage

In 1079, aged seven, Agnes was betrothed to Frederick, a member of the

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 dynas ...

dynasty; at the same time, Henry IV invested Frederick as the new

duke of Swabia The Dukes of Swabia were the rulers of the Duchy of Swabia during the Middle Ages. Swabia was one of the five stem duchies of the medieval German kingdom, and its dukes were thus among the most powerful magnates of Germany. The most notable famil ...

. The couple married in 1086, when Agnes was fourteen. They had eleven children, named in a document found in the abbey of Lorsch: * Hedwig-Eilike (1088–1110), married Friedrich, Count of Legenfeld * Bertha-Bertrade (1089–1120), married Adalbert, Count of Elchingen * Frederick II of Swabia * Hildegard *

Conrad III of Germany Conrad III (german: Konrad; it, Corrado; 1093 or 1094 – 15 February 1152) of the Hohenstaufen dynasty was from 1116 to 1120 Duke of Franconia, from 1127 to 1135 anti-king of his predecessor Lothair III and from 1138 until his death in 1152 ...

* Gisihild-Gisela * Heinrich (1096–1105) * Beatrix (1098–1130), became an

abbess An abbess (Latin: ''abbatissa''), also known as a mother superior, is the female superior of a community of Catholic nuns in an abbey. Description In the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic), Eastern Orthodox, Copt ...

* Kunigunde-Cuniza (1100–1120/1126), wife of

Henry X, Duke of Bavaria Henry the Proud (german: Heinrich der Stolze) (20 October 1139), a member of the House of Welf, was Duke of Bavaria (as Henry X) from 1126 to 1138 and Duke of Saxony (as Henry II) as well as Margrave of Tuscany and Duke of Spoleto from ...

(1108–1139) * Sophia, married Konrad II, Count of Pfitzingen * Fides-Gertrude, married Hermann III, Count Palatine of the Rhine

Second marriage

Following Frederick's death in 1105, Agnes married Leopold III (1073–1136), the

Margrave of Austria This is a list of people who have ruled either the Margraviate of Austria, the Duchy of Austria or the Archduchy of Austria. From 976 until 1246, the margraviate and its successor, the duchy, was ruled by the House of Babenberg. At that time, thos ...

(1095–1136). 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: * Adalbert * Leopold IV * Henry II of Austria * Berta, married Heinrich of Regensburg * Agnes, "one of the most famous beauties of her time", married Wladyslaw II of Poland * Ernst * Uta, wife of Liutpold von Plain *

Otto of Freising Otto of Freising ( la, Otto Frisingensis; c. 1114 – 22 September 1158) was a German churchman of the Cistercian order and chronicled at least two texts which carries valuable information on the political history of his own time. He was Otto I ...

, bishop and biographer * Conrad,

Bishop of Passau The Diocese of Passau is a Roman Catholic diocese in Germany that is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising.Archbishop of Salzburg The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Salzburg ( la, Archidioecesis Salisburgensis) is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in Austria. The archdiocese is one of two Austrian archdioceses, serving alongside the Archdiocese ...

* Elisabeth, married Hermann, Count of Winzenburg * Judith, m. c. 1133

William V of Montferrat William V of Montferrat (occ./piem. ''Guilhem'', it. ''Guglielmo'') ( 1115 – 1191) also known regnally as William III of Montferrat while also referred to as William the Old or William the Elder, in order to distinguish him from his eldest s ...

. Their children formed an important Crusading dynasty. * Gertrude, married Vladislav II of Bohemia 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 2013, documentation regarding the results of DNA testing of the remains of the family buried in Klosterneuburg Abbey strongly favor that Adalbert was the son of Leopold and Agnes. In 1125, Agnes' brother,

Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor Henry V (german: Heinrich V.; probably 11 August 1081 or 1086 – 23 May 1125, in Utrecht) was King of Germany (from 1099 to 1125) and Holy Roman Emperor (from 1111 to 1125), as the fourth and last ruler of the Salian dynasty. He was made co-r ...

, died childless, leaving Agnes and her children as heirs to the

Salian dynasty The Salian dynasty or Salic dynasty (german: Salier) was a dynasty in the High Middle Ages. The dynasty provided four kings of Germany (1024–1125), all of whom went on to be crowned Holy Roman emperors (1027–1125). After the death of the la ...

's immense allodial estates, including

Waiblingen Waiblingen (; Swabian: ''Woeblinge'') is a town in the southwest of Germany, located in the center of the densely populated Stuttgart region, directly neighboring Stuttgart. It is the capital and largest city of the Rems-Murr district. , Wai ...

. In 1127, Agnes' second 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.

References

Sources

* * Karl Lechner, ''Die Babenberger'', 1992. * Brigitte Vacha & Walter Pohl, ''Die Welt der Babenberger: Schleier, Kreuz und Schwert'', Graz, 1995. *Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America Before 1700 by Frederick Lewis Weis, Line 45-24 *I.S. Robsinson, ''Henry IV of Germany, 1056-1106'' (Cambridge 2003). *H. Decker-Hauff, ''Die Zeit der Staufer'', vol. III (Stuttgart, 1977). {{DEFAULTSORT:Agnes of Germany 1070s births 1143 deaths Year of birth uncertain Austrian royal consorts Duchesses of Swabia Hohenstaufen Babenberg Salian dynasty Daughters of emperors Daughters of kings