Agnes Of GERMANY

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Her second husband was St. Leopold III, Margrave of Austria. this second marriage was an especially happy one. Agnes and Leopold went to mass and read scripture together. They founded the monastery at Klosterneuburg near Vienna. Agnes also took part in most of Leopold's other good works.

Agnes and Leopold had a very large number of children, ten of whom lived to adulthood and perhaps seven more who died in infancy.

After Leopold died in 1136, he became the patron saint of Austria. Agnes survived him by seven years, dying on 24 September 1143.

Agnes married Duke of Swabia and Alsace Friedrich I Count VON HOHENSTAUFFEN in 1089. Friedrich (son of Bount in the Riesgau Frederick VON BUREN and Hildegarde Von Br-Mousson Of SWABIA) was born about 1050; died on 20 Jan 1105. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Frederick II Duke Of SWABIA was born in 1090; died on 06 Apr 1147; was buried in St. Walpurgia in Alsace.
2. Gertrud Princess Of SWABIA was born about 1091 in Hohenstaufen, Swabia, Bavaria; died in 1191.
3. Konrad III King Of The GERMANS was born about 1093 in Hohenstaufen, Swabia, Bavaria; died on 15 Feb 1158.

Agnes married St. Leopold III "the Saint" in 1106. St. (son of Leopold II Margrave Of AUSTRIA and Ida Of CHAM) was born about 1075; died on 15 Nov 1136. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Judith Of BABENBERG was born between 1110 and 1120; died after 1168.
2. Agnes Of AUSTRIA was born in 1108/1113; died in 1160/63.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Fact: 1056-1084, King of Germany
• Fact: 1084-1106, Emperor of the West

Henry married Bertha Of TURIN on 13 Jul 1066. Bertha (daughter of Eudes (Odo) and Adelaide Duchess Of TURIN) was born in 1051; died on 27 Dec 1087. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Also Known As: Bertha of Maurienne

Other Events and Attributes:

• Fact: 1039, King of Burgundy
• Fact: 1039-1056, King Of Germany
• Fact: 1046-1056, Emperor of the West

Henry married Agnes Of POITOU on 21 Nov 1043. Agnes (daughter of William III "The Great" Count of POITOU and Princess of Lombrdy Agnes Of BURGUNDY) was born in 1024; died on 14 Dec 1077. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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The adult life of Agnes consisted of three parts, and the first part was her years with Henry III. As Henry dealt with the affairs of his realm, he left the operations of his court to Agnes. She became known throughout Europe as a generous patron of writers, painters, and poets. Europe's most creative minds came to Germany, and with them Agnes created a brilliant court. She also had six children with Henry, including his first-born son and heir Henry IV, born in 1050. These happy years ended abruptly when Henry III died in 1056.

When Henry IV succeeded his father, he was only six years old, and the second part of Agnes' life began when she started to rue as regent for her son. Besides her administrative responsibilities, she also acted as Chief justice and commander-in-chief of the military. The princes of the empire had approved her becoming regent and for the first few years were quite satisfied with her performance. They might have remained content for much longer but for the fact that Agnes relied very often on the advice of bishop Henry of Augsburg. The other princes felt that they were losing their own status as advisers to the royal court, and they began to consider how they might usurp the regency. They decided that separating Henry IV from his mother would give them control over the boy and his empire. One day in 1062 while Henry IV was on an island in the Rhine near Cologne, archbishop Anno of cologne and other princes sailed up in a small ship, seized Henry IV, and kidnapped him.

Agnes' reaction was cool and calculated. Henry IV was twelve when he was abducted but would reach the age of majority just two years later when he turned fourteen. Agnes gave up all the powers she was exercising as regent, moved to Rome, and offered her services to the pope. The second part of her life was over, but the third part was about to begin.

In Rome, Agnes quickly became a close friend of Pope Alexander II, who gave her new ecclesiastical responsibilities and sent her back to Germany on several papal missions. In 1064, Agnes was back in the imperial German court, and she was also present at the ceremony in March 1065 where Henry IV was declared an adult. her personal intervention was all that prevented Henry IV from taking the sword he had jut received and killing archbishop Anno of Cologne.

For the rest of her life Agnes served the pope and the church at the highest diplomatic levels. She made her last trip to Germany in 1074 and then retired to a convent in Rome to pray, fast, and tend the sick. She died on 14 December 1077 and was buried in Rome in the church of Petronilla, which later became part of St. Peter's.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Also Known As: Count of Maurienne and chablis, Margrave of Susa

Eudes married Adelaide Duchess Of TURIN about 1046. Adelaide (daughter of Odalrico Manfrido II Margrave Of TURIN and Bertha Of ESTE) was born about 1015; died on 19 Dec 1091. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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Adelaide was born around 1015 and was the daughter of Odalrico Manfredo II, Margrave of Turin and Susa, and his wife Bertha of Este. Odalrico died while Adelaide was still a young, unmarried woman, and she inherited most of his vast domains in northern Italy.

Adelaide was a beautiful woman with the soul of a lion. She had learned martial arts as a girl and bore her own arms and armor. she had masculine courage and energy and knew how to rule her inheritance. More than once she waged war on rebels in her own territories, burning Asti, Lodi, and other towns that had risen against her.

Adelaide had three husbands. the first was Hermann, Duke of Swabia, whom she married in January 1037 and who died of plague in 1038. Her second was Henry of Montferrat, whom she married in 1041 and who died in 1045. Her third husband was Otto of Savoy, whom she married in 1046 and who died about twelve years later. It was through her children with Otto that Adelaide became one of the founders of the house of Savoy.

Adelaide's involvement in politics did not stop at her own borders. In the struggle between the German emperors and the papacy, she strongly supported the imperial side. In the quarrel between her son-in-law Emperor Henry IV and pope Gregory VII her advice to Henry saved his crown for him. When Henry went to Canossa to seek forgiveness from Pope, Adelaide went with him.

In her old age, Adelaide brooded over her three marriages. No one today knows what was troubling her. She did decide to seek God's forgiveness by doing works of charity, and she began to give generously to religious institutions.