Olga of Kiev, Regent of Russia: "As the Day-Spring Precedes the Sun and as the Dawn Precedes the Day "

Olga of Kiev, regent of Kiev (died 11 July 969)

Although little of her early life is known, traditional accounts of Olga of Kiev claim that she was born in Pskov, a city that is now in northwest Russia. Her date of birth is unknown, as are her origins--some accounts claim she was of Viking descent, others that she was of Slavic descent. (This disagreement may reflect a larger dispute over whether the Rus' were of Scandinavian or Slavic origin.)

The earliest mention of Olga is found in the twelfth-century Russian Primary Chronicle (Povest' vremennykh let), which begins by claiming it preserves "the narratives of bygone years regarding the origin of the land of Rus', the first princes of Kiev, and from what source the land of Rus' had its beginning." These annals begin after Noah's flood, move on to the division of the world among Noah's three sons, skip to the destruction of the Tower of Babel, and quickly focus on "the long period of the Slavs," various "parties" of whom separated and spread among many lands. 

A detail from 
the fifteenth-century
Radziwill Chronicle
depicting Olga of Kiev

Rather quickly, the chronicler arrives at the figure of Igor of Kiev, who was the son of Rurik, a Varangian (Viking) chieftain who settled in Novgorod. Igor was "very young" when Rurik died (at some point in the 870s), becoming prince of Novgorod. Oleg, appointed by Rurik as Igor's regent, gets busy with lots of fighting, conquering, and killing, all in the boy's name, of course. Eventually Oleg "set himself up as prince in Kiev, and declared that it should be the mother of Russian cities. The Varangians, Slavs, and others who accompanied him, were called Russes."

As for Igor, "he followed after Oleg, and obeyed his instructions." Presumably one of Oleg's instructions that Igor obeyed was about his marriage. In 903, according to the chronicler, "[a] wife, Olga by name, was brought to him from Pskov." A later, sixteenth-century history, The Book of Royal Degrees (Stepennaya kniga), contains a fanciful story of how Igor was fishing in the Velikaia River in Pskov, how he got into a boat, then realized the "boatman" was not a man but a woman, Olga, "very beautiful, young, and brave." Since his "passions were kindled," Igor proceeded to act on his desires and "uttered shameless words to her." As one does.

Sources vary widely when providing a date of birth for Olga--many standard references, like the Encyclopedia Britannica, suggest the year "c. 890" for her birth, this date also offered by Michael C. Paul, in his recent biographical essay. If we accept this date, Olga would have been about thirteen at the time of her marriage to Igor.

After her brief mention in the twelfth-century chronicle, Olga's name disappears until the entry for 945, when Igor is killed by the Derevilians, whom he had attacked because they had lots of great stuff--his "retinue" had told Igor that the Derevilians were "adorned with fine weapons and raiment," and they urged Igor to go "after tribute." He did, and he was killed.

Then the chronicle return to the woman whom Igor had married decades earlier, Olga. She was in Kiev with her son, a two-year-old boy named Svyatoslav. According to the Primary Chronicle, the Derevilians hatched a plot after murdering Igor: "See, we have killed the Prince of Rus'. Let us take his wife Olga for our Prince Mal, and then we shall obtain possession of Svyatoslav, and work our will upon him."

They sent their twenty best men to Kiev, where Olga was waiting to receive them. She received the Derevilians with gracious words. When they delivered their offer, she replied, "Your proposal is pleasing to me; indeed, my husband cannot rise again from the dead. But I desire to honor you tomorrow in the presence of my people. Return now to your boat, and remain there with an aspect of arrogance. I shall send for you on the morrow, and you shall say, 'We will not ride on horses nor go on foot; carry us in our boat.' And you shall be carried in your boat."

Of course Olga was not at all pleased by the prospect of marrying Prince Mal. The chronicle goes into some detail about just what she had in mind for the men who had killed her husband--which is interesting, since the chronicle has passed over decades of Olga's life after her marriage to Igor without mentioning her at all. But the chronicle explains at length her plan for revenge. In short, Olga sets a trap, and the Derelians in their boat are buried alive. 

In one of her acts of vengeance, 
Olga burns some Derelians alive in a bathhouse
(from the fifteenth-century Radziwill Chronicle)

But this is just the first act of her terrible vengeance. The chronicle goes on for pages regaling its readers with details about Olga's brutal campaign against her enemies. About all this, historian Michael C. Paul notes, "the accounts of the vengeance Olga wrought on the Derevlians are probably not historically accurate; rather, they are hagiographic devices representing her behavior after baptism, demonstrating how Christianity tempered her pagan barbarism."

Aside from wreaking vengeance on her enemies, Olga began ruling Kievan Rus' on behalf of her son. According to the chronicle, she established laws, "collected tribute," and set up trading posts. Interestingly, the ruler's personal role in the collection of taxes seem to have caused a lot of resentment, particularly in Igor's case, so one of Olga's innovations was establishing a system of tax collectors. Returning to "her city of Kiev: in 947,  she "dwelt at peace with it." 

During her years as regent for her son, Olga "set about reforming the governmental structure" of Kiev. In The Czars, James P. Duffy and Vincent L. Ricci write that she "had little interest in expanding the state," but she did preserve it, putting down rebellions and "recaptur[ing] lands lost during her husband's reign." By the time her son assumed his reign in 962, when Olga resigned as regent, she had not only "restored his domain to roughly the same borders" it had had at the time of Oleg's death, but she had put into place for her son a "well-organized government." 

In the mean time, about the year 955, Olga traveled to Constantinople--a city her husband had besieged (twice). Emperor Constantine VII was smitten, at least according to the Russian Primary Chronicle: "when he saw that she was very fair of countenance and wise as well, the Emperor wondered at her intellect. He conversed with her and remarked that she was worthy to reign with him in his city." 

Olga, however, reminded the emperor that she was a pagan--so she was soon being instructed by the patriarch of Constantinople: "He taught her the doctrine of the Church, and instructed her in prayer and fasting, in almsgiving, and in the maintenance of chastity." She was baptized jointly by the patriarch and the emperor. 

