Matilda of Ringelheim

-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matilda_of_Ringelheim

http://genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00020486&tree=LEO

Relationships

Parents:

• Father: Theoderic (d. 8 November 917, possible second great grandson of Duke Widukind)
• Mother: 2 possibilities
  • 1. Reinhild, daughter of Gotfrid the Dane and Gisela [Carolingian] (from the Europäische Stammtafeln, regarded to be a guess based on the Vita Mathildis)
  • 2. Reginlind, possible sister of Bovo Bishop of Chalons-sur-Marne (from a passage in the Gesta Episcoporum Cameracensium, and transmission of the name Frederuna, known sister, to one of the daughters)

Siblings:

• 1. Widukind
• 2. Immed I
• 3. Reginbern
• 5. Amelrada (wife of Eberhard, Graf in der Drenthe und im Salland, b. 7 September)
• 6. Frederuna (wife of Wichmann II Billung, d. 18 January 971)
• 7. Bia or Pia (mother of Friedrich, d. 25 May after 938)

Spouse:

• Heinrich I "der Vogelsteller/the Fowler" King of Germany (c 876 - 2 Jul 936)

Children:

• Note: Thankmar (907/909 - 28 Jul 938) was not her child, but rather the child of Heinrich's first wife, Hatheburg (which ended because of an unspecified "outrage")
• 1. Otto I "der Große" King of Germany (23 Nov 912 - 7 May 973)
• 2. Gerberga (913/914 - 5 May 984, wife of Giselbert, Duke of Lotharingia, and Louis IV "d'Outremer" King of the West Franks)
• 3. Heinrich (Dec 919/22 Apr 922 - 1 Nov 955), temporary Duke of Lotharingia, Duke of Bavaria
• 4. Hedwig (c 922 - 9 Jan 958 or after 965) wife of Hugues "le Grand" ducs des Francs
• 5. Bruno (May 925 - 11 Oct 965) Archbishop of Koln, Duke of Lotharingia

Basic information

Birth: c 896 (FMG), other estimates include 895 (English Wikipedia) and 892 (Dutch Wikipedia). German Wikipedia places the birth in Enger, a region of Sachsen (Present Mordrhein-Westfalen)

Baptism: Unknown

Marriage: 909, in Wallhausen, Mulachgau (Present Bad Kreuznach), Herzogtum Franken (Present Rhineland-Palatinate), Ostenfrankenreich (Present Germany) with Heinrich I "der Vogelsteller" (FMG)

Death: 14 March 968 in Quedlinburg, Hartingau, Ostfalia (Present Landkreis Harz), Herzogtum Sachsen (Present Saxony-Anhalt), Heiliges Römisches Reich (Present Germany)

Burial: Quedlinburg Stiftskirche, Quedlinburg, Landkreis Harz, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany

Occupation:

• Queen of Germany (6 May 919 - 2 July 936)
• Duchess consort of Saxony (30 November 912 – 2 July 936)
• Lay Abbess of Nivelles

Timeline:

• 892-896 born in Engern region of Herzogtum Sachsen, descended from Herzog Widukind of Sachsen.
• While a young girl, was visited by Otto "der Erlauchte" Graf im Südthüringau, who was taken by her beauty, and had her betrothed to his son, Heinrich. Heinrich was apparently married to a widow named Hatheburg first, however, by which he had a son named Thankmar, but the marriage ended because of an unspecified "outrage" (the "outrage" could have been the marriage itself).
• 909, married Heinrich at Wallhausen (age 13-17)
• February-November 912, estimated pregnancy and birth of Otto I "der Große" (age 16-20)
• 30 November 912, becomes Duchess Consort of Sachsen (age 16-20)
• 913/914, birth of Gerberga in Nordhausen (age 17-22)
• 8 November 917, death of her father Theoderic (age 21-25)
• 6 May 919, becomes Queen of Germany upon election of her husband as King (age 23-29)
• Between December 919 and 22 April 922, birth of Heinrich I, future Herzog von Bayern (age 23-30)
• 922, birth of Hedwig, future wife of Hugues "le Grand" ducs des Francs (age 26-30)
• May 925, birth of Bruno, youngest son (age 29-33)
• 928/929, marriage of Gerberga to Giselbert, Graf von Maasgau, possibly by arrangement with King Heinrich I as part of the terms of his submission. Gerberga soon after becomes pregnant with Mathilda's first granddaughter, Alberade (age 32-37)
• 930, eldest son, Otto I, is elevated to Associate King to rule alongside his father, King Heinrich I (age 34-38)
• 2 July 936, death of King Heinrich I "der Vogelsteller" (age 40-44)
• 7 August 936, ascension of eldest son King Otto I "der Große" as King of Germany (age 40-44)
• 9 May or 14 September 937, Hedwig is married off to Hugues "le Grand", who was appointed Duc des Francs the previous year. (age 41-45)
• 28 Jul 938, death of Thankmar ends his rebellion, murdered in front of a church altar at Eresburg - murderer is punished by King Otto. Heinrich, Mathilda's second son, is captured by Eberhard, Herzog of Franconia. (age 42-46)
• 2 October 939, Battle of Andernach, Duke Giselbert II of Lotharingia drowns, widowing eldest daughter Gerberga. Almost immediately, she marries Louis IV "d´Outremer" King of the Franks, who sought to use the marriage to assert control of Lotharingia. Mother and daughter likely never see each other again (age 43-47)
• 940, Heinrich is named as Herzog von Lothringen, in succession to the deposed Giselbert, but fails to gain any ground against Louis "d'Outremer". He soon returns to the Herzogtum Sachsen. In the same year, Hedwig gives birth to her son Hugues, later known as Hugues Capet, first King of France. Youngest son Bruno is appointed by his elder brother King Otto as Chancellor of Germany (age 44-48)
• 947, Heinrich is installed by King Otto as Herzog von Bayern (age 51-55)
• 948, youngest son Bruno, while serving as Chancellor of Germany, is appointed as Abbot of Lorsch (age 52-56)
• 951, eldest son King Otto invades Italy and in Padova late in the year, proclaims himself King of Italy. In the following year, he appoints Berengario di Ivrea as his viceroy before returning to Germany (age 55-59)
• 953, youngest son Bruno steps down as Chancellor of Germany to become the Archbishop of Koln and Duke of Lotharingia by his elder brother, King Otto. However, he begins to plot against his brother on behalf of his sister Hedwig and her husband, Hugues "le Grand" to deliver Lotharingia to Western Francia. Eventually, he repents of the scheme, particularly after Liudolf's rebellion against his father, King Otto, is quelled, and is forgiven (alongside Liudolf). (age 57-61)
• 1 November 955, shortly after being restored as Herzog von Bayern, Heinrich I, Mathilda's second son, dies, and is succeeded by her 4-year-old grandson Heinrich II (soon nicknamed "der Zänker" for his quarrelsome nature). In the same year, King Otto defeats the Magyars, ending their invasion of central Europe (age 59-63)
• June 956, Hugues "le Grand" dies, leaving Hedwig as the widowed mother of Hugues Capet, future first King of France (age 60-64)
• 9 January 958, Hedwig, widowed mother of Mathilda's grandchild Hugues Capet, might have died by this time (age 62-66)
• 959, Upper and Lower Lotharingia are divided in two. Upper Lotharingia is given over to Hedwig's son-in-law Frederic, and Lower Lotharingia is retained by Mathilda's youngest son, Bruno, Archbishop of Koln (age 63-67)
• August 961, after several years of abuse of power, Berengario di Ivrea faces punishment as King Otto I invades Italy a second time, against him. This was at the behest of Pope John XII, who sought an end to Berengano's tyranny (age 65-69)
• 2 February 962, after driving Berengario di Ivrea from much of Italy (eventually he is captured after surrendering his fortress of San Leo near Montefeltro), eldest son King Otto I is proclaimed by Pope John XII as Emperor. This marks the start of the political entity later known as the Holy Roman Empire (age 66-70)
• 11 October 965, Mathilda's youngest son Bruno, Archbishop of Koln and Herzog von Niederlothringen, dies. Hedwig, widowed mother of Mathilda's grandchild Hugues Capet, might have survived to this time (her death date is uncertain). (Mathilda is age 69-73)
• 14 March 968, Mathilda, former Queen of Germany and Lay Abbess of Nivelles, dies at Quenlinburg, and shortly after is buried at the Stiftskirche there. (age 72-76).

