Agnes of Poitou

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Agnes of Poitou bigraphy, stories - Holy Roman Empress (1046-1056)

Agnes of Poitou : biography

1025 – 14 December1077

Agnes of Poitou, Agnes of Aquitaine or Empress Agnes ( – 14 December 1077) was Holy Roman Empress and regent of the Holy Roman Empire from 1056 to 1062.

Sources

  • Chicago, Judy. The Dinner Party: From Creation to Preservation. London: Merrell (2007). ISBN 1-85894-370-1
  • Robinson, I. S. Henry IV of Germany 1056-1106, 2000
  • PDF of an article from an unknown book, lacks footnote information.

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Category:House of Poitiers Category:Holy Roman Empresses Category:German queens consort Category:Italian queens consort Category:Burgundian queens consort Category:Duchesses of Swabia Category:Women of medieval Germany Category:Women of medieval Italy Category:Female regents Category:1020s births Category:1077 deaths Category:11th-century female rulers Category:11th-century viceregal rulers

Legacy

Agnes is a featured figure on Judy Chicago’s installation piece The Dinner Party, being represented as one of the 999 names on the Heritage Floor.Chicago, 121.

Marriage and children

Agnes married Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor in November 1043 at Ingelheim.Munster cites November 21, Jackson-Laufer cites November 1Sebastian Münster, Cosmographia, 1550, Book III, 333. She was his second wife after Gunhilda of Denmark, who had died in 1038. This marriage, helped to solidify the Holy Roman Empire’s relationships with the west.

Their children were:

  • Adelaide II (1045, Goslar – 11 January 1096), abbess of Gandersheim from 1061 and Quedlinburg from 1063
  • Gisela (1047, Ravenna – 6 May 1053)
  • Matilda (October 1048 – 12 May 1060, Pöhlde), married 1059 Rudolf of Rheinfelden, duke of Swabia and antiking (1077)
  • Henry, his successor
  • Conrad (1052, Regensburg – 10 April 1055), duke of Bavaria (from 1054)
  • Judith (1054, Goslar – 14 March 1092 or 1096), married firstly 1063 Solomon of Hungary and secondly 1089 Ladislaus I Herman, duke of Poland

Notes

Family

She was the daughter of William V, Duke of Aquitaine and Agnes of Burgundy. She was the sister of Duke William VI, Duke Eudes, Duke William VII, and Duke William VIII. Her maternal grandparents were Otto-William, Duke of Burgundy and Ermentrude of Rheims.

Role as regent

After her husband’s death in 1056, Agnes served as regent during on behalf of young son, Henry IV. Despite being related to kings of Italy and Burgundy, Agnes was not known as a quality leader. During her rule, she would give away three duchies, Bavaria, Swabia, and Carinthia, to relatives.

Agnes opposed church reform, and took the side of Italian dissidents who did as well. Pope Stephen IX, who was unable to take actual possession of Rome due to the Roman aristocracy’s election of an antipope, Benedict X, sent Hildebrand of Sovana and Anselm of Lucca (respectively, the future Popes Gregory VII and Alexander II) to Germany to obtain recognition from Agnes. Though Stephen died before being able to return to Rome, Agnes’ help was instrumental in letting Hildebrand depose the Antipope According to the sources, feeling his was nearing his end, Stephen had his cardinal swear that they would wait for Hildebrand’s return to Rome before electing his successor. and with Agnes’ support replace him by the Bishop of Florence, Nicholas II.

In 1062, Henry was abducted by a group of men, including the Anno II, Archbishop of Cologne and the Otto of Nordheim, in a conspiracy to remove Agnes from the throne, referred to as the Coup of Kaiserswerth. Henry was brought to Cologne, and despite jumping overboard from a board to escape, he was recaptured again. Agnes resigned, as ransom, from the throne, and Anno took her place. After the dethroning, she moved to Rome and acted as a mediator and peacemaker between Henry IV and his enemies. She died in Rome on 14 December 1077 and is buried at St. Peter’s Basilica.