After Olga's baptism, the emperor suggested that Olga marry him, but Olga is as intelligent as she is keen for vengance. "How can you marry me," she asks him, reminding him that during the baptismal ceremony, he had referred to her as his "daughter" in faith. The emperor recognizes he has been "outwitted," and sends her off home, "still calling her his daughter," with "many gifts of gold, silver, silks, and various vases."

I haven't been able to find a map
of Kievan Rus' under Olga,
but this map of the eleventh-century
state is a way to see the geographical
location and extent of the territory

Once back in Kiev, Olga tried her best to convert her son, but she was unsuccessful. There were already Christians in Kiev, but Svyatoslav was not interested, though he did not persecute them: according to the chronicle, "when any man wished to be baptized, he was not hindered, but only mocked."

As soon as Svyatoslav attained his majority, he was off to war. He "collected a numerous and valiant army," undertaking "many campaigns." During his absences, presumably, Olga once again acted on her son's behalf, though the chronicle is silent about that. 

However, when Kiev is besieged 968, Olga "shut herself up in the city" with her three grandsons. (The chronicle is also silent about when Svyatoslav might have married, when these children were born, and who their mother or mothers might be.) The siege is brutal, the inhabitants of the city suffering greatly, but Olga and her three grandsons are eventually rescued. Hearing of the suffering of the city (he receives a note from Kiev accusing him of "neglect"), Svyatoslav returns, "kiss[ing] his mother and children and regrett[ing] what they had suffered."

Svyatoslav tells his mother that he no longer wants to live in Kiev, preferring to move his government to the city of Pereyaslavets, because of its central location in his "realm." Olga does not want to go, and she laments that her son wants to leave her--she was, in the words of the chronicle, "in precarious health." She begged him to wait until she died before he left so that he could bury her. 

Three days later, in 969, Olga of Kiev died. 

In 972, Svytasoslav died, succeeded by his son eldest son, Yarapolk, though a civil war soon broke out, turning him against his brothers. Yarapolk killed one of his brothers, but when he died in 978, he was succeeded by his surviving brother, Vladimir. 

In 988, Olga's grandson, Vladimir "the Great," converted to Christianity. It took him a while--he remained a pagan, enjoying 800 concubines (reportedly) as well as several wives, and building temples to numerous gods. Finally, however, he decided to convert--because he wanted to marry a Byzantine princess, and he couldn't do that if he were a pagan. So Vladimir converted and married Anna, daughter of Romanos II and sister of the emperors Basil II and Constantine VIII. She wasn't thrilled about it. 

Michael Paul notes that Olga was "probably not formally canonized until the fourteenth century." In 1547 she was formally canonized by the Orthodox church and designated as Isapóstolos, "equal to the apostles." Her feast day is 11 July, conventionally accepted as the date of her death.

The Russian Primary Chronicle calls Olga of Kiev the "precursor of the Christian land" that Kievan Rus' would become, "even as the day-spring precedes the sun and as the dawn precedes the day."

Beatrice of Lorraine, Regent of Tuscany

Beatrice of Lorraine, marchioness and regent of Tuscany (died 18 April 1076)

Before his death in 855 (and after decades of rebellion and instability within the Frankish empire that had once been ruled by Charlemagne), the Carolingian emperor Lothair I divided his kingdom among his three sons--the northern third was given to Lothair II. This region, known as Lotharingen (in German) or Lotharii regnum (in Latin, "Lothair's kingdom"), would ultimately become known as Lorraine. 

Beatrice of Lorraine,
from a twelfth-century manuscript of

Donizo's Vita Mathildis

(Vatican Library,

Codex Vat. Lat. 4922, fol. 30v)

In this act of partition, Lothair I followed a divsion of territory that had occurred after the death of his father, Louis I, "the Pious." Louis was the only surviving son of Charlemagne, inheriting the entirety of the Carolingian empire after his father's death in 814. But during his tumultuous rule, he faced a series of civil wars (he had four rebellious sons by two different wives). 

After his death and yet another civil war, an attempt was made to settle the conflicts among his three sons. By the terms of the Treaty of Verdun (843), the empire was divided: Middle Francia was inherited by Lothair, East Francia, by Louis "the German," and West Francia. by Charles "the Bald." (No territory needed to be given to Louis' fourth rebellious son, Pepin, who had predeceased his father.)

And so, as Lothair I approached his death--after years of further unrest--he too attempted to solve conflicts by means of partition. He divided Middle Francia, the portion of the empire he had inherited following the Treaty of Verdun. The Treaty of Prüm (855) did not establish peace, however, and the result was further instability and conflict. 

It was by the terms of this agreement that Lothair II inherited what would become known as Lorraine from his father.* Lothair II would marry twice, but his "marital" history was more than a bit complicated. Although he had several children (at least two sons) by his second "wife," Waldrada, they were all declared illegitimate. Thus, when Lothair II died in 869, the succession was disputed, with control of Lorraine swinging between his two uncles, Louis the German and Charles the Bald.

In 870, by the terms of the Treaty of Mersen, Lorraine was once again partitioned, this time along slightly different lines. (And, interestingly, one of Lothair II's "illegitimate" sons, Hugh, got the duchy of Alsace under the deal.)

But conflict continued until 925, when the Germany king Henry I conquered Lorraine, establishing the kingdom as a duchy under German control. In 953, Henry I's son and successor, Otto I, deposed his rebellious son-in-law as duke of Lorraine and handed the title off to his own younger brother, Bruno. As archbishop of Cologne, Bruno did not marry and have children, but he did have two important feudal commanders to support him in Lorraine, Frederick, count of Bar, and Godfrey, count of Hainault.

In 959, Bruno, divided Lorraine, creating Upper and Lower Lorraine. Control of Upper Lorraine and the title of margrave were given to Frederick. After Bruno's death in 965, Frederick became duke of Upper Lorraine, and it was Upper Lorraine that was inherited by his grandson, Frederick II--who was Beatrice of Lorraine's father. 

All of this just to get us through something of Beatrice of Lorraine's paternal background! 

As for Beatrice of Lorraine's mother. About the year 1012 or 1013, Frederick married Matilda of Swabia, a woman with her own relationship to the conflicts of this tumultuous geography. There had been some dispute about the validity of Matilda's first marriage, said to be consanguinous, though the couple remained together despite condemnation by the church.** After the death of her first husband, Matilda married Frederick despite very similar objections, that the two were too closely related to enter into a valid marriage. (Like her husband, Matilda of Swabia was a descendant of Charlemagne.)