Alternate Names: Mechthild, Matilda, Maud, Mathildis ____________________________________________________________________________________________St. Mathilda was the daughter of Theodoric, a Saxon Count. At an early age she was placed in the monastery of Erfurt under the care of Maud, her grandmother, who was Abbess of the monastery which she had entered after the death of her husband. Here St. Mathilda learned needlework and acquired the love of labor, prayer and spiritual reading. She remained in the convent until her parents gave her in marriage, in 913, to Henry "the Fowler," so called from his fondness for hawking. He became Duke in 916 on the death of his father, and in 919 he was chosen to succeed Conrad as King of Germany. The pious Queen adorned the throne by her many virtues. She visited and comforted the sick and the afflicted, instructed the ignorant, succored prisoners, and endeavored to convert sinners, and her husband concurred with her in her pious undertakings. After twenty-three years of married life King Henry died, in 936. No sooner had he expired than she had a Mass offered up for the repose of his soul, and from that moment she renounced all worldly pomp. Of her three sons, Otho afterward became Emperor, Henry was Duke of Bavaria, and St. Bruno edified the Church as Archbishop of Cologne. Otho became King of Germany in 937, and in 962 he was crowned Emperor at Rome. In the contest between her two sons, Otho and Henry, for the crown which was elective, the Queen favored the former, a fault she expiated by great suffering, for both these sons subjected her to a long and cruel persecution. She died in 968. Her feast day is March 14th.

Source: Author and Publisher - Catholic Online

---

From the Foundation for Medieval Genealogy Medlands page for Saxony, Dukes and Electors (covering her birth family):

http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/SAXONY.htm#Mathildedied968

THEODERIC (-8 Nov 917[31]).

• Widukind names "Thiadrici" as father of Queen Mathilde, specifying that the family was "stirpis magni ducis Widukindi"[32].
• The father of Queen Mathilde is named "Thietricus" in the Vita Mathildis Reginæ[33].

m REGINLIND [Reinhild], daughter of --- (-11 May ----).

• The wife of Theoderich is named "Reinhildam, Danorum Fresonumque germine procreatam" in the Vita Mathildis Reginæ[34]. According to Europäische Stammtafeln[35], she was Reinhild, daughter of Gotfrid the Dane & his wife Gisela [Carolingian], which is presumably a guess based on this description in the Vita Mathildis. However, the chronology is not ideal.
• Regino records the marriage in 882 of "Gisla filia Hlotharii" and "rex Godofridus Nordmannorum"[36]. If this couple's daughter was the mother of Queen Mathilde, the latter's estimated birth date (see below) would need to be pushed forward by several years, which makes the chronology for her known descendants tight.
• A better fit may be Reginlind, [sister of Bovo Bishop of Chalons-sur-Marne, daughter of ---]. The known sister of Bishop Bovo was Frederuna, wife of Charles III "le Simple" King of the Franks. The hypothesis that there was another sister married to Theoderic would explain (1) the name Frederuna being transmitted to Regenhild's daughter, and (2) Berenger Bishop of Cambrai, recorded elsewhere as nepos of Queen Frederuna, being described as "…Ottonis imperatoris proxime consanguineus" in the Gesta Episcoporum Cameracensium[37]. If this is correct, the reference to Reginlind being "Danorum Fresonumque germine procreatam" has not been explained.
• A list of names in the Libri Confraternitatum Sancti Galli sets out (in order) "Thieterich, Reginhilt, *, Oto, Amalrat, Perectheid, Friderun, Pia", immediately after a list of family members of Heinrich I King of Germany and his wife, which no doubt refers to the latter's parents and sisters, "Oto" being the only person not so far identified[38]. The list is undated but was presumably written during the period [929/36] as King Heinrich's son-in-law Duke Giselbert is included (married in [928/29]) but not his son-in-law Hugues Duc des Francs (married in 937).
• The necrology of Merseburg records the death "11 May" of "Reinhild mater regine Mahtildis"[39].

Theoderic & his wife had seven children:

i) WIDUKIND .

• Widukind names (in order) "Widukind, Immed et Reginbern" as brothers of Queen Mathilde[40].

ii) IMMED [I] .

• Widukind names (in order) "Widukind, Immed et Reginbern" as brothers of Queen Mathilde[41].

iii) REGINBERN .

• Widukind names (in order) "Widukind, Immed et Reginbern" as brothers of Queen Mathilde, specifying that Reginbern fought against the Danes[42].

iv) MATHILDE ([896]-Quedlinburg 14 Mar 968, bur Quedlinburg Stiftskirche).

• Widukind names "Mahthilda" as wife of King Heinrich, also naming her father and three brothers[43]. Thietmar names Mathilde as daughter of "Dietrich and Reinhild" when recording her marriage to Heinrich, and specifies that she was "a descendant of the lineage of King Widukind"[44]. Her alleged descent from Widukind is also referred to in the Vita Mahthildis[45].
• Thietmar records that Quedlinburg was bestowed on Mathilde as part of her dower 16 Sep 929[46], and that she established the convent there thirty days after the death of her husband[47].
• Lay Abbess of Nivelles.
• The necrology of Fulda records the death "968 II Id Mar" of "Mahthild regina"[48].

m (Wallhausen 909) as his second wife, HEINRICH Graf, son of OTTO "der Erlauchte" Graf im Südthüringau & his wife Hedwig [Babenberg] ([876]-Memleben 2 Jul 936, bur Quedlinburg Stiftskirche).

• He was elected as HEINRICH I "der Vogelsteller/the Fowler" King of Germany at Fritzlar 6 May 919.

v) AMELRADA ([7 Sep] ----).

• A list of names in the Libri Confraternitatum Sancti Galli sets out (in order) "Thieterich, Reginhilt, *, Oto, Amalrat, Perectheid, Friderun, Pia", immediately after a list of family members of Heinrich I King of Germany and his wife, which no doubt refers to the latter's parents and sisters[49]. The Vita Domni Deoderici Episcopi Maioris names "Amelrada" as wife of "comite Everardo", sister of "Mathildis reginæ…filiæ Thiadrici ducis", and she and her husband as parents of "Deodericum ex pago Saxoniæ Hamalant"[50].
• The necrology of Gorze records the death "VII Id Sep" of "Amarrada comitissa"[51].
• m EBERHARD, son of [EBERHARD Graf im Keldachgau und im Bonngau [Ezzonen] & his wife --- (-[3 Sep] before 964). Graf in der Drenthe und im Salland.

vi) FREDERUNA (-18 Jan 971).

• Thietmar refers to "Counts Wichmann and Ekbert…brothers" as sons of Emperor Otto I's maternal aunt[52], but does not name their mother. A list of names in the Libri Confraternitatum Sancti Galli sets out (in order) "Thieterich, Reginhilt, *, Oto, Amalrat, Perectheid, Friderun, Pia", immediately after a list of family members of Heinrich I King of Germany and his wife, which no doubt refers to the latter's parents and sisters[53]. It is also possible that the wife of Wichmann [II] was the sister Bia, unless she can be identified as the mother of Friedrich (see below).
• The necrology of Fulda records the death "970 Id Jan" of "Fridarun comitissa [anc Christi]"[54], presumably showing that she became a nun before she died.
• m WICHMANN [II], son of BILLUNG & his wife --- (-23 Apr 944).

vii) BIA [Pia] (-25 May ----)

• A list of names in the Libri Confraternitatum Sancti Galli sets out (in order) "Thieterich, Reginhilt, *, Oto, Amalrat, Perectheid, Friderun, Pia", immediately after a list of family members of Heinrich I King of Germany and his wife, which no doubt refers to the latter's parents and sisters[55]. "Otto…rex" granted property "in Gereslevo…in pago Svevia in comitatu Crhistiani" on the request of "Friderici fidelis nostri" to "nobili matronæ…Biæ ipsius…matri" by charter dated 21 Oct 937, in consultation with "Burchardi, Ebarhardi, Chuonradi, Heinrici atque Utonis…comitum"[56], although it is not known whether this was the same Bia.
• The necrology of Merseburg records the death "25 May" of "Bia soror regine Mahtildis"[57].
• same person as…? BIA (-after 21 Oct 937). "Otto…rex" granted property "in Gereslevo…in pago Svevia in comitatu Crhistani" to "nobili matronæ Bia ipsius…matri" at the request of "Friderici fidelis nostri" by charter dated 21 Oct 937[58]. It is not certain that this refers to the same person as Bia, daughter of Theoderic, but this is likely to be the case. No other noble lady of this name has been identified around the date of this charter, and "matrona" is the term usually applied to members of the high nobility. The wording of the charter suggests that Bia's husband had died before the date of the grant.
• m --- (-before 21 Oct 937). The name of Bia's husband is not known. Bia & her husband had one child: Friedrich (d. after 21 October 937)

References:

