Gisela of Swabia: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
m Duplicate word removed
It is unclear whether at that time it was Gisela or Conrad who did the ruling part for Ernst. Anyway
Line 23: Line 23:
}}
}}


'''Gisela of Swabia''' ({{circa}} 990 – 15 February 1043),<ref name="NDB"/> was [[queen of Germany]] from 1024 to 1039 and [[empress of the Holy Roman Empire]] from 1027 to 1039 by her third marriage with [[Emperor Conrad II]]. She was the mother of [[Emperor Henry III]]. She was regent of Swabia for her minor son Duke [[Ernest II of Swabia]] in 1015.
'''Gisela of Swabia''' ({{circa}} 990 – 15 February 1043),<ref name="NDB"/> was [[queen of Germany]] from 1024 to 1039 and [[empress of the Holy Roman Empire]] from 1027 to 1039 by her third marriage with [[Emperor Conrad II]]. She was the mother of [[Emperor Henry III]]. She was regent of Swabia for her minor son Duke [[Ernest II of Swabia]] in 1015, although it seems at that time her husband Conrad was the one who held the reins of government, leading to the enmity between stepfather and stepson.<ref name=Ingelheim/>

She was an active empress, exemplifying a tradition in which, up to the period of the [[Hohenstaufen dynasty|Hohenstaufens]], as the ''consors regni'' (ruling partner to the king or emperor), the queen and empress held a substantive role in the government, often intervening in the drafting of documents or even issuing documents in her own name.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Goetz |first1=Hans-Werner |title=Life in the Middle Ages: From the Seventh to the Thirteenth Century |date=1993 |publisher=University of Notre Dame Press |isbn=978-0-268-01300-4 |page=44 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eakYAAAAYAAJ |access-date=11 October 2022 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Tanner |first1=Heather J. |title=Medieval Elite Women and the Exercise of Power, 1100–1400: Moving beyond the Exceptionalist Debate |date=9 January 2019 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-030-01346-2 |pages=180,181 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HxyDDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA180 |access-date=11 October 2022 |language=en}}</ref> She reigned as regent for her absent husband in 1037.


==Early life==
==Early life==
Line 39: Line 41:
In 1027, she mediated between Conrad and King [[Rudolph III of Burgundy]], her uncle, leading to a peace agreement in Mutten, near [[Basle]]. Rudolph recognized her husband's right of succession in [[Kingdom of Arles|Burgundy]].{{sfn|Wolfram|2006|p=83,116}}
In 1027, she mediated between Conrad and King [[Rudolph III of Burgundy]], her uncle, leading to a peace agreement in Mutten, near [[Basle]]. Rudolph recognized her husband's right of succession in [[Kingdom of Arles|Burgundy]].{{sfn|Wolfram|2006|p=83,116}}


She tried to mediated between Conrad and her son [[Ernest II, Duke of Swabia]], who repeatedly rebelled against his stepfather. All her efforts broke down though, when in 1030, Ernest refused to act against his friend and vassal Werner of Kyburg and impose peace. She had to give up and swear a public oath not to take revenge should any measure be taken against her son, who had received an [[imperial ban]]. In the end, Ernest lost his life fighting against Count Manegold, who was charged by Bishop Warmann of Constance (the guardian of [[Herman IV, Duke of Swabia|Hermann, her younger son who had become the new duke by then]]) to reestablish the peace breached by Ernest, Werner and their men.{{sfn|Wolfram|2006|p=82,83}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Gisela |url=https://saeulen-der-macht-ingelheim.de/gisela-2/ |website=Säulen der Macht Ingelheim |access-date=10 October 2022 |language=de-DE}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Reuter |first1=Timothy |title=Medieval Polities and Modern Mentalities |date=2 November 2006 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-45954-9 |page=375 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oGsN0Xbo-ZoC&pg=PA375 |access-date=10 October 2022 |language=en}}</ref>
She tried to mediated between Conrad and her son [[Ernest II, Duke of Swabia]], who repeatedly rebelled against his stepfather. All her efforts broke down though, when in 1030, Ernest refused to act against his friend and vassal Werner of Kyburg and impose peace. She had to give up and swear a public oath not to take revenge should any measure be taken against her son, who had received an [[imperial ban]]. In the end, Ernest lost his life fighting against Count Manegold, who was charged by Bishop Warmann of Constance (the guardian of [[Herman IV, Duke of Swabia|Hermann, her younger son who had become the new duke by then]]) to reestablish the peace breached by Ernest, Werner and their men.{{sfn|Wolfram|2006|p=82,83}}<ref name=Ingelheim>{{cite web |title=Gisela |url=https://saeulen-der-macht-ingelheim.de/gisela-2/ |website=Säulen der Macht Ingelheim |access-date=10 October 2022 |language=de-DE}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Reuter |first1=Timothy |title=Medieval Polities and Modern Mentalities |date=2 November 2006 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-45954-9 |page=375 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oGsN0Xbo-ZoC&pg=PA375 |access-date=10 October 2022 |language=en}}</ref>