Nevertheless, Frederick II and Matilda remained married and had three children: Sophie (born c. 1013-1018), Beatrice (born in Mantua c. 1013-1026), and Frederick (born c. 1017-1020). As you can see from the range of dates I've offered here, the birthdates--and, thus, birth order--of these children are not clear. Various dates and orders of birth are suggested by sources.

The seal of Beatrice of Lorraine
(reproduced in Nora Duff's Matilda of Tuscany,
La gran donna d'Italia)
 

Whatever the dates of their birth, the three children were still very young when their father died about the year 1026. Frederick's son succeeded his father as Frederick III, duke of Upper Lorraine, though I have found very little information about him. He seems to have died in 1033 because his sister Sophie inherited the county of Bar from him in that year. 

Meanwhile, after Frederick II's death and his son's succession, both Sophie and Beatrice were sent to the imperial household of the Holy Roman Emperor--their mother Matilda of Swabia's sister, Gisela, was married to Emperor Conrad III. (The marriage of Gisela and Conrad was also disputed because of their consanguinity--sheesh.) At the imperial court, the two girls were "nourished" by their aunt.

Matilda of Swabia was known to be at the imperial court with her sister and her children in 1030, but she died some time before January 1034. Her two daughters, Sophie and Beatrice, now "orphans," were "adopted" by their aunt.

It was at the imperial court of Conrad II and Gisela that a marriage was arranged for Beatrice with the the most powerful nobleman in northern Italy, Boniface of Canossa. From his father, Boniface had inherited the cities and counties of Mantua, Modena, Reggio, Parma, and Ferrara, among others. From his mother, he had inherited parts of Tuscany, including territory in and around Florence, Lucca, Pisa, Pistoia. Boniface supported the Holy Roman Empire in its various expeditions in northern Italy, and in 1027 Conrad awarded Boniface the lordship of Tuscany. 

In 1036, when Boniface attended the marriage of Conrad and Gisela's son, he seems to have met Beatrice. Recently widowed and childless, the fifty-two-year-old Boniface was soon married to Beatrice, then about seventeen years old, but perhaps a bit younger. In addition to her imperial connections, Beatrice brought her inheritance in Lorraine to the marriage: she was dame du château de Briey and "heiress of the lordships of Stenay, Mouzay, Juvigny, Longlier and Orval, all in the northern part of her family's ancestral lands."

After a magnificent marriage ceremony, Boniface and Beatrice took up residence in the ducal castle in Mantua, where the couple's "homecoming" was celebrated with lavish banquets and entertainments. Their court was known for its "brilliance and culture." 

Little documentation about Beatrice survives from the period, but during the years of her marriage, she seems to have spent most of her time in and around Canossa--there are references to her in Bologna (1040), Ferrara (1042), Mantua (1044), and Luca (1044).

During these years, Beatrice gave birth to three children. As with her natal family, the birth order and dates of birth of Beatrice's children are variously given, with only Matilda of Canossa's birthdate, 1046, generally agreed on. This year is derived from the epic poem about her life, Vita Mathildis, written by the monk Donizo of Canossa, who says Matilda was sixty-nine years old when she died in 1115. In addition to Matilda, Beatrice gave birth to a son, Frederick of Canossa (referred to in some chonicle sources, confusingly, as Boniface), and a third child, probably a daughter named Beatrice of Canossa, though some early chronicles indicate this child was also a boy, a younger son, "Beatricio." 

Boniface maintained his strong relations with the Holy Roman Empire after Conrad II's death in 1036, and received further territories, including Spoleto and Camerino, for his support for Conrad's son and successor, Henry III. In 1046, he hosted Henry, on his way to be crowned as emperor. But ultimately their relationship broke down, and the emperor may (or may not) have played a role in Boniface's assassination in 1052.

Boniface's son, Frederick, succeeded his father, with Beatrice of Lorraine assuming the role of regent for him. To protect his inheritance--to preserve what she could of Frederick II's lands and titles (as well as her own)--the widowed Beatrice needed to act quickly. In the words of a contemporary chronicler, Beatrice, having lost the protection of her husband, needed to find a new protector (Destitutam se priori marito desolatae domui patronuni paravisse). And so, Beatrice quickly married her cousin, Godfrey III, duke of Lorraine, probably in 1053.*** 

The marriage of Beatrice and Godfrey had, however, taken place without the permission of the emperor, Henry III, against whom Godfrey had already rebelled. Traveling to Florence in 1055 for a meeting with the pope, the emperor had Beatrice arrested--she and her daughter Matilda, then about ten years old, were taken as a prisoner to Germany. Her son, Frederick, remained in Tuscany. (It isn't clear whether Beatrice's third child was still alive at this point.)

But Frederick III did not survive for long, and it was rumored that the emperor had had both Frederick and Beatrice's third child killed, leaving only Matilda of Canossa as heir to Frederick II. (Beatrice of Lorraine would make a donation to the abbey of Santa Maria de Fenonica for the souls of of her husband, Boniface, her son, and her daughter, so perhaps that solves the question of her third child's sex).

As for Godfrey, he assumed control of Tuscany in the right of his wife and Matilda. The emperor died suddenly in October of 1056, succeeded by his son, Henry, a minor. The boy's mother, Agnes of Poitou, was appointed to act as the boy's guardian and regent--and she rather quickly reconciled with Godfrey of Lorraine. Beatrice and Matilda were released and reunited with Godfrey, who was recognized as margrave of Tuscany.

Beatrice of Lorraine, her husband, and her daughter, Matilda, were all in Rome in 1059, celebrating celebrating the election of Pope Nicholas II. Indeed, Beatrice played a role in three papal elections over the course of just a few years, those of Stephen IX (1057), Nicholas II (1059), and Alexander II (1061). Historian Valerie Eads notes that these elections were accompanied by a "turbulence" in Rome and that Beatrice "played an active role" in maintaining the peace, protecting the elections, and opposing the anti-popes supported by the empire. 