• [31] ES II 104.
• [32] Widukindi Res Gestæ Saxonicæ I.31, MGH SS III, p. 431.
• [33] Vita Mathildis Reginæ 2, MGH SS IV, p. 285.
• [34] Vita Mathildis Reginæ 2, MGH SS IV, p. 285.
• [35] ES II 104.
• [36] Reginonis Chronicon 882, MGH SS I, p. 593.
• [37] Gesta Episcoporum Cameracensium I,80 , MGH SS VII, p. 431.
• [38] Piper, P. (ed.) (Berlin) Libri confraternitatum Sancti Galli, Augiensis, Fabariensis (Berlin), p. 84.
• [39] Althoff, G. (ed.) (1983) Die Totenbücher von Merseburg, Magdeburg und Lüneburg (Hannover), Merseburg.
• [40] Widukindi Res Gestæ Saxonicæ I.31, MGH SS III, p. 431.
• [41] Widukindi Res Gestæ Saxonicæ I.31, MGH SS III, p. 431.
• [42] Widukindi Res Gestæ Saxonicæ I.31, MGH SS III, p. 431.
• [43] Widukindi Res Gestæ Saxonicæ I.31, MGH SS III, pp. 430-1.
• [44] Warner, D. A. (trans.) The Chronicon of Thietmar of Merseburg (2001) (Manchester University Press), 1.9, p. 74.
• [45] Vita Mahthildis Reginæ Antiquior 1, MGH SS X, p. 575.
• [46] Thietmar, p. 83, footnote 64.
• [47] Thietmar 1.21, p. 82.
• [48] Annales Necrologici Fuldenses, MGH SS XIII, p. 123.
• [49] Piper, P. (ed.) (Berlin) Libri confraternitatum Sancti Galli, Augiensis, Fabariensis (Berlin), p. 84.
• [50] Vita Domni Deoderici Episcopi Maioris I, MGH SS IV, p. 464.
• [51] 'Obits mémorables tirés de nécrologes luxembourgeois, rémois et messins', Revue Mabillon VI (1910-1911), p. 268.
• [52] Thietmar 2.12, p. 100.
• [53] Piper, P. (ed.) (Berlin) Libri confraternitatum Sancti Galli, Augiensis, Fabariensis (Berlin), p. 84.
• [54] Annales Necrologici Fuldenses, MGH SS XIII, p. 123.
• [55] Piper, P. (ed.) (Berlin) Libri confraternitatum Sancti Galli, Augiensis, Fabariensis (Berlin), p. 84.
• [56] D O I 17, p. 105.
• [57] Althoff, G. (ed.) (1983) Die Totenbücher von Merseburg, Magdeburg und Lüneburg (Hannover), Merseburg.
• [58] D O I 17, p. 105.

  ---

From the Foundation for Medieval Genealogy Medlands Project page on Germany, Kings (covering her marriage family):

http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/GERMANY,%20Kings.htm#HeinrichIGerma...

HEINRICH, son of OTTO "der Erlauchte" Graf [im Südthüringau] & his wife Hedwig [Babenberg] ([876]-Memleben[142] 2 Jul 936, bur Quedlinburg Stiftskirche).

• Thietmar records that Heinrich was "born of the noble lineage of Otto and Hadwig"[143]. According to the Annalista Saxo, he was son of the unnamed sister of Adalbert [Babenberg], with whom he and his brothers fought against the Konradiner family, his complete parentage being recorded in a later passage[144].
• He was elected as HEINRICH I "der Vogelsteller/the Fowler" King of Germany at Fritzlar 6 May 919, but Thietmar reports that he refused unction offered by Heriger Archbishop of Mainz[145].
• King Heinrich re-established Saxon domination over the Slavs after successful campaigns against the Hevelli in 928 and against the Daleminzi and Bohemians in 929[146]. Thietmar records that he founded Meissen in [928/29][147], and defeated "Knud I" King of Denmark[148]. Widukind records that he defeated the Magyars at the battle of Riade near Merseburg in 933, their first major setback in their raids on western Europe[149].
• The necrology of Fulda records the death "936 Kal Iul" of "Heinrih rex"[150]. Thietmar records the death of King Heinrich 2 Jul 936 at Memleben "in the…sixtieth year of his life" and his burial at Quedlinburg "which he himself had constructed from the ground up"[151]. The necrology of Merseburg records the death "2 Jul" of "Heinricus rex pater magni Oddonis"[152].

m firstly (906, divorced 909) as her second husband, HATHEBURG, widow of ---, daughter of EBERWIN & his wife ---.

• Thietmar names Hatheburg as daughter of "lord Erwin", specifying that she was widowed (without naming her first husband), when recording her marriage to Heinrich[153]. Widukind records the mother of "Thancmari" as "filia materteræ Sigifridi"[154].
• She had become a nun after the death of her first husband, which presumably provided the reason for "the outrage perpetrated through this marriage" and the basis for the couple's separation which is not explicitly expressed as such by Thietmar[155].

m secondly (Wallhausen 909) MATHILDE, daughter of Graf THEODERICH [Immedinger] & his wife Reginlind --- ([896]-Quedlinburg 14 Mar 968, bur Quedlinburg Stiftskirche).

• Widukind names "Mahthilda" as wife of King Heinrich, also naming her father and three brothers[156]. Thietmar names Mathilde as daughter of "Dietrich and Reinhild" when recording her marriage to Heinrich, specifying the was "a descendant of the lineage of King Widukind"[157]. Her alleged descent from Widukind is also referred to in the Vita Mahthildis[158].
• Thietmar records that Quedlinburg was bestowed on Mathilde as part of her dower 16 Sep 929[159], and that she established the convent there thirty days after the death of her husband[160].
• She played an active part in encouraging the rebellion of her son Heinrich in 939 and was included in the reconciliation of 941[161].
• Lay Abbess of Nivelles.
• Thietmar records the death of Queen Mathilde on 14 Mar, without specifying the year[162]. The necrology of Fulda records the death "968 2 Id Mar" of "Mahthild regina"[163].

King Heinrich & his first wife had one child:

1. THANKMAR ([907/09]-murdered Eresburg 28 Jul 938).

• Widukind names "Thancmari" as son of King Heinrich, when recording his rebellion against King Otto, and in a later passage names his mother[164]. Thietmar records the birth of "Tammo"[165]. He was considered illegitimate on the basis that his mother had taken the veil before her second marriage, which was therefore invalid[166].
• Thietmar records the rebellion of "Tammo son of the king and Liudgard", and that Thankmar claimed the inheritance of Siegfried Graf [von Merseburg], Pfalzgraf von Sachsen (who was his mother's first cousin). He was besieged in Eresburg, forced into the church of St Peter where he was killed 28 Jul by Maginzo before the altar, his murderer being punished with a cruel death by the king "later, in the second year of his reign"[167].
• The necrology of Merseburg records the death "28 Jul" of "Thancmar frater magni Oddonis"[168].

King Heinrich & his second wife had five children:

The number and names of these children appear definitive (apart from any who died in infancy) as shown by a list of names in the Libri Confraternitatum Sancti Galli which sets out (in order) "Heinrich, Mathilt, Otto, Heinrich, Prun, Kerbrich, Adawi, Kysilbref", no doubt referring to King Heinrich, his wife, children and son-in-law[169]. The list is undated but was presumably written during the period [929/36] as King Heinrich's other son-in-law Hugues Duc des Francs (who married in 937) is not included.

2. OTTO (23 Nov 912-Memleben 7 May 973, bur Magdeburg cathedral).

• Widukind names (in order) "Oddonem, Heinricum, Brunonem" as sons of King Heinrich & his second wife[170]. Associate King of Germany, with his father, in 930.
• He was elected OTTO I "der Große" King of Germany 7 Aug 936, installed at Aachen.