In 1032, she interceded successfully on the behalf of King [[Mieszko II Lambert]], who regained the favour of Conrad.{{sfn|Wolfram|2006|p=220}}
In 1032, she interceded successfully on the behalf of King [[Mieszko II Lambert]], who regained the favour of Conrad.{{sfn|Wolfram|2006|p=220}}

Revision as of 04:47, 11 October 2022

Gisela of Swabia
Empress Gisela entering a church
Empress of the Holy Roman Empire
Tenure1027–1039
Coronation26 March 1027
St. Peter's Basilica, Rome
Coronation21 September 1024
Cologne Cathedral
Bornc. 990
Died(1043-02-15)15 February 1043
Imperial Palace of Goslar, Saxony
Burial
Speyer Cathedral
SpouseBrun I, Count of Brunswick
Ernest I, Duke of Swabia
Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor
Issue
more...		Liudolf, Margrave of Frisia
Ernest II, Duke of Swabia
Herman IV, Duke of Swabia
Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor
Matilda of Franconia
HouseConradines
FatherHerman II, Duke of Swabia
MotherGerberga of Burgundy

Gisela of Swabia (c. 990 – 15 February 1043),[1] was queen of Germany from 1024 to 1039 and empress of the Holy Roman Empire from 1027 to 1039 by her third marriage with Emperor Conrad II. She was the mother of Emperor Henry III. She was regent of Swabia for her minor son Duke Ernest II of Swabia in 1015, although it seems at that time her husband Conrad was the one who held the reins of government, leading to the enmity between stepfather and stepson.[2]

She was an active empress, exemplifying a tradition in which, up to the period of the Hohenstaufens, as the consors regni (ruling partner to the king or emperor), the queen and empress held a substantive role in the government, often intervening in the drafting of documents or even issuing documents in her own name.[3][4] She reigned as regent for her absent husband in 1037.

Early life

Gisela was the daughter of Duke Herman II of Swabia and Gerberga of Burgundy, daughter of King Conrad the Peaceful. Both her parents were descendants of Charlemagne.[5] According to a plate found when her tomb was unearthed, she was born on 11 November 999, but that date cannot be reconciled with the records of her marriages.[1]

Gisela first married the Saxon count Brun I of Brunswick, about 1002.[5] Upon Brun's death, her second marriage was ca. 1012 with the Babenberg scion Ernest,[5] who had been enfeoffed with the Duchy of Swabia by King Henry II of Germany at the death of Gisela's brother, Duke Herman III and aimed at legitimising himself as his heir. After Ernest's early death in 1015, Gisela became regent for their minor son Duke Ernest II of Swabia.

Queen and empress

Hair of Conrad and Gisela, preserved in the Speyer Cathedral. The strand of blond hair belongs to Gisela.

Gisela's third marriage, which took place before January 1017, was to Conrad II, who was elected king of Germany in 1024 and became emperor of the Holy Roman Empire in 1027.[5] According to Thietmar of Merseburg, Archbishop Aribo of Mainz refused to crown her as queen because Gisela and Conrad were too closely related, the couple both descending from King Henry the Fowler.[1] She was instead crowned and annointed thirteen days after Conrad's coronation by Archbishop Pilgrim of Cologne. The Liber Generationum (a text about generations from the Creation to Jesus Christ) was read — a ritual of great importance, symbolizing the birth of a new dynasty.[6][7] For the same reason, Henry II replaced her as her son's regent with Poppo of Trier, which became the source of conflict between Conrad and Henry.[8]

Gisela played an active part in politics, attending Imperial councils. Also, she participated in several synods of the church. She took care of her sister Matilda's daughters Sophie and Beatrice,[9] who later ruled Bar and Tuscany respectively.

In 1027, she mediated between Conrad and King Rudolph III of Burgundy, her uncle, leading to a peace agreement in Mutten, near Basle. Rudolph recognized her husband's right of succession in Burgundy.[10]

She tried to mediated between Conrad and her son Ernest II, Duke of Swabia, who repeatedly rebelled against his stepfather. All her efforts broke down though, when in 1030, Ernest refused to act against his friend and vassal Werner of Kyburg and impose peace. She had to give up and swear a public oath not to take revenge should any measure be taken against her son, who had received an imperial ban. In the end, Ernest lost his life fighting against Count Manegold, who was charged by Bishop Warmann of Constance (the guardian of Hermann, her younger son who had become the new duke by then) to reestablish the peace breached by Ernest, Werner and their men.[11][2][12]