After 1060, Godfrey returned to Lorraine, leaving Beatrice in Italy, though the two were together again in Rome in 1062 and 1063. During these years, Beatrice took an active rold in papal politics and reform as well as governing Tuscany on behalf of her daughter. In November 1069, Beatrice returned to Lorraine with her husband and daughter, but by December Godfrey III of Lorraine lay dying. Before his death, Beatrice arranged for her daughter, Matilda, to be married to Godfrey's son, another Godfrey (he would succeed his father as Godfrey IV).****

Beatrice of Lorraine,

from a 14th century manuscript of 

Donizo's Vita Mathildis

(Biblioteca Panizzi, MS Turri E52)

Beatrice remained loyal to her second husband, commemorating their marriage in a seal (reproduced above) dating to 1073. The legend reads, "May you always be happy, dear Godfrey, Beatrix" (Sis semper felix, Gotfredo cara, Beatrix). But the younger Godfrey and Beatrice's daughter, Matilda, were not well matched, and after the birth and death of a daughter in 1071, Matilda left her husband and rejoined her mother.

Although Matilda of Tuscany was by now fully old enough to rule in her own name, Beatrice continued to exercise power as "dux of Tuscany." In her entry on Beatrice of Lorraine in the Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, Margherita Giuliana Bertolini details Beatrice's "jurisdictional activity" (attività giurisdizionale) involving ecclesiastical institutions in the years from 1070 through 1076 in various locations, including Florence, Lucca, Siena, Perugia, Arezzo, and Pisa. Interestingly, given her past involvement in papal politics, Beatrice appears not to have played a role in the 1073 papal election of Gregory VII--she received news of the election by letter. 

During these years Beatrice also founded and endowed a number of religious institutions, including monasteries,  churches, and hospitals, in Siena, Arezzo, Luca, Florence, Parma, and Mantua, among other places (these are detailed by Bertolini).

Beatrice's daughter, Matilda of Tuscany, never reconciled with her husband, Godfrey. He was assassinated on 27 February 1076 while fighting on behalf of the Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV during what has become known as the Investiture Controversy--for her part, Matilda supported papal power against imperial power. 

On 18 April 1076, just two months after the death of her son-in-law (and stepson), Beatrice of Lorraine died. When he came to write his great epic poem about the life of Matilda of Tuscany, the Italian monk Donizo of Canossa noted the pivotal role that Beatrice had played during her lifetime: "She persuaded [the emperor] to peace with love for the pope, / And the the pious pope for love of the king" (Pontificis pacem regem suadebat amore / Atque pium papam de regis amore rogabat, quoted by Bertolini--my Latin is really bad these days, so I hope this translation is close).

The tomb of Beatrice of Lorraine,
Camposanto, Pisa

Beatrice of Lorraine was buried in a Roman sarcophagus in the cathedral church of Pisa, her burial arranged by her daughter. Her tomb was relocated inside the church in the fourteenth century, and then moved to its current location, in the Camposanto, in the nineteenth century. (For an excellent analysis of the tomb and its construction, click here.)

Letters from and to Beatrice of Lorraine are available at Epistolae: Medieval Women's Latin Letters (click here).

There is a full-length biography of Beatrice of Lorraine, Elke Goetz's Beatrix von Canossa und Tuszien :Eine Untersuchung zur Geschichte des 11. Jahrhunderts (1995).

 

*For Paul B. Pixton's summary of all this, in Medieval Germany: An Encyclopedia, click here.

**Canon law concerned itself with the blood relationships among those who would marry. For a discussion of consanguinity as an impediment to a valid marriage, click here.

***Godfrey III, "the Bearded," duke of Lower Lorraine, was a member of the house of Ardennes-Verdun, Beatrice of the house of Ardennes-Bar. In her entry on Beatrice of Lorraine in the Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, Margherita Giuliana Bertolini notes that after the death of Frederick II of Upper Lorraine in 1033, the House of Ardennes-Bar became "extinct," and  Gothelo, duke of Lower Lorraine, of the house of Ardennes-Verdun, was invested with Upper Lorraine, uniting the once-divided territories. After Gothelo's death, his son Godfrey eventurally succeeded to his father's role ("eventually" because there had been conflict and rebellion). Notably, Bertolini suggests that Godfrey had "probably" (probabile) administered Beatrice's holdings (dei beni) in Upper Lorraine. 

****Godfrey IV was the son of Godfrey III's first wife, Doda.

Barbara of Cilli: Queen, Empress, Regent

Barbara of Cilli, queen of Hungary and Bohemia, empress of the Holy Roman Empire, and regent of Hungary (died 11 July 1451)

The daughter of Herman II, count of Celje (a city in what is today Slovenia), and Anna of Schaunberg, Barbara of Cilli would become "one of the most powerful and influential women in fifteenth-century central Europe." Her recent biographer writes that Barbara of Cilli "is one of the most remarkable historical female personalities of the Middle Ages," a figure who became part legend, part myth, and part of the national folklore. 

Barbara of Cilli, from the
fifteenth-century Nuremberg Chronicle

Very little is known of Barbara's early life. Although her date of birth is conjectural, Daniela Dvořáková indicates that Barbara was probably born in 1392.

Dvořáková also notes that "how" Barbara was raised and "who" oversaw her childhood are both unknown. Nevertheless she asserts that Barbara of Cilli must "undoubtedly" have "received an excellent education."

Barbara's father was an influential landholder and a supporter of Sigismund of Luxembourg, the man who would become his son-in-law. I've written about Sigismund before--his first wife was Mary of Hungary, and Sigismund fought long to secure his marriage to her and then to ensure her rights to inherit the crown of Hungary. Even after the pair were crowned, Sigismund struggled to maintain Mary's role as queen--as for his own position in Hungary, that was even more difficult. 

After Queen Mary of Hungary's early death in 1395--she was in her twenties and pregnant--Sigismund's role as king was disputed. He was king consort, not king--that is, he had been king of Hungary by marriage, not in his own right, by inheritance. 

To bolster his claims in Hungary, Sigismund settled on another bride, but before his marriage to Maragaret of Brieg could be made, he was imprisoned. He was freed in time to lead a Christian force against the Turks and to suffer a disastrous military defeat in 1396. Returning to Hungary, he was again imprisoned, but this time he had the support of Herman of Celje. A condition of Herman's effort on behalf of Sigismund seems to have included Sigismund's marriage Herman's daughter, Barbara of Cilli.

