Agnes Babenberg

Origin

Agnes Babenberg was born between 1108 and 1113. Her birthplace is not known. On the maternal side, she came from the Salic Dynasty , whose representatives ruled the Holy Roman Empire from 1024 to 1125. The last emperor from this dynasty was her mother’s uncle, Emperor Henry V , who died without leaving any offspring.

Agnes was the uterine sister of Frederick II, Duke of Swabia and Conrad III , King of Germany since 1138. Both brothers were born in her mother’s first marriage from Frederick I, Duke of Swabia . One of Agnes’s sisters, Juditt , married Wilhelm V, Margrave of Montferrat , and one of the brothers was Otto , Bishop of Freising , a famous medieval chronicler.

Another chronicler, Vincent Kadlubek , Bishop of Krakow , described Agnes as a very ambitious, energetic woman, proud of her ancestry. In his annals, he called her the “tigress” ( Polish tygrysicą ).

Dynastic marriage

Boleslaw III Krivouusty , the Grand Duke of Poland, in order to protect the sovereignty of his state from Lothar III of Suplinburg , who was elected emperor of the Holy Roman Empire in 1125, entered into an alliance with the houses of the Babenbergs and Hohenstaufen . Both houses were related to the extinct Salic dynasty and were natural rivals of the new emperor. In order to consolidate this union, a dynastic marriage was concluded between the eldest son of Boleslav III, Vladislav Polsky and Agnes Babenberg. The wedding took place around 1125. As a wedding present, the Grand Duke of Poland gave the newlyweds the Duchy of Silesia.

Grand Duchess

Boleslav III died on October 28, 1138. In his will, he divided Poland between his sons. The eldest son belonged to the supreme power in the state. Under the name of Vladislav II, he became the Grand Duke of Poland, and his wife - the Grand Duchess. In addition to Silesia, the Grand Duke inherited the Senorat, which included Lesser Poland, the eastern part of Greater Poland and the western part of Kuyavia, as well as power over Pomerania. His stepbrothers - Boleslav IV , Meshko III and Henry , received hereditary feudal possessions, like the younger dukes. In addition, Lentitsa went to Vladislav II, bequeathed by Boleslav III to her widow, Salome von Berg, for detention on condition that the territory be returned to Senorat after the death of the Dowager Grand Duchess.

Encouraged by his wife, Vladislav II decided to unite the entire state under his authority. He began to oppress his younger brothers. Tradition ascribes to the Grand Duchess the disgrace of the famous governor Peter Vlastovich , who supported the younger dukes. She persuaded her husband to execute him, but instead, the Grand Duke blinded the governor, deprived him of his hearing and sent him into exile.

Exile

The brutal rule of Vladislav II and Agnes turned against them most of the subjects, united around the younger dukes. At the beginning of 1146, the Grand Duke was defeated at the Battle of Poznan. He fled to Bohemia, while Agnes and her children remained in Krakow, where for some time she maintained resistance in the Wawel Castle. It was not possible to defend the city, and, following her husband, the Grand Duchess and her children went into exile in Bohemia.

For some time they enjoyed the hospitality of the Bohemian Duke. Then Agnes's half-brother, Conrad III, king of Germany, granted them a residence in Altenburg. In 1146, a German military campaign against the Polish younger dukes began. But due to the exit from the banks of the Oder River and pressure on Conrad III from the Margraves Albert Medved and Konrad , the expedition failed.

Failure did not break Agnes. She turned to Pope Eugene III for help, who at the Reims Cathedral in 1148 called on the younger dukes to return power to their older brother. He also sent his legate to them, when they did not support the return of Vladislav II, the pope imposed an interdict on Poland. However, his actions did not lead to the desired result, because part of the clergy supported the younger dukes and ignored the pope’s demand.

After the death of Conrad III in 1152, he was succeeded by his nephew, Frederick Barbarossa . With the support of his aunt, in 1157 the new German king began a campaign against Poland. The campaign was successful, but instead of restoring the rights of Vladislav II, the emperor declared the Grand Duke of Boleslav IV his vassal. He made him, in compensation to Vladislav II, promise to return the duchy of Silesia to the sons of Vladislav. After this, Agnes stopped the struggle for the Polish throne.

Death

Vladislav II remained in Altenburg. Here he died on May 30, 1159. Agnes Babenberg died between January 24 and 25, 1163. She did not return to Silesia with her sons when they were restored in 1163 in their rights. Agnes was buried in the Cistercian Abbey of Proft near Naumburg on the Saale River.

Children

In a marriage with Vladislav II, a daughter and four sons were born to Agnes Babenbergskaya:

• Boleslav I Dolgovyazy (1127-1201), since 1163 the prince of Silesia;
• Sack I the Platypod (1131 / 46-1211), from 1163 the formal co-ruler of the Prince of Silesia, from 1173 the Prince Ratibor , from 1177 - Bytom and Auschwitz , from 1202 - Oppeln , from 1210 - Krakow
• Richeza Silesian (1140 - 06/16/1185), married in 1152 with Alfonso VII , king of Galicia, Castile and Leon, second marriage in 1162 with Raimund Berenguer II (III) , Count of Provence and third marriage in 1167 with Albert III, by Count von Everstein;
• Konrad Thinfoot (1146 / 57-1180 / 1190), from 1177 Prince Gloguv ;
• Albert (c. 1156 - c. 1168/78).

• Allstrom, Carl Magnus. Dictionary of Royal Lineage (Poland), 1902
• Louda, Jirí and Michael MacLagan. Lines of Succession: Heraldry of the Royal Families of Europe, 2nd edition. London, UK: Little, Brown and Company, 1999.

• House of babenberg
• Agnes von babenberg