3. GERBERGA (Nordhausen [913/14]-Reims 5 May 984, bur Abbaye de Reims).

• Liutprand states that the wife of "Gislebertum Lotharingorum ducem" was "regis sororem"[171]. Flodoard names her "Gerbergam" when recording her second marriage[172].
• Her first husband had been a rival of King Heinrich I and maybe planned to establish himself as independent ruler in Lotharingia in 920[173]. As the marriage coincided with Giselbert being created dux, it was presumably arranged to confirm Giselbert's submission to King Heinrich.
• King Louis married Gerberga without the permission of her brother Otto I King of Germany, probably to increase his hold on Lotharingia (ruled by her first husband). Gerberga was active in the defence of Laon in 941 and of Reims in 946, accompanied her husband on expeditions to Aquitaine in 944 and Burgundy in 949, and was active during his period of imprisonment in 945/46[174]. An educated person, she commissioned from Adso of Moutier-en-Der the De ortu et tempore antichristi[175].
• Her second husband gave her the abbey of Notre-Dame de Laon in 951, taken from his mother on her second marriage. Abbess of Notre Dame de Soissons in 959[176]. "Gerberga…Francorum regina" donated "alodo…Marsnam in comitatu Masaugo" to Reims Saint-Rémy, confirmed by "comitibus Emmone et Ansfrido", for the souls of "senioris nostri piæ memoriæ Gisleberti suique…patris…et matris Rageneri et Albradæ", by charter dated 10 Feb 968, signed by "Arnulfi comitis…Emmonis comitis, Ansfridi comitis…"[177].
• m firstly ([928/29]%29 GISELBERT Graf [von Maasgau], son of REGINAR [I] "Langhals" Graaf [van Maasgau] Comte de Hainaut & his wife Alberada --- (-drowned in the River Rhine Oct 929). He was created dux in 928 by Heinrich I King of Germany, which effectively created him GISELBERT Duke of Lotharingia.
• m secondly (end 939) LOUIS IV "d'Outremer" King of the West Franks, son of CHARLES III "le Simple" King of the West Franks & his second wife Eadgifu [Ogive] of England ([10 Sep 920/10 Sep 921]-Reims Oct 954, bur Reims St Remy).

4. HEINRICH ([Dec 919/22 Apr 922]-Regensburg 1 Nov 955, bur Regensburg St Emmeran).

• Widukind names (in order) "Oddonem, Heinricum, Brunonem" as sons of King Heinrich & his second wife[178]. "Henrici ducis, fratris primi Ottonis" is named in the Annalista Saxo[179]. "Henricus…rex" granted property to Paderborn cathedral by charter dated 9 May 935 which names "Heinrici æquivoci ac filii nostri et Hadeuui filiæ nostræ" by charter dated 9 May 935[180].
• Thietmar records that he was captured by Eberhard Duke of Franconia in 938 and "held in chains". He rebelled against his brother King Otto in 939 and took part in a campaign of pillaging along the Rhine, joined by Eberhard ex-Duke of Franconia and Giselbert Duke of Lotharingia [Hainaut][181]. They were defeated at Birten and Andernach[182].
• After Duke Giselbert was drowned, Heinrich was installed as HEINRICH Duke of Lotharingia in [940], but was unable to establish himself there and soon returned to Saxony[183].
• Thietmar records that he was installed as HEINRICH I Duke of Bavaria in 947 by his older brother[184]. Thietmar records that he was expelled from Regensburg by his nephew Liudolf Duke of Swabia, during the course of the latter's rebellion against his father, but restored by his brother King Otto in [955][185].
• Regino records the death of "Heinricus frater regis" in 955[186]. The necrology of Fulda records the death "955 Kal Nov" of "Heinrichus dux"[187]. The necrology of Merseburg records the death "1 Nov" of "Heinricus dux avus imperatoris Heinrici"[188]. The necrology of Regensburg St Emmeran records the death "Kal Nov" of "Heinricus dux Baioaria hic sepultus"[189].

5. HEDWIG ([922]-9 Jan [958 or after 965]).

• Rodulfus Glaber names "sororem [primis Ottonis] Haduidem" as wife of "Hugo dux Francorum cognomento Magnus"[191]. "Henricus…rex" granted property to Paderborn cathedral by charter dated 9 May 935 which names "Heinrici æquivoci ac filii nostri et Hadeuui filiæ nostræ" by charter dated 9 May 935[192]. "Hugues abbé de Saint-Martin" donated "son alleu de Lachy…dans le comté de Meaux", inherited from "comte Aledramnus", to Tours Saint-Martin by charter dated 14 Sep 937 which names "sa femme Havis"[193]. Flodoard refers to "sororem Othonis regis Transfhenensis, filiam Heinrici" as the wife of "Hugo princeps, filius Roberti", without naming her, recording the marriage in 938[194].
• The necrology of the abbey of Saint-Denis records the death "V Id Jan" of "Hadhuidis comitissa"[195].
• m ([9 May/14 Sep] 937) as his third wife, HUGUES "le Grand" Duc des Francs, son of ROBERT I King of France & his second wife Béatrix de Vermandois ([898]-Dourdan, Essonne Jun 956, bur Saint-Denis).

6. BRUNO (May 925-Reims 11 Oct 965, bur Köln St Pantaleon).

• Widukind names (in order) "Oddonem, Heinricum, Brunonem" as sons of King Heinrich & his second wife[196]. "Brun archiepiscopus Agrippinæ civitatis" is named "frater imperatoris", when recording his death in 965[197].
• Chancellor of Germany 940-953. "Otto…rex" granted property to the church of Cambrai at the request of "germani nostri Brunonis et Cuonradi ducis atque Herimanni ducis" by charter dated 30 Apr 948[198].
• Abbot of Lorsch 948/50.
• Archbishop of Köln 953. Thietmar records that, in 953, he was installed as BRUNO Duke of Lotharingia by his brother King Otto[199]. According to Thietmar, Archbishop Bruno plotted against his brother, offering the crown of Germany to his brother-in-law Hugues "le Grand", but repented of his scheme and was forgiven by King Otto[200].
• In 959, Bruno divided Lotharingia into Upper and Lower Lotharingia, installing comte Frederic (husband of his niece Béatrix de France) as Duke of the former[201].
• Thietmar records the death of Archbishop Bruno on 11 Oct "in the thirteenth year after his ordination"[202].

References:

• [142] Vita Mathildis Reginæ 8, MGH SS IV, p. 288, which calls the town "Imilebun".
• [143] Thietmar 1.3, p. 68.
• [144] Annalista Saxo 902 and 907.
• [145] Thietmar 1.8, p. 73.
• [146] Reuter (1991), pp. 143-4.
• [147] Thietmar 1.16, p. 79.
• [148] Thietmar 1.17, p. 80.
• [149] Widukind 1.38, pp. 56-7, quoted in Thietmar, p. 79, footnote 47.
• [150] Annales Necrologici Fuldenses, MGH SS XIII, p. 123.
• [151] Thietmar 1.18-19, p. 81.
• [152] Althoff, G. (ed.) (1983) Die Totenbücher von Merseburg, Magdeburg und Lüneburg (Hannover), Merseburg.
• [153] Thietmar 1.5, p. 70.
• [154] Widukindi Res Gestæ Saxonicæ II.4 and 9, MGH SS III, pp. 439 and 440.
• [155] Thietmar 1.5 and 1.6, pp. 70 and 71.
• [156] Widukindi Res Gestæ Saxonicæ I.31, MGH SS III, pp. 430-1.
• [157] Thietmar 1.9, p. 74.
• [158] Vita Mahthildis Reginæ Antiquior 1, MGH SS X, p. 575.
• [159] Thietmar, p. 83, footnote 64.
• [160] Thietmar 1.21, p. 82.
• [161] Reuter (1991), p. 153.
• [162] Thietmar 2.18, p. 105.
• [163] Annales Necrologici Fuldenses, MGH SS XIII, p. 123.
• [164] Widukindi Res Gestæ Saxonicæ II.4 and 9, MGH SS III, pp. 439 and 440.
• [165] Thietmar 1.9, p. 74.
• [166] Hill, B. H. (1972) Medieval Monarchy in Action: The German Empire from Henry I to Henry IV (London, George Allen and Unwin), p. 25 footnote 1.
• [167] Thietmar 2.2, p. 91.
• [168] Althoff, G. (ed.) (1983) Die Totenbücher von Merseburg, Magdeburg und Lüneburg (Hannover), Merseburg.
• [169] Piper, P. (ed.) (Berlin) Libri confraternitatum Sancti Galli, Augiensis, Fabariensis (Berlin), p. 84.
• [170] Widukindi Res Gestæ Saxonicæ I.31, MGH SS III, p. 430.
• [171] Liudprandi Antapodosis IV.20, MGH SS III, p. 321.
• [172] Flodoard 939, MGH SS III, p. 386.
• [173] Reuter (1991), p. 140.
• [174] McKitterick, R. (1983) Frankish Kingdoms under the Carolingians 751-987 (Longman, London and New York), p. 318.
• [175] McKitterick (1983), p. 278.
• [176] Settipani (1993), p. 330.
• [177] Miraeus (Le Mire), A. (1723) Opera diplomatica et historica, 2nd edn. (Louvain), Tome I, XXXVII, p. 48.
• [178] Widukindi Res Gestæ Saxonicæ I.31, MGH SS III, p. 430.
• [179] Annalista Saxo 975.
• [180] D H I 37, p. 71.
• [181] Thietmar 2.34, p. 117.
• [182] Reuter (1991), p. 152.
• [183] Reuter (1991), p. 152.
• [184] Thietmar 1.21, p. 83.
• [185] Thietmar 2.6 to 2.8, pp. 96-7.
• [186] Reginonis Chronicon 955, MGH SS I, p. 623.
• [187] Annales Necrologici Fuldenses, MGH SS XIII, p. 123.
• [188] Althoff, G. (ed.) (1983) Die Totenbücher von Merseburg, Magdeburg und Lüneburg (Hannover), Merseburg.
• [189] Necrologium Monasterii S Emmerammi Ratisbonensis, Regensburg Necrologies, p. 301.
• [191] France, J., Bulst, N. and Reynolds, P. (eds. and trans.) (1989) Rodulfi Glabri Historiarum Libri Quinque, Rodulfus Glaber Opera (Oxford) I.8, p. 19.
• [192] D H I 37, p. 71.
• [193] Mabille, E. (ed.) (1866) La pancarte notre de Saint-Martin de Tours brulée en 1793 (Paris, Tours) ("Tours Saint-Martin") LVIII, p. 95.
• [194] Flodoard 938, MGH SS III, p. 385.
• [195] Obituaires de Sens Tome I.1, Abbaye de Saint-Denis, p. 307.
• [196] Widukindi Res Gestæ Saxonicæ I.31, MGH SS III, p. 430.
• [197] Annales Hildesheimenses 965, MGH SS III, p.60.
• [198] D O I 100, p. 182.
• [199] Thietmar 2.23, p. 108.
• [200] Thietmar 2.23, p. 109.
• [201] Poull, G. (1994) La Maison souveraine et ducale de Bar (Presses Universitaires de Nancy), p. 10.
• [202] Thietmar 2.23, p. 109.