And so, in 1401, Sigismund was released from prison and betrothed to Barbara. Her family connections improved Sigismund's position in Hungary: Sigismund's first wife, Mary of Hungary, and his second, Barbara of Cilli, were cousins--although the origins of Herman's mother are unclear, she was closely related to Mary of Hungary's mother, Elizabeth of Bosnia. Another of Barbara's cousins,  Anna of Cilli, became the queen of Poland in 1402, when she married Jogaila of Lithuania (later known as Władysław II Jagiełło)--Jogaila was the widower of Jadwiga, queen of Poland. After Jadwiga's death, Jogaila had maintained his position as king of Poland, and he offered another important source of support for Sigismund.

Sigismund and Barbara of Cilli were married on 24 May 1405. After years of tumult and conflict, Sigismund finally found his fortunes changing. Following his marriage, he managed to retain the crown of Hungary, holding on to it until his death in 1437. In 1410, he was elected king of the Romans and Germans, he became king of Bohemia in 1419, and was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 1433. 

As for Barbara, she was crowned queen of Hungary in 1405 and served as regent there during Sigismund's absences. She was crowned queen of the Romans and Germans in 1414, Holy Roman Empress in 1433, and queen of Bohemia in 1437. She also gave birth to the couple's only child, Elizabeth, on 28 February 1409.

From the mid-fifteenth century

Chronik des Konzils von Konstanz

(Österreichische Nationalbibliothek)--
the lower panel shows the entry of

Barbara of Cilli into the Council of Constance 

(her daughter Elizabeth is behind her in the procession)

Together, Sigismund and Barbara founded the Order of the Dragon in 1408, a chivalric order dedicated to the defeat of the Turks, the defense of Hungary, and the defense of Christianity. Barbara was regent of Hungary from 1411-14 and again from 1431-34, governing with powers "markedly exceed[ing] the practice of the era." In addition to serving as regent for her husband, Barbara attended the Council of Constance with him in 1414-5 and appeared in imperial diets in 1420, 1422, and 1429. Charters were issued in her name, she administered the collection of taxes, and she settled disputes that were brought to her.

Barbara also acquired significant properties during her marriage, assets that were developed and grown through her own "economic and financial policy." 

Although her "huge fortune" and her political power were used in support of Sigismund, Barbara's wealth and influence made her the subject of venomous attacks. While accusations about her infidelity did not seem to affect her relationship with her husband, the libels of her contemporaries shaped images of Barbara of Cilli as a "Black Queen," linked not only to sexual depravity and heresy but to practicing alchemical magic, the drinking of human blood, and keeping a harem full of women. 

By the seventeenth century, her reputation had been fixed:

[Sigismund's] consort Barbara was a German Messalina, a woman of insatiable appetite for lust; at the same time so heinous that she did not believe in God and neither angel nor devil, neither heaven nor hell. How she scolded her maidservants when they fasted and prayed, that they were agonizing their bodies and worshipped a fictional god: she on the other hand admonishes . . . that they should make use of all the pleasures of this life, because after this one, there is no other to hope for. (trans. Sara Katanec)

Although the scurrilous accusations about Barbara's infidelity may not have been the cause, there was some kind of disagreement between the couple in 1419. Her biographer, Daniela Dvořáková, suggests that Barbara of Cilli's independence and her "individual decisions" may have been the source of the rift. The two were ultimately reconciled, however, and Barbara's court was re-established and her control of her income fully restored. Whatever the nature of the problem between them may have been, by 1424 Barbara received further grants and territories from her husband.

Meanwhile, in 1421, Barbara of Cilli's daughter, Elizabeth, was betrothed to the Habsburg Albert II, duke of Austria. At the time of the engagement, Elizabeth's position as the sole heir to the crown of Hungary was affirmed. (For the sad end of all that, click here.) The two were married the next year, in 1422.

Barbara continued as her husband's financial manager, diplomatic negotiator, and political advisor throughout the 1420s and 1430s, her "power over Sigismund" widely recognized by their contemporaries. But as Sigismund lay dying, in 1437, Albert decided his mother-in-law offered a challenge to his own interests. He confiscated many of her possessions in Hungary, and after Sigismund's death, he had her imprisoned. Barbara of Cilli was ultimately able to find protection at the court of the Polish king. (In the years since their marriage in 1402, both Anne of Cilli and Jogaila had died--the new Polish king, Ladislaus III, was the son of Jogaila and his fourth wife.) 

A fifteenth-century depiction of

Barbara of Cilli. from Konrad

Kyeser, Bellifortis

(Besançon, France,

Bibliothèque municipale, Ms. 1360) 

After Albert's death in 1439, Barbara of Cilli went to Bohemia, where she was the dower queen and where she had maintained lands originally given to her by Sigismund. She died there, of the plague, on 11 July 1451.

Unfortunately, a great deal of the scholarship on Barbara of Cilli is inaccessible, at least to me--much of the original work is in German, Croatian, and Slovenian, and while there seems to be a great deal of interest, particularly archival work and reassessments of Barbara of Cilli's role in fifteenth-century politics, I am handicapped as a reader. 

The one recent biography in English is also, unfortunately, largely inaccessible--Daniela Dvořáková's Barbara of Cilli (1392-1451): A Hungarian, Holy Roman, and Bohemian Queen, trans. David McLean, is so expensive I don't know who can afford to read it. It's so expensive that I doubt many academic libraries would purchase a copy. The book's publisher, Brill, does not provide a sample to read on Amazon, and not even a snipper view is available via Google Books. 

Dvořáková's "The Economic Background to and the Financial Politics of Queen Barbara of Cilli in Hungary," in Roman Zaoral's Money and Finance in Central Europe during the Later Middle Ages, is more accessible and is the source I've quoted from here. (This book is also extremely expensive, but at least some of it can be found via Google Books.)

The most helpful account of Barbara of Cilli I have found is found in Sara Katanec's M.A. thesis, "The Perquisite of a Late Medieval Wedding: Barbara of Cilli's Acquisition of Wealth, Power, ad Lands." I've linked to this thesis in numberous places, above, and although Katanec notes that hers is a "limited" study of Barbara, it includes an invaluable survey of Barbara of Cilli's reputation among chroniclers and historians, from the fifteenth century through today.

