Ida of Austria ( 1055 – September 1101) was a Margravine of Austria by marriage to Leopold II of Austria. She was a crusader, participating in the

Crusade of 1101 The Crusade of 1101, also known as the Crusade of the Faint-Hearted, was launched in the aftermath of the First Crusade with calls for reinforcements from the newly established Kingdom of Jerusalem and to rescue the famous Bohemond of Taranto fr ...

with her own army.

Steven Runciman Sir James Cochran Stevenson Runciman (7 July 1903 – 1 November 2000), known as Steven Runciman, was an English historian best known for his three-volume '' A History of the Crusades'' (1951–54). His works had a profound impact on the popula ...

: ''Geschichte der Kreuzzüge'' ('A History of the Crusades'). München 1978 (Sonderausgabe), p. 341.

Wife

Ida was the daughter of Rapoto IV of Cham and Mathilde. She is also known as Itha. She married Leopold II of Austria and had a son, Leopold III. She was known as one of the great beauties of her day. In 1101, Ida, alongside Thiemo of Salzburg and the Bavarian duke Welf IV and the French duke William IX of Aquitaine, joined the

, and raised and led her own army toward Jerusalem. In September of that year, Ida and her army were among those ambushed at

Heraclea Cybistra Heraclea Cybistra (), or simply Heraclea or Herakleia (Ἡράκλεια), also transliterated as Heracleia, was a town of ancient Cappadocia or Cilicia; located at the site of modern Ereğli in Konya Province, Turkey. History Middle Bronze ...

by the sultan Kilij Arslan I. Ekkehard of Aura reports that Ida was killed in the fighting, but rumors persisted that she survived, and was carried off to a

harem A harem is a domestic space that is reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A harem may house a man's wife or wives, their pre-pubescent male children, unmarried daughters, female domestic Domestic worker, servants, and other un ...

, according to Albert von Aachen. Later legends claimed that she was the mother of the Muslim hero Zengi, as in '' Historia Welforum'', but this is impossible on chronological grounds. However, Ekkehard of Aura's is probably the most likely version, as he is the only one who can rely on eyewitnesses who were survivors of the Battle of Heraclea Cybistra, whom Ekkehard met a few weeks later in

Jaffa Jaffa (, ; , ), also called Japho, Joppa or Joppe in English, is an ancient Levantine Sea, Levantine port city which is part of Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel, located in its southern part. The city sits atop a naturally elevated outcrop on ...

, while Albert von Aachen and the author of the ''Historia Welforum'' reported only after hearsay.

In fiction

Ida's fate is depicted in ''Beloved Pilgrim'' (2011) by Christopher Hawthorne.

Issue

* Leopold III (1073–1136), who succeeded his father as Austrian margrave *Adelaide (d. after 1120), married Count Theoderic II of Formbach *Elizabeth (d. 1107), married Margrave Ottokar II of Styria * Gerberga (d. 1142), married Duke Bořivoj II of Bohemia *Ida, married the Přemyslid prince Luitpold of Znojmo *Euphemia, married Count Conrad I of Peilstein *Sophia (d. 1154), married Henry of Eppenstein, Duke of

Carinthia Carinthia ( ; ; ) is the southernmost and least densely populated States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The Lake Wolayer is a mountain lake on the Carinthian side of the Carnic Main ...

from 1090 to 1122, and, secondly, Count Sieghard X of Burghausen *Judith

Family tree

References

Sources

* ''Historia Welforum Weingartensis'' * Runciman, Steven. ''A History of the Crusades, Vol. II'' * Lechner Karl. ''Die Babenberger. Markgrafen und Herzoge von Österreich 976–1246'',

Böhlau Verlag Böhlau Verlag is a book and magazine publisher predominantly of humanities and social science disciplines, based in Vienna (Böhlau Verlag GmbH & Co. KG) and Cologne (Böhlau Verlag GmbH & Cie.), with a branch in Weimar. They describe their focus ...