  ---

From the Dutch Wikipedia page on Mathildis van Ringelheim:

http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathildis_van_Ringelheim

Sint-Mathildis van Saksen (c. 892 - Quedlinburg, 14 maart 968), heilige, was de tweede vrouw van de Duitse koning Hendrik I de Vogelaar en was een afstammelinge van Widukind, de Saksische leider die c. 777 een opstand leidde tegen Karel de Grote.

Haar ouders waren de West-Saksische graaf Diederik en zijn vrouw Reinhilde die van Friese en Deense afkomst was. Ze werd opgevoed door haar grootmoeder Mathildis, de abdis van het klooster van Herford en trouwde in 909 met Hendrik I te Walhausen, dat haar gepresenteerd werd als bruidsschat.

Mathildis werd de moeder van:

1. koning en keizer van het Heilige Roomse Rijk Otto I,

2. Bruno de Grote, aartsbisschop van Keulen,

3. Hendrik I van Beieren

4. Gerberga van Saksen, die huwde met Lodewijk IV van Frankrijk en

5. Hedwig, moeder van Hugo Capet.

Hendrik I overleed in 936 en liet haar al zijn bezittingen na in Quedlinburg, Poehlden, Nordhausen, Grona, en Duderstadt. Na zijn dood probeerde ze haar lievelingszoon Hendrik opvolger van haar man te laten worden, maar zonder succes. Het conflict werd opgelost toen Hendrik hertog van Beieren werd door haar ingrijpen. Verder deed ze aan liefdadigheidswerk en stichtte ze meerdere kloosters en abdijen.

Ze overleed in het paleis van Quedlinburg in 968.

Zij is patroonheilige van ouders en grote gezinnen en haar feestdag is op 14 maart.

---

Sie stammte aus dem Geschlecht Herzog Widukinds.

Den hellige Mathilde (~895-968)

Minnedag: 14. mars

Den hellige Mathilde (Mechthild, Matilda, Maud, lat: Mathildis) ble født ca 895 i Engern i Westfalen i Tyskland som datter av grev Dietrich (Theoderik) av Sachsen og Reinhildis av Danmark, som var av dansk-frisisk slekt. Hun var oldebarn av den berømte hertug Widukind av Sachsen, som ledet sakserne i deres lange kamp mot Karl den Store. Foreldrene lot henne oppdra i klosteret Herford ved Teutoburger Wald, hvor hennes mormor Maud var blitt abbedisse etter at hun ble enke. Der vokste Mathilde opp til å bli en vakker, lærd og from ung kvinne.

Som 14-åring ble hun i 909 gift i Walhausen med Henrik, sønn av hertug Otto av Sachsen og senere tysk konge som Henrik I Fuglefangeren. Han hadde først vært gift med den unge enken Hatheburg, men det ekteskapet ble erklært ugyldig. Han hadde sitt tilnavn fordi han var så glad i falkejakt. Det ble et lykkelig ekteskap hvor Mathilde hadde en beherskende innflytelse på mannen. Mathilde ble mor til fem barn: Den senere keiser Otto I, Gerberga (som ble gift med hertug Giselbert av Lorraine og deretter med kong Ludvig IV av Frankrike), Hedvig (som ble mor til Hugo Capet), Henrik den Trettekjære av Bayern og den hellige erkebiskop Bruno I av Köln. Gjennom Henrik av Bayern ble hun farmor til den hellige keiser Henrik II.

Otto var født i 912, like før faren overtok som hertug etter sin far. Da kong Konrad døde barnløs i begynnelsen av 919, ble Henrik Fuglefangeren valgt til konge av de tyske fyrstene i Fritzlar. Henrik var konstant i krig, og både han og hans undersåtter tilskrev hans suksesser like mye til hans fromme dronnings bønner som til hans egen dyktighet. Hun levde som en ordenskvinne i det kongelige palasset, sjenerøs og elskelig mot alle. Hennes mann, som stolte fullstendig på henne, blandet seg sjelden inn i hennes sjenerøse almisser eller motsatte seg hennes fromme øvelser. Han døde i 936, og da Mathilde fikk nyheten, tok hun straks av seg juvelene hun bar som tegn på at fra det øyeblikk hadde hun gitt avkall på sin stillings prakt.

Etter Henriks død i 936 mente Mathilde at den nest eldste sønnen, Henrik, som var hennes favoritt og «født under purpuret» skulle etterfølge faren, basert på bysantinsk kronerett. Hun overtalte noen få adelsmenn til å stemme på ham. Men Otto ble valgt og kronet til kong Otto I (936-73) den 8. august 936. Men Henrik, med tilnavnet den Trettekjære, aksepterte ikke avgjørelsen og prøvde tre år senere å rive til seg tronen med makt. Men han mislyktes og måtte søke fred. Mathilde klarte å skape fred mellom dem, og Otto benådet ham, og etter morens anmodning ble Henrik hertug av Bayern. Men Otto, som var provosert av at moren favoriserte Henrik, behandlet henne senere svært dårlig. Men Henrik viste seg også utakknemlig mot henne. Begge klaget blant andre ting på morens gavmildhet overfor de fattige og overfor Kirken. Men i de 32 årene Mathilde var enke, bar hun hele tiden tålmodig over med sønnene. Hun bemerket med et snev av humor at det var en trøst å vite at hennes sønner nå var enige, selv om det bare var for å straffe henne.

Mathilde var også en kamp- og maktbevisst dronning, som handlet mer etter en herskertankegang enn etter moderlig-familiære hensyn. Hun støttet sin svigersønn Giselbert mot Otto I, og hadde vel det avgjørende ord da hennes yngste sønn Bruno fikk hertugdømmet Lorraine som len. Men for å fjerne mulig fremtidige klager ga Mathilde sin arv til sine to sønner og trakk seg tilbake til landeiendommen der hun var blitt født. Men ikke før var hun borte før Henrik ble syk og statsaffærene begynte å gå dårlig. Dette ble tolket som en straff for de to herskernes dårlige behandling av sin mor. På anmodning av adelen og presteskapet klarte Ottos kone Edith å snakke mannen til fornuft, og han ba sin mor om tilgivelse og ga tilbake alt han hadde tatt fra henne. Mathilde tilga sine to sønner og vendte tilbake til hoffet, hvor hun tok opp sitt nestekjærlige arbeid. Fra 947 holdt hun seg trofast til sin eldste sønn.

Men Henrik fortsatte å være en kilde til sorg. Han gjorde på nytt opprør mot Otto i 953 og senere slo han med stor grusomhet ned et opprør blant sine egne bayerske undersåtter. Da Mathilde så ham for siste gang i 955, profeterte hun hans død og tryglet ham om å angre og gjøre bot før det var for sent. Da nyheten om hans død kom, slo den henne nesten til jorden. Da Otto i 962 dro til Roma for å krones til keiser, var det Mathilde som styrte i hans fravær. Denne kroningen regnes som starten på Det hellige romerske imperium av tysk nasjon. Hun fikk også oppleve sønnesønnen Otto IIs kroning til medkeiser i 967. Da Otto IIs sønn Otto III døde barnløs i 1002, ble Henrik av Bayerns sønn, den hellige Henrik II, tysk konge og senere keiser.