I do not usually link to Wikipedia in my posts here--not because there are not excellent essays to be found there, but because anyone can find them, and I like to point readers in directions that they may not otherwise find. But I will note here that the Wikipedia entry for Barbara of Cilli is excellent.

A two-Euro commemorative coin,
issued in 2014 on the occasion of 
the 600th anniversary Barbara of Cilli's coronation 

Violant of Bar, "Queen Lieutenant" of Aragon

Violant (Yolande) of Bar, queen of Aragon  (died 3 July 1431)

Violant of Bar, or Yolande, as she was then, was born about the year 1365, one of eleven children born to Robert I of Bar, and Marie of France, who was the daughter of John, duke of Normandy, and his first wife, Bonne of Luxembourg.*

Violant's paternal family controlled the territory of Barrois, in Lorraine. In 1350, a year after the death of Marie’s mother, John, Duke of Normandy, became king of France, as John II; in 1354, the new king raised the status of Bar from that of county to that of duchy. King John died in 1364, succeeded on the French throne by his son, Charles. In the same year, 1364, the new king's sister, Marie of France, married Robert, no longer count, but duke, of Bar. Whew.

Violant, queen of Aragon,

from Alonso de Cartagena's

Liber genealogiae regum Hispanie

Born the year after her uncle became king of France, Violant spent much of her first fifteen years at the his court, where she received what seems to have been an excellent education. She was, as Dawn E. Price writes, "literate," "multilingual," and an "ardent" bibliophile; her surviving correspondence not only "forms one of the largest epistolary collections by a woman in medieval Spain" but is a testament as well to Violant's education and to her ongoing interest in religion, philosophy, secular literature, and politics.

On 2 February 1380, Violant of Bar was married to Joan, duke of Girona, the eldest son of King Pere IV of Aragon. Despite her royal connections and her own accomplishments, Violant of Bar "entered her husband's family . . . as an unwelcome daughter in law," as one noted historian delicately phrases the situation.**

For Violant's new husband, this was a second marriage. The duke of Girona's first wife, Marta d'Armagnac, had given birth to five children, but only one, a daughter named Joana, survived infancy. Although the young Violant had no choice in the selection of her husband and no role in arranging this marriage, she wrote to her family after her arrival in Aragon that she was "well married as a queen" (bon maridada con reyna"). Despite her perceptions, King Pere would, as Price notes, continue to display "ill feeling towards the couple until his death."

Like her husband's first wife, Violant would also "fail" in her most important role as a wife, that of providing her husband with a male heir. Between her marriage in 1380 and the death of Joan, Violant would be pregnant eight times, but only her first-born child, Yolande of Aragon, born in 1381, would survive. Her second child, a son and heir, was born in 1384, but he died in 1388.

As duchess of Girona, Violant exercised considerable influence and "autonomy" in what Dawn Bratisch-Prince describes as "marital diplomacy." She involved herself in arranging marriages of members of her own family, of members of her household, and of those in her her husband's service. Although her son, Jaume, was only four years old at the time of his death, Violant's marriage negotiations for her son were underway with an agreement for him to marry the daughter of the king of Navarre. In 1392, Violant negotiated a marriage for her step-daughter, Joana Daroca, to the count of Foix, and for her own daughter, Yolande of Aragon, to Louis II, duke of Anjou and titular king of Naples (though this marriage was arranged in 1392, Yolande's marriage would not be finalized until 1400).

Meanwhile, in 1387, Joan succeeded to the throne of Aragon after his father's death. Now queen of Aragon, Violant is frequently depicted as something of a fun-loving, frivolous woman. In his extended treatment of Violant in Queens of Aragon: Their Lives and Times (1913), historian E. L. Miron describes "Doña Violante queening it over the Courts of Love," focusing on her love of troubadour poetry, song, and dance. Miron spends sixteen pages describing the Aragonese court's dedication to fashion, food, "extravagant pleasure," dramatic entertainments, and frivolity. 

As unlikely as Miron's account of Joan's reign sounds, it may not be far wrong. In his description of the Aragonese court at this time, Donald Kagay calls it a "temple of liberality," noting that the king was devoted not only to pleasure but to hunting and that "much of the revenue the king squeezed from his lands went to pay the salaries of his huntsmen and maintenance of his hawks and horses." 

There may have been lots of fun at the court of Aragon, but the years between Joan's accession and his death encompassed more for his wife than fun and games. In his History of Spain, Ulrich Burke notes that, while Joan was known as "the Indolent" or "the Sportsman," he was also quite ill and incapable of governing. And so, from 1388 until 1395, Violant served as "Queen-Lieutenant" for a king who was frequently incapacitated and unable to rule. 

Joan's reliance on Violant's political role no doubt contributed to the "waves of complaint" that "rippled across his lands"; according to one ambassador's account of the situation, "through the influence of his wife [the king] had betrayed himself, the government, and the republic." 

The increasing dissatisfaction and resistance to Joan--and to the part his wife played in the kingdom--came to an abrupt end in when Joan died on 13 May 1396. Too ill, too feeble, or too indolent to rule, Joan of Aragon died while he was out hunting--he fell from his horse.

Violant tried to maintain her position in Aragon after her husband's death--perhaps she hoped to become a regent for her daughter, Yolande, who might succeed to the throne. Instead, the crown went to Joan's brother, Martí, the guy who had had no trouble at all marrying his niece. He was kept busy in Sicily, trying to protect his interests there, but his wife, Maria de Luna, was in Barcelona when Joan died. She assumed the role of Queen-Lieutenant for her husband until he could arrive in Aragon.

For her part, Violant claimed to be pregnant, a claim that disrupted a smooth transition to a new king, since the widowed queen might give birth to the dead king's son and heir. Perhaps she was, perhaps she thought she was--or perhaps her claim was an act of desperation. Whatever the case, it did not buy Violant much time. She was put under careful watch, surveilled by several attendants, and her allies and supporters were arrested or expelled from court. And there was no posthumous birth. 

