Regelinda (german: Reg(e)lindis; - 21 March aft. 1014), a member of the Polish

Piast dynasty The House of Piast was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I (c. 930–992). The Piasts' royal rule in Poland ended in 1370 with the death of king Casimir III the Great. Branc ...

, was Margravine of Meissen from 1009 until her death by her marriage with Margrave

Herman I Herman I may refer to: * Herman I (Archbishop of Cologne) (died in 924) * Herman I, Duke of Swabia (died in 949) * Herman I, Count Palatine of Lotharingia (died in 996) * Herman I, Margrave of Meissen (died in 1038) * Herman I, Margrave of Baden (c ...

Life

She was the daughter of the

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

King

Bolesław the Brave Boleslav or Bolesław may refer to: In people: * Boleslaw (given name) In geography: * Bolesław, Dąbrowa County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland * Bolesław, Olkusz County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland * Bolesław, Silesian Voivodeship, ...

from his third marriage with

Emnilda Emnilda ( pl, Emnilda słowiańska; – 1017), was a Slavic noblewoman and Duchess of Poland from 992 by her marriage with the Piast ruler Bolesław I the Brave. Ancestry She was a daughter of Dobromir, a Slavic ruler who in a 1013 entry was ...

, daughter of Dobromir, a Slavic prince (according to some modern historians in

Lusatia Lusatia (german: Lausitz, pl, Łużyce, hsb, Łužica, dsb, Łužyca, cs, Lužice, la, Lusatia, rarely also referred to as Sorbia) is a historical region in Central Europe, split between Germany and Poland. Lusatia stretches from the Bóbr ...

). Regelinda was married to Herman I shortly after his father Margrave

Eckard I of Meissen Eckard I (''Ekkehard'';Rarely ''Ekkard'' or ''Eckhard''. Contemporary Latin variants to his name include ''Ekkihardus'', ''Eggihardus'', ''Eggihartus'', ''Heckihardus'', ''Egihhartus'', and ''Ekgihardus''. – 30 April 1002) was Margrave of Meis ...

was killed on April 30, 1002. While Duke Bolesław had occupied the

March of Lusatia The March or Margraviate of Lusatia (german: Mark(grafschaft) Lausitz) was as an eastern border march of the Holy Roman Empire in the lands settled by Polabian Slavs. It arose in 965 in the course of the partition of the vast '' Marca Geronis'' ...

and the

Milceni The Milceni or Milzeni ( cs, Milčané; german: Milzener; pl, Milczanie) were a West Slavic tribe, who settled in the present-day Upper Lusatia region. They were first mentioned in the middle of the 9th century AD by the Bavarian Geographer, who ...

lands sparking a German–Polish War, the marriage brought the Polish Piasts and the Ekkardiner margraves closer. The new king

Henry II of Germany Henry II (german: Heinrich II; it, Enrico II; 6 May 973 – 13 July 1024), also known as Saint Henry the Exuberant, Obl. S. B., was Holy Roman Emperor ("Romanorum Imperator") from 1014. He died without an heir in 1024, and was the last ruler ...

named Herman's uncle Gunzelin Eckard's successor, however, in 1009, deposed him and installed Herman as

Margrave of Meissen This article lists the margraves of Meissen, a march and territorial state on the eastern border of the Holy Roman Empire. History King Henry the Fowler, on his 928-29 campaign against the Slavic Glomacze tribes, had a fortress erected on a ...

with Regelinda as his margravine consort. The alliance with the Polish ruler was renewed after the 1018

Peace of Bautzen The Peace of Bautzen (; ; ) was a treaty concluded on 30 January 1018, between Holy Roman Emperor Henry II and Bolesław I of Poland which ended a series of Polish-German wars over the control of Lusatia and Upper Lusatia (''Milzenerland'' or ...

, when Bolesław married Herman's sister Oda. Reglindis

The marriage of Herman and Regelinda proved to be childless. The margravine is better known for the 13th century statue erected in

Naumburg Cathedral Naumburg Cathedral (german: Naumburger Dom St. Peter und St. Paul, ), located in Naumburg, Germany, is the former cathedral of the Bishopric of Naumburg-Zeitz. The church building, most of which dates back to the 13th century, is a renowned landma ...

by the Naumburg Master, which shows a "smiling Polish woman" ( pl, śmiejąca się Polka). It is part of a semicircle of twelve

donor portrait A donor portrait or votive portrait is a portrait in a larger painting or other work showing the person who commissioned and paid for the image, or a member of his, or (much more rarely) her, family. ''Donor portrait'' usually refers to the portr ...

s in the west choir, among them Herman's brother Margrave Eckard II and his wife

Uta Uta or UTA may refer to: Universities *University of Texas at Arlington, in the United States *University of Tarapacá, in Chile *University of Tampere, in Finland Sports * FC UTA Arad, a Romanian football club based in the town of Arad * A c ...

, although there is some research which questions her identification. Her exact year of death is unknown. She died about 1014, but it is also speculated that she could have lived until 1030.

References

* O. Balzer, ''Genealogia Piastów'', Kraków 1895. * K. Jasiński, ''Rodowód pierwszych Piastów'', Wrocław-Warsaw (1992).

Notes

{{Authority control 980s births 1010s deaths Piast dynasty Margravines of Meissen Polish princesses Daughters of kings