Den siste familie samlingen fant sted i Köln påsken 965. Keiser Otto I var der sammen med Mathildes andre overlevende barn og barnebarn. Etter denne tiden tilbrakte hun det meste av tiden i sine monastiske grunnleggelser. I 929 hadde mannen Henrik gitt henne en svært stor enkeformue, og den hadde hun rundhåndet brukt til å grunnlegge klostre for både munker og nonner i Quedlinburg (klostrene St. Servatius og St. Wigbert), Pöhlde i Braunschweig (hvor hun hadde 3.000 munker), Enger og Nordhausen, alle i Harz og omegn. Til slutt trakk hun seg tilbake til kvinneklosteret i Nordhausen. Benediktinerne regner henne blant sine oblater.

Mot slutten av 967 ble en feber som en tid hadde plaget henne, plutselig verre. Hun forsto at hun var døende og sendte bud på Richburga, hennes tidligere hoffdame, nå abbedisse i Nordhausen, og sa at hun måtte dra i all hast til Quedlinburg. Hun forklarte at det for lenge siden var bestemt av hennes mann Henrik at det skulle være deres begravelsessted. Den siste flyttingen ble foretatt i januar 968. Hennes barnebarn, biskop Vilhelm av Main, besøkte henne, hørte hennes skriftemål og salvet henne. Hun ønsket å gi ham en gave og spurte abbedisse Richburga om det fantes noen ting tilgjengelig. Siden alle hennes eiendeler nå var delt ut til de fattige, var det ingenting igjen bortsett fra hennes eget liksvøp. Hun sa: «Gi det til biskop Vilhelm. Han vil trenge det først... Når jeg dør, vil det folkelige ordtaket vise seg å stemme: slektninger finner alltid de nødvendige midler til en bryllupskjole eller en begravelse».

Biskop Vilhelm døde 12 dager før sin bestemor. Hun døde den 14. mars 968 i Quedlinburg. Hennes legeme var blitt fraktet til kirken da det kom sendebud fra hennes datter Gerberga med et klede brodert med gull, akkurat i tide til å legges over kristen. Mathilde ble gravlagt i domkirken i Quedlinburg ved siden av sin mann og hadde stort ry for godhet blant folket. Hun ble æret lokalt som helgen straks etter at hun var død. Allerede av sin første biograf, munken Widukind av Korvey, ble hun kalt Mirae sanctitatis femina, «Kvinne av underbar hellighet».

Hennes minnedag er 14. mars. Hun blir fremstilt som dronning med pisk og kirkemodell, mens hun deler ut almisser. Hennes navn står i Martyrologium Romanum.

---

Född: Abt 878 - of, Mensleben, Saxony, Germany

Gift: 911

Död: 14 May 968

Family:

• 1 Henri (Heinrich) Emperor of Germany, [L'Oiseleur]

Children:

• 1. Otto I Emperor of Germany, [Em/HolyRomanEmp
• 2. Gerberge Queen of Franks
• 3. Hedwiga (Hartwige) Princess Germany

  ---

http://www.francogene.com/quebec--genealogy/134/134979.php

The family of Henri Ier dit L'Oiseleur de SAXE and Mathilde de RINGELHEIM

[134979] SAXE (de), Henri Ier dit L'Oiseleur (..), roi d'Allemagne, duc de Saxe

• married

RINGELHEIM (de), Mathilde (..)

1) Gerberge, buried Reims (Saint-Rémy) (Marne : 510454), France, married Gilbert de LORRAINE, married France ? (France) 940 Louis IV de FRANCE

Bibliographie : Histoire de la maison royale de France (Père Anselme)

---

From the English Wikipedia page on Matilda of Ringelheim:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matilda_of_Ringelheim

Saint Mathilda or Saint Matilda (c. 895 – March 14 968) was the wife of Henry I, King of the East Franks and the first ruler of the Ottonian or Liudolfing dynasty. Their son, Otto, succeeded his father as King (and later Emperor) Otto I.

The details of St. Mathilda's life come largely from brief mentions in the Res Gestae Saxonicae (Deeds of the Saxons) of the monastic historian Widukind of Corvey, and from two sacred biographies (the vita antiquior and vita posterior) written, respectively, c. 974 and c. 1003.

St. Mathilda was the daughter of the Westphalian count Dietrich and his wife Reinhild, and her biographers traced her ancestry back to the famed Saxon hero, Widukind (c. 730 - 807). As a young girl, she was sent to the convent of Herford, where her reputation for beauty and virtue is said to have attracted the attention of Duke Otto of Saxony, who betrothed her to his son, Henry the Fowler. They were married in 909 and had three sons and two daughters:

• 1.Hadwig, wife of the West Frankish duke Hugh the Great
• 2.King (and later Emperor) Otto I
• 3.Gerberga, wife of (1) Duke Giselbert of Lotharingia and (2) King Louis IV of France
• 4.Henry I, Duke of Bavaria
• 5.Archbishop Brun of Cologne

After Henry the Fowler's death in 936, St. Mathilda remained at the court of her son Otto, until a cabal of royal advisors is reported to have accused her of weakening the royal treasury in order to pay for her charitable activities. After a brief exile at the Westphalian monastery of Enger, St. Mathilda was brought back to court at the urging of Otto I's first wife, the Anglo-Saxon princess Queen Edith.

St. Mathilda was celebrated for her devotion to prayer and almsgiving; her first biographer depicted her (in a passage indebted[citation needed] to the sixth-century vita of the Frankish queen Radegund by Venantius Fortunatus) leaving her husband's side in the middle of the night and sneaking off to church to pray. St. Mathilda founded many religious institutions, including the canonry of Quedlinburg, Saxony-Anhalt, a center of Ottonian ecclesiastical and secular life and the burial place of St. Mathilda and her husband, and the convent of Nordhausen, Thuringia, likely the source of at least one of her vitae. She was later canonized, with her cult largely confined to Saxony and Bavaria. St. Mathilda's feast day is on March 14.

German Queen (919 – 936)

• Preceded by Cunigunde of Swabia
• Succeeded by Edith of Wessex

Duchess consort of Saxony (30 November 912 – 2 July 936)

• Preceded by Hedwiga of Franconia
• Succeeded by Edith of Wessex

Sources

Primary sources

Widukind, Res gestae Saxonicae, ed. Paul Hirsch and H.-E. Lohmann, Die Sachsengeschichte des Widukind von Korvei. MGH SS rer. Germ. in usum scholarum 60. Hanover, 1935. Available online from the Digital Monumenta Germaniae Historica

Vita Mathildis reginae antiquior (c. 974, written for her grandson Otto II), ed. Bernd Schütte. Die Lebensbeschreibungen der Königin Mathilde. MGH SS rer. Germ. in usum scholarum 66. Hanover, 1994. 107-142. Available from the Digital MGH; ed. Rudolf Koepke. MGH SS 10. 573-82; tr. in Sean Gilsdorf, Queenship and Sanctity, 71-87.

Vita Mathildis reginae posterior (c. 1003, written for her great-grandson Henry II), ed. Bernd Schütte. Die Lebensbeschreibungen der Königin Mathilde. MGH SS rer. Germ. in usum scholarum 66. Hanover, 1994. 143-202. Available from the Digital MGH; ed. Georg Pertz. MGH SS 4: 282-302; tr. in Sean Gilsdorf, Queenship and Sanctity, 88-127.

Secondary sources

Corbet, Patrick. Les saints ottoniens. Sainteté dynastique, sainteté royale et sainteté féminine autour de l'an mil. Thorbecke, 1986. Description (external link)

Gilsdorf, Sean. Queenship and Sanctity: The Lives of Mathilda and the Epitaph of Adelheid. Catholic University of America Press, 2004. Description (external link)

Glocker, Winfrid. Die Verwandten der Ottonen und ihre Bedeutung in der Politik. Böhlau Verlag, 1989. 7-18.

Schmid, Karl. "Die Nachfahren Widukinds," Deutsches Archiv für Erforschung des Mittelalters 20 (1964): 1-47.

Schütte, Bernd . Untersuchungen zu den Lebensbeschreibungen der Königin Mathilde. MGH Studien und Texte 9. Hanover, 1994. ISBN 3-7752-5409-9.

"St. Matilda". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Catholic_Encyclopedia_(1913)/St._Matilda.

Further reading

Schlenker, Gerlinde. Königin Mathilde, Gemahlin Heinrichs I (895/96-968). Aschersleben, 2001.