But Violant survived. She remained in Barcelona, with her daughter, who would not leave for her marriage to Louis II of Anjou until 1400. Nor did Violant give up her political ambitions. In 1411, when Martí died, Violant hoped to secure the throne for her grandson.*** She lobbied ambassadors and electors, even making the case herself to the Cortes. At least one source claims that her cousin, the king of France, offered her troops to help in her efforts. But she did not secure the throne for the boy. Failing that, after her brother's death at Agincourt in 1415, she claimed Bar for her grandson--in this, she was successful. 

Violant, queen of Aragon, was long noted primarily for her role as a patron of the arts--she was recognized for her cultural contributions, particular to literature and poetry. But more recent analysis, particularly of her voluminous correspondence, has recognized her political role, particularly in her diplomacy and her ameliorations of some of her husband's excesses and confrontations.****

The tomb of Violant, queen of Aragon,

and Joan, king of Aragon,

Royal Abbey of Santa Maria de Poblet

Violant, queen of Aragon,  remained in Barcelona until her death:

[D]uring her 35 years as a  widow, Violant continued to cultivate a larger-than-life image for herself and to demand special treatment from the Aragonese people, government officials, and ruling monarchs, for which she was known as somewhat of a political nuisance. She was fierce in her formal directness to those who crossed her. . . . She is quick to remind the king's servants of their feudal obligations, and even quicker to threaten retribution for wrongs done. . . .

This Queen Lieutenant died on 3 July 1431, at age sixty-six.

*At birth, she was Yolande, but in this post I have tried to follow the conventions for names that conform best to a confusing array of choices made by historians in English. After her marriage, Yolande became Violant; I've used Catalan forms not only for Violant, but also for her husband, Joan of Aragon (John), for her father-in-law, Pere III (Peter, Pedro), and for her brother-in-law, Martí, who will follow Joan onto the throne of Aragon. I apologize for any confusions and for all inconsistencies.

As for Yolande/Violant's maternal family--her father's name, Jean, or John, is simple enough. Her mother was named Jutta of Luxembourg; her father was John of Luxembourg, who became king of Bohemia after his marriage to Elizabeth of Bohemia. Although Jutta was born in Bohemia, she is known as Jutta "of Luxembourg," in recognition of her father's membership in the House of Luxembourg. After  marriage to Jean/Joan, her name was changed to Bonne. (At one point, by the way, Jutta had been betrothed to Robert of Bar's father, Henry!) 

**King Pere wanted his widowed son to marry Maria de Luna, queen of Sicily--who was his granddaughter and, thus, Joan's niece. Whether or not his close blood relationship had anything to do with Joan's refusal to marry Maria de Luna, Pere's second son, Martí, had no such qualms and married her. Traditional marriage again, huh?

***When he died, Martí had no legitimate heirs, and the Aragonese succession was disputed--after a two-year delay, which saw five claimants to the throne, the Compromise of Caspe saw the establishment of the Trastámara line of kings by placing Fernando of Castile, a grandson of Pere IV, on the throne. (Fernando's mother was Eleanor of Aragon, daughter of King Pere. 

****One of the more contentious issues involving Joan (and, thus, Violant) is the situation of the Jews in Aragon, and in particular a pogrom in Valencia in 1391. I particularly recommend Benjamin R. Gampel's Anti-Jewish Riots in the Crown of Aragon and the Royal Response, 1391-1392.

Adelaide of Burgundy, Empress, Regent, Saint

Adelaide of Burgundy, Empress and Regent of the Holy Roman Empire (died 16 December 999)

About the women in Adelaide of Burgundy's extended family--among them Adelaide's daughter-in-law, the Empress Theophanu, Adelaide's older daughter, Emma, queen of the Franks, and her younger daughter Mathilda, princess-abbess of Quedlinburg--historian Pauline Stafford writes, "A group of women played key roles in the last decade of the tenth century. . . ." They "ruled as regents for under-age males." They "met together . . . to debate important questions of succession and dynastic interralations." They were, "in every sense . . . a regiment of powerful women." (If only John Knox had known about this "monstrous" regiment!)

Nineteenth-century artist Abel Terral's 
entirely imagined portrait
of Adelaide of Burgundy

Chief among these powerful and influential women was Adelaide herself: queen, empress, regent of the empire, and saint.

The daughter of Rudolf II, king of Upper Burgundy, and Bertha of Swabia, Adelaide of Burgundy was born in the Frankish kingdom of Upper Burgundy (now Switzerland) in the year 931.

In the decade before Adelaide's birth, Rudolf had intervened in the politics of northern Italy, opposing the current ruler, Berengar I, king of Italy and emperor of the Romans. Invited by disaffected members of the nobility, Rudolf was himself crowned king of Italy in Pavia in 922. He defeated Berengar at the battle of Firenzuola d'Arda on 29 July 923, after which Rudolf ruled in both Upper Burgundy and in Italy (though he never became emperor).

But by 926, sentiment turned against him, and it was the turn of Hugh of Provence, Rudolf's former ally, to be invited by disaffected members of the nobility to intervene in Italian politics. Rudolf was eventually forced back to Upper Burgundy, while Hugh of Provence gained control in northern Italy. In 931, Hugh had his son, Lothair, crowned co-ruler of Italy, and to bolster his position, concluded a treaty with Rudolf--Rudolf gave up his claims in Italy, and Hugh ceded Provence to Rudolf. To secure their alliance, the two agreed to the marriage of Rudolf's daughter, Adelaide, to Hugh's son, Lothair.

But, surprise! After Rudolf's death in 937, his widow (and Adelaide's mother), Bertha, married Hugh of Provence. After her mother's remarriage, Adelaide was raised in Pavia, and on 12 December 947, when she was about fifteen years old, Adelaide of Burgundy was married to her step-brother, Lothair. She bore him a daughter, Emma, about a year later. With the death of Hugh of Provence (c. 948), Lothair became sole king of Italy, Adelaide his queen.

But just three years after their marriage, Lothair was dead (22 November 950), probably poisoned by Berengar II--the grandson of Berengar I. This Berengar had been actively seeking control of Italy for some time. He had fought against Hugh (who died in 947), and then against Lothair. After Lothair's death, Berengar assumed the title of king of Italy, named (and crowned) his son, Adalbert, as co-ruler, and aimed to consolidate his power in the territory by forcing the widowed Adelaide to marry his son.