In 1032, she interceded successfully on the behalf of King Mieszko II Lambert, who regained the favour of Conrad.[13]

Gisela's epitaph in Speyer Cathedral

She was a long-time donor and patron of the Speyer Cathedral, paying close attention to the development of her family's memorial culture there.[14]

After Conrad's death in 1039, she and her son Henry III led the mourning progression.[15]

During the 1030s, she played an important role as the patron of the new church reform movement. In 1037, she ruled as regent on behalf of Conrad who returned to Italy to deal with a new crisis.[16]

The empress died of dysentery at the Imperial Palace of Goslar in 1043.[1][17] She is interred in the grotto of Speyer Cathedral, Germany along with several emperors and other members of the imperial family. Gisela's tomb was opened in 1900 and her mummified body was found to be 172 cm (5 ft 8 in) tall,[citation needed] with long blond hair.[18]

Children

Gisela and Brun I, Count of Brunswick had:[19]

  • Liudolf, Margrave of Frisia (c. 1003 – 24 January 1038)
  • Daughter (c. 1004 – ?), married Count Thiemo II of Formbach
  • Gisela (c. 1005 – c. 1052), married Count Berthold of Sangerhausen

Gisela and Ernest I, Duke of Swabia had:[19]

Gisela and Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor had:[20]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d Appelt, Heinrich (1964), "Gisela", Neue Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 6, Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 413–414; (full text online)
  2. ^ a b "Gisela". Säulen der Macht Ingelheim (in German). Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  3. ^ Goetz, Hans-Werner (1993). Life in the Middle Ages: From the Seventh to the Thirteenth Century. University of Notre Dame Press. p. 44. ISBN 978-0-268-01300-4. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  4. ^ Tanner, Heather J. (9 January 2019). Medieval Elite Women and the Exercise of Power, 1100–1400: Moving beyond the Exceptionalist Debate. Springer. pp. 180, 181. ISBN 978-3-030-01346-2. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d Wolfram 2006, p. 32.
  6. ^ Wolfram, Herwig (2003). "Konrad II.(1024-1039)". In Schneidmüller, Bernd; Weinfurter, Stefan (eds.). Die deutschen Herrscher des Mittelalters: historische Portraits von Heinrich I. bis Maximilian I. (919-1519) (in German). C.H.Beck. p. 124. ISBN 978-3-406-50958-2. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  7. ^ Wolfram 2006, p. 159.
  8. ^ Bresslau, Harry (1879), "Gisela", Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 9, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 193–195
  9. ^ Kagay & Villalon 2003, p. 358.
  10. ^ Wolfram 2006, p. 83,116.
  11. ^ Wolfram 2006, p. 82,83.
  12. ^ Reuter, Timothy (2 November 2006). Medieval Polities and Modern Mentalities. Cambridge University Press. p. 375. ISBN 978-1-139-45954-9. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  13. ^ Wolfram 2006, p. 220.
  14. ^ "Die Frauen der Salier: Kaiserinnen Gisela von Schwaben und Agnes von Poitou". Mein Weg ins Museum (in German). 30 March 2021. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  15. ^ Wolfram 2006, p. 346.
  16. ^ Whaley, Joachim (14 June 2018). The Holy Roman Empire: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press. p. 69. ISBN 978-0-19-106564-4. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  17. ^ Wolfram 2006, p. 38.
  18. ^ Wolfram 2006, p. 37.
  19. ^ a b Wolfram 2006, p. 33.
  20. ^ Bernhardt, John W. (2002). Itinerant Kingship & Monasteries in Early Medieval Germany, c. 936-1075. Cambridge University Press. p. 311.
  21. ^ Nash 2017, p. 36.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gisela of Swabia.
  • Kagay, Donald Joseph; Villalon, L. J. Andrew, eds. (2003). Crusaders, Condottieri, and Cannon: Medieval Warfare in Societies around the Mediterranean. Koninklijke Brill NV.
  • Nash, Penelope (2017). Empress Adelheid and Countess Matilda: Medieval Female Rulership and the Foundations of European Society. Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Wolfram, Herwig (2006). Conrad II, 990-1039: Emperor of Three Kingdoms. Translated by Kaiser, Denise A. The Pennsylvania State University Press.
  • "Women in power 1000-1100" from Guide2womenleaders.com, last accessed January 15, 2007
  • Braunschweigisches Biographisches Lexikon, Appelhans 2006, ISBN 3-937664-46-7
Gisela of Swabia
Born: 11 November 989 or 990 Died: 14 February 1043
German royalty
Preceded by Queen consort of Germany
1024–1028 		Succeeded by
Holy Roman Empress
1027–1039 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Queen consort of Burgundy
1032–1038
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gisela_of_Swabia&oldid=1115377309"