Stinehart, Anne C. "Renowned Queen Mother Mathilda:" Ideals and Realities of Ottonian Queenship in the Vitae Mathildis reginae (Mathilda of Saxony, 895?-968)." Essays in history 40 (1998). Available online

---

St. Mathilda

Feastday: March 14

St. Mathilda was the daughter of Theodoric, a Saxon Count. At an early age she was placed in the monastery of Erfurt under the care of Maud, her grandmother, who was Abbess of the monastery which she had entered after the death of her husband. Here St. Mathilda learned needlework and acquired the love of labor, prayer and spiritual reading.

She remained in the convent until her parents gave her in marriage, in 913, to Henry "the Fowler," so called from his fondness for hawking. He became Duke in 916 on the death of his father, and in 919 he was chosen to succeed Conrad as King of Germany.

The pious Queen adorned the throne by her many virtues. She visited and comforted the sick and the afflicted, instructed the ignorant, succored prisoners, and endeavored to convert sinners, and her husband concurred with her in her pious undertakings.

After 23 years of married life King Henry died, in 936. No sooner had he expired than she had a Mass offered up for the repose of his soul, and from that moment she renounced all worldly pomp.

Of her three sons, Otho afterward became Emperor, Henry was Duke of Bavaria, and St. Bruno edified the Church as Archbishop of Cologne. Otho became King of Germany in 937, and in 962 he was crowned Emperor at Rome. In the contest between her two sons, Otho and Henry, for the crown which was elective, the Queen favored the former, a fault she expiated by great suffering, for both these sons subjected her to a long and cruel persecution.

She died in 968. Her feast day is March 14th.

----------------------------

Birth: circa 890

• Enger, (Present Mordrhein-Westfalen), Ostenfrankenreich (Present Germany)

Death: May 14, 968 (78)

• Quedlinburg, Hartingau, Ostfalia (Present Landkreis Harz), Herzogtum Sachsen (Present Saxony-Anhalt), Heiliges Römisches Reich (Present Germany)

Burial: Quedlinburg Stiftskirche, Quedlinburg, Landkreis Harz, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany

Marriage: 906 Wallhausen, Mulachgau (Present Bad Kreuznach), Herzogtum Franken (Present Rhineland-Palatinate), Ostenfrankenreich (Present Germany)

-----------------------------

From the German Wikipedia page on Mathilde die Heilige:

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathilde_die_Heilige

Die heilige Mathilde (* um 895 in Enger; † 14. März 968 in Quedlinburg) aus der Familie der Immedinger war die Gemahlin König Heinrichs I.

Leben

Mathilde, Tochter des sächsischen Grafen Dietrich, eines Nachkommen Widukinds, und der Reginlind, wurde erzogen im Kloster ihrer Großmutter in Herford. Im Jahr 909 wurde sie auf der Königspfalz Wallhausen bei Sangerhausen mit Herzog Heinrich von Sachsen, dem späteren deutschen König, vermählt. Sie gebar ihm drei Söhne: Kaiser Otto den Großen, Herzog Heinrich von Bayern und Brun, Erzbischof von Köln, sowie zwei Töchter Gerberga und Hadwig, die mit den beiden großen Kontrahenten der französischen Politik, dem karolingischen König Ludwig IV. und seinem Gegenspieler und mächtigsten Vasallen, dem Kapetinger Hugo der Große verheiratet waren. 929 erhielt sie von ihrem Mann in der sogenannten Hausordnung ihr Wittum zugewiesen: Quedlinburg, Pöhlde, Nordhausen, Grone und Duderstadt.

Nach dem Tod ihres Mannes 936, der auf dem Burgberg in Quedlinburg bestattet wurde, gründete sie dort ein Stift. Es erhielt die Aufgaben, des verstorbenen Königs und anderer zu gedenken und Töchter höheren Adels auszubilden. Dieses Stift leitete Mathilde die ersten 30 Jahre persönlich und übergab die Leitung 966 an ihre Enkelin Mathilde, Tochter Ottos des Großen, Reichsregentin (997–999) unter Otto III. Diese war die erste Äbtissin des Quedlinburger Stiftes. Daneben gründete sie aber auch auf ihren anderen Besitztümern Stifte und Klöster. In der Frage der Thronfolge bevorzugte sie anscheinend ihren Sohn Heinrich vor Otto, was zu so starken Zerwürfnissen führte, dass sie sich eine Zeit lang auf ihre Güter im Raum Enger/Herford zurückziehen musste. In Enger gründete sie um 947 ein Kanonikerstift. Mathilde zeichnete sich namentlich als Wohltäterin der Armen und Gründerin von geistlichen Stiftungen aus. Sie führte den Titel einer Laienäbtissin von Nivelles und starb in dem von ihr zu Quedlinburg gegründeten Stift. Mathilde wurde wie ihr Mann in der dortigen Stiftskirche begraben. Eine Gedenktafel für sie fand Aufnahme in die Walhalla bei Regensburg.

Gedenktag

Katholisch: 14. März (Nicht gebotener Gedenktag im Regionalkalender für das deutsche Sprachgebiet)

Evangelisch: 14. März

Quellen

Widukind von Corvey: Die Sachsengeschichte des Widukind von Corvey. In: Quellen zur Geschichte der sächsischen Kaiserzeit, bearbeitet von Albert Bauer, Reinhold Rau. Freiherr-vom-Stein-Gedächtnisausgabe Bd. 8. 5. Auflage. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 2002, S. 1–183

Literatur

Gerd Althoff: Causa scribendi und Darstellungsabsichten. Die Lebensbeschreibungen der Königin Mathilde und andere Beispiele. In: Michael Borgolte, Herrad Spilling (Hrsg.): Litterae medii Aevi. Festschrift für Johanne Autenrieth zu ihrem 65. Geburtstag. Thorbecke, Sigmaringen 1988, ISBN 3-7995-7061-6, S. 117–133.

Eduard Hlawitschka: Königin Mathilde. In: Karl R. Schnith (Hrsg.): Frauen des Mittelalters in Lebensbildern. Verlag Styria, Graz 1997, ISBN 3-222-12467-1, S. 9–26.

Gerlinde Schlenker: Königin Mathilde, Gemahlin Heinrichs I. (895/96-968). Verlag Dr. Mahnert, Aschersleben 2001.

Bernd Schütte: Untersuchungen zu den Lebensbeschreibungen der Königin Mathilde (MGH, Studien und Texte 9). Verlag Hahn, Hannover 1994, ISBN 3-7752-5409-9.

Georg Waitz: Mathilde. In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Band 20. Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1884, S. 591–593.

Mathilde die Heilige. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL).

In English:

Mathilde the Holy (b. c.895 in Enger, d. 14 March 968 in Quedlinburg) was the wife of King Heinrich I, and from the Immedinger family.

Life:

(English Wikipedia notes that the details of St. Mathilde's life come largely from brief mentions in the Res gestae saxonicae sive annalium libri tres of the monastic historian Widukind of Corvey, and from two sacred biographies - the Vita antiquior and the Vita posterior - written, respectively circa 974 and 1003.

Matilda, daughter of the Graf von Westphalia Dietrich (a descendant of Saxon hero Widukind - c.730-807) and his wife Reginlind (or Reinhild). She was brought up in a convent with her grandmother in Herford (where her reputation for beauty and virtue attracted the attention of Duke Otto of Saxony, who betrothed her to his son).

In 909, she was married at the Sangerhausen royal palace in Wallhausen to Herzog Heinrich "der Vogelsteller" ("The Fowler") von Sachsen, who later became King of Germany. She bore him three sons and two daughters:

1. Konig and Kaiser Otto the Great,

2. Herzog (Duke) Heinrich von Bayern,

3. Bruno, Archbishop of Cologne,

4. Gerberga, who married firstly Duke Giselbert of Lotharingia, and secondly Carolingian King Louis IV of West Francia, and

5. Hadwig, who married Louis IV's rival and most powerful vassal, Duke Hugh The Great.

In 929, she received from her husband as dowry: Quedlinburg, Pohlde, Nordhausen, Grone, and Duderstadt.

After the death of her husband in 936 (he was buried on castle hill in Quedlinburg), she founded a convent. She remained at the court of her son Otto, and was given the tasks of the late King, as well as to educate her daughters to being higher nobility. These tasks kept Mathilde occupied, and she personally handed over to her granddaughter Mathilde, daughter of Otto the Great, the convent Reichsregentin (997-999) under Otto III. She was the first abbess of Quedlinburg convent. She also founded other abbeys and monasteries in different locations.