A hair-raising account of Adelaide's situation is related by the tenth-century writer Hrotsvita of Gandersheim in her epic poem, Carmen de gestis Oddonis imperatoris (Poem of the Deeds of the Emperor Otto). In her words, Adelaide was "a woman illustrious in the comeliness of her queenly beauty and solicitous in affairs worthy of her character." She "possessed . . . pre-eminent natural abilities"--recognized by Lothair, who intended that the kingdom of Italy would be "ruled by the will of the eminent queen" after his death.

But because of their "vile treachery," a "certain faction of the populace, with perverted and hostile spirit," betrayed Lothair and Adelaide; after Lothair's death, they offered the kingdom instead to Berengar II, who had long "nursed" a "hatred" in his "baleful breast." Having seized the throne, he deprived Adelaide of her attendants and imprisoned her in Garda Castle. The indomitable young woman resisted, ultimately escaping her confinement--according to Hrostvita's account, Adelaide somehow managed to dig a "secret tunnel under the earth" (Hrostvita says this tunnel was dug "under the guidance of common prayer" and with the "support of the benevolent Christ").

However she managed it, by means of a secret tunnel or otherwise, Adelaide escaped from Berengar, avoided pursuit and recapture, and found refuge with Adalbert Atto, count of Canossa. When Berengar attempted to take Canossa by siege, Adelaide appealed to Otto, king of the Franks. 

Otto quickly saw the advantages of a marriage with Adelaide. One contemporary source indicates that Adelaide not only appealed to Otto for assistance but sent him a marriage proposal. Hrotsvita, however, attributes Otto's interest to his recognition of Adelaide's excellent qualities (and the convenient death of Otto's first wife, Edith of England): "with frequent ponderings of heart Otto remembered the distinguished Queen Adelaide, and longed to behold the queenly countenance of her whose excellence of character he already knew."

Whatever his motivation, Otto invaded northern Italy, entered Pavia, had himself crowned king of Italy, and sent for Adelaide, who left her refuge in Canossa and joined him. They were married on 23 September 951. 

Thirteenth-century sculptures
of Otto I and Adelaide,
Meissen Cathedral. 
I love his worried face!

Following her marriage, Adelaide, now queen of the Franks and queen of Italy, gave birth to two sons, who did not survive. Her third child, a daughter, was Mathilda, who would eventually become abbess of Quedlinburg. 

A third son, Otto, was born in 955. In 961, after the death of his elder step-brother, Otto was recognized as his father's heir and co-ruler. On 2 February 962, Otto was crowned emperor of the Romans as Otto I, and Adelaide herself crowned as empress. Five years later, in December 967, Adelaide's son, Otto (who would succeed his father as Otto II), was crowned co-emperor. 

During their marriage Adelaide "acted in partnership with Otto"; since he was so often on the battlefield, Adelaide's stable position in Rome seems to have made her a reliable, accessible agent able to act on her husband's behalf, though she seems also to have been able to act independently. As Edward Schoenfeld notes in his discussion of Adelaide, "decisions regarding Italy were made only with her consent," and she "exerted considerable influence on non-Italian affairs." She was greatly interested in religious issues as well: "She promoted Cluniac monasticism and strengthened the allegiance of the German church to the emperor, playing an important role in Otto I’s distribution of ecclesiastical privileges and participating in his Italian expeditions."

The extent of her influence is documented by her appearance in contemporary diplomatic records: "Adelaide is named in royal diplomata by both her husbands; during her marriage to Otto I, she intervened in 92 out of 289 extant diplomata, 29 times in Italy, 63 in Germany."

By 972, Adelaide's son, the sixteen-year-old Otto, had married the Byzantine noblewoman Theophanu. The younger Otto had not yet reached his full majority when Otto I died on 7 March 973, though his succession was uncontested, undoubtedly because of the presence of his mother, now dowager empress. She acted briefly as regent for the young couple after their accession.

While there seems to have been some conflict between Adelaide, her son, and her daughter-in-law (Adelaide "retired" to Upper Burgundy in 978), she did act as Otto's "viceroy" in Italy, and following her son's death in December 983, whatever the issues between her and Theophanu may have been, they were put aside. Adelaide supported Theophanu as she acted as regent for her son, another Otto, who at the age of three, succeeded his father as Otto III, Holy Roman emperor.

Theophanu governed as regent until her death in 991, after which the sixty-year-old Adelaide took over the role for her grandson. Four years later, Otto III reached his majority; he was crowned emperor at Rome on 21 May 996.

By contrast, check out her face!

After resigning her regency, Adelaide focused on founding a number of religious institutions, though her political role was not yet over. After the death of her brother, Conrad I, king of Burgundy, Adelheid traveled to Burgundy to shore up support for her nephew, Rudolf III. 

She died on 16 December 999 at Selz Abbey (Alsace), which she had founded in 991. She was canonized by Pope Urban II in 1097.

I've already linked to several online sources, above. In addition, you can read letters to and from Adelaide at Epistolae: Medieval Women's Latin Letters (click here). There are only two letters from Adelaide, but quite a few written to her, including a number from her daughter, Emma, queen of the Franks. 

For an academic study comparing Adelaide of Burgundy and Matilda of Tuscany, I recommend Penelope Nash's Empress Adelheid and Countess Matilda: Medieval Female Rulership and the Foundations of European Society. (A great deal of helpful introductory material, including a detailed timeline, is available from the publisher here.)

I'll make special note, too, of the edition of Hrotsvita's Deeds of the Emperor Otto, from which I've quoted, above. The English translation is by Sister Mary Bernardine Bergman, her Ph.D. dissertation (St. Louis University, 1942) published in 1943 by the Sisters of St. Benedict of Covington, Kentucky.

By the way, over the centuries, the abbey Adelaide founded suffered from a "millenial flood" (in 1307), was rebuilt, secularized (1481), Protestant-ized (1571), re-converted to Catholicism (1684), dissolved (1692), set on fire by Austrian troops (1793), rebuilt and "recreated" (1801), restored for the "anniversary" of Adelaide's death (1899), almost destroyed in World War II, and restored again in 1958.

Detail from sculpture,
Meissen Cathedral.
She looks like she'd be so much fun!