In matters of succession, she apparently preferred her son Heinrich over Otto, which led to such a strong disagreement that for some time she was confined to Enger/Herford. (English Wikipedia says that a cabal of royal advisors accused her of weakening the royal treasury in order to pay for her charitable activities.)

In Enger (in Westphalia), she founded the Kanonikerstift in 947. (English Wikipedia notes that she was returned to Otto's court at the urging of his first wife, Anglo-Saxon princess Queen Edith.)

Mathilde distinguished herself as the benefactor of the poor, and as a founder of religious orders. (English Wikipedia says that she is celebrated for her devotion to prayer and almsgiving; her first biographer depicted her in a passage taken from the 6th century Vita of the Frankish Queen Radegund by Venantius Fortunatus as leaving her husband's side in the middle of the night to sneak off to church and pray.)

She bore the title of lay abbess of Nivelles and died in her abbey in Quedlinburg. Mathilde was buried next to her husband in the local church. (English Wikipedia says that St. Mathilde founded many religious institutions, including the canonry of Quedlinburg, Saxony-Anhalt, a center of Ottonian ecclesiastical and secular life, and the burial place for St. Mathilde and her husband, and the convent of Nordhausen, Thuringia, which is the likely source of at least one of her Vitae.) A commemorative plaque was dedicated to her in the Walhalla in Regensburg.

Feast Day

(English Wikipedia notes that she was later canonized, with her cult largely confined to Saxony and Bavaria.)

Catholic: 14 March (this is not a universal feast day, but only for the German speaking regions)

Evangelical: 14 March

---

Henrik var gift med Matilda av Sachsen, dotter till hertig Teodebert av Sachsen

Far: Dietrich av Sachsen (- 920)

Mor: Reinhilde Gudrödsdotter (872 - 917)

Född: 894-07 1)

Död: 968-05-14 Mesleben, Sachsen 1)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Familj med Henrik I 'Fågelfångaren' av Sachsen (876 - 936)

Vigsel: 909 1)

Barn:

• Otto I 'den store' av Sachsen (912 - 973)
• Hedvig av Sachsen (922 - 965)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Källor

1)  Directory of Royal Genealogical Data, Hull, England 

---

Saint Mathilda or Saint Matilda (c. 895 – March 14, 968) was the wife of Henry I, King of the East Franks and the first ruler of the Ottonian or Liudolfing dynasty. Their son, Otto, succeeded his father as King (and later Emperor) Otto I.

The details of St. Mathilda's life come largely from brief mentions in the Res Gestae Saxonicae (Deeds of the Saxons) of the monastic historian Widukind of Corvey, and from two sacred biographies (the vita antiquior and vita posterior) written, respectively, c. 974 and c. 1003.

St. Mathilda was the daughter of the Westphalian count Dietrich and his wife Reinhild, and her biographers traced her ancestry back to the famed Saxon hero, Blessed Widukind (c. 730 - 807). As a young girl, she was sent to the convent of Herford, where her reputation for beauty and virtue is said to have attracted the attention of Duke Otto of Saxony, who betrothed her to his son, Henry the Fowler. They were married in 909 and had three sons and two daughters:

Hadwig, wife of the West Frankish duke Hugh the Great

King (and later Emperor) Otto I

Gerberga, wife of (1) Duke Giselbert of Lotharingia and (2) King Louis IV of France

Henry I, Duke of Bavaria

Archbishop Brun of Cologne

After Henry the Fowler's death in 936, St. Mathilda remained at the court of her son Otto, until a cabal of royal advisors is reported to have accused her of weakening the royal treasury in order to pay for her charitable activities. After a brief exile at the Westphalian monastery of Enger, St. Mathilda was brought back to court at the urging of Otto I's first wife, the Anglo-Saxon princess Queen Edith.

St. Mathilda was celebrated for her devotion to prayer and almsgiving; her first biographer depicted her (in a passage indebted to the sixth-century vita of the Frankish queen Radegund by Venantius Fortunatus) leaving her husband's side in the middle of the night and sneaking off to church to pray. St. Mathilda founded many religious institutions, including the canonry of Quedlinburg, Saxony-Anhalt, a center of Ottonian ecclesiastical and secular life and the burial place of St. Mathilda and her husband, and the convent of Nordhausen, Thuringia, likely the source of at least one of her vitae. She was later canonized, with her cult largely confined to Saxony and Bavaria. St. Mathilda's feast day is on March 14.

---

Saint Mathilda or Saint Matilda (c. 895 – March 14, 968) was the wife of Henry I, King of the East Franks and the first ruler of the Ottonian or Liudolfing dynasty. Their son, Otto, succeeded his father as King (and later Emperor) Otto I.

---

http://www.aquinasandmore.com/index.cfm/saintName/Matilda/fuseactio...

---

Canonized St. Mathilda of Ringelheim, Queen of Germany

Patron Saint of Parents of Large Families

Also known as "Maude"

Major Shrine-Quedlinburg Abbey, district of Harz, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany

Feast Celebrated on March 14

Venerated-Roman Catholic Church

Buried with spouse King Henry I "The Fowler" of Germany in the Abbey of Quedlinburg, Germany

---

Matilde de Ringelheim

De Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre

Santa Matilde o Matilde de Ringelheim (Westfalia, c. 890 ? Quedlinburg, 968) Santa de la Iglesia Católica y reina consorte de Francia Orientalis. Hija del duque de Westfalia, contrajo matrimonio en 909 con Enrique duque de Sajonia, más tarde coronado rey y conocido como Enrique el Pajarero. Tras quedar viuda en 932 su hijo Otón I accedió al trono y fue proclamando emperador. Otón expulso a Matilde de palacio ya que pensaba que se había puesto de parte de su hermano Enrique, rebelado contra su hermano y se dirigió a un convento para orar por la reconciliación de sus hijos. Tras la reconciliación de sus dos hijos, éstos creyeron que su madre había guardado todo el dinero que ella afirmaba dar en caridad y la presionaron para que les diera el dinero. Finalmente creyeron que era inocente y le dejaron volver a palacio desde donde se dedicó a realizar acciones de caridad y fundar conventos.

Murió el 14 de marzo de 968, por lo que cada 14 de marzo se celebra su festividad.

[editar] Referenicas

Hoja parroquial. Semanario de la Diócesis de Segorbe-Castellón. Nº 2.350. 11 de marzo de 2007.

---

Mathilde ble oppdratt av bestemoren i klosteret Hervord, «den Hellige», og arvet etter henne karolinske besittelser.

Et av de vakreste trekk fra Henriks liv er hans forhold til sin hustru, den milde og barmhjertige dronning Mathilde. På dødsleiet uttalte han sin glede over at hans elskede, trofaste hustru fikk overleve ham. «Jeg takker deg», sa han til slutt, «for alle de gangene du har dempet min vrede og vendt mitt sinn fra hårdhet til rettferdighet og barmhjertighet og for alle de gode råd du har gitt meg.»

Tekst: Tore Nygaard

Kilder:

Carl Grimberg: Menneskenes liv og historie, bind 8, side 12. Allgemeine deutsche Biographie. Mogens Bugge: Våre forfedre, nr. 58. Bent og Vidar Billing Hansen: Rosensverdslektens forfedre, side 67.

---

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matilda_of_Ringelheim

---

Leo: Europäische Stammtafeln, Band I, Frank Baron Freytag von Loringhoven, 1975, Isenburg, W. K. Prinz von, Reference: Page 3.

---

Leo: Europäische Stammtafeln, Band I, Frank Baron Freytag von Loringhoven, 1975, Isenburg, W. K. Prinz von, Reference: Page 3.

---

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matilda_of_Ringelheim

---

(Wiki)

Saint Mathilda (or Matilda, c. 895 – 14 March 968) was the wife of King Henry I of Germany, the first ruler of the Saxon Ottonian (or Liudolfing) dynasty, thereby Duchess (consort) of Saxony from 912 and Queen (consort) of Germany (East Francia) from 919 until her husband's death in 936. Their eldest son Otto succeeded his father as King of Germany (East Francia) and years later was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 962, thus ending the vacancy of this office begun in 924 with the death of Holy Roman Emperor Berengar I of Italy. Matilda lived to see the imperial crown restored under her son. Matilda's surname refers to Ringelheim, where her comital (of or relating to a count or earl) Immedinger relatives established a convent about 940.

---

from http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=janrobiso...

Second wife of Henry the Fowler. RC 338 says born about 900, which would be rather young (9) for a normal marriage age. It adds, "Mathilda's birthdate would seem to imply that she was the daughter of Gisela (of Lorraine ) , but this is not certain." K. calls her Mathilde von Sachsen.
Her feast day is 14th March