Matilda of Holstein

Matilda of Holstein

Queen consort of Denmark
Tenure	1250–1252
Coronation	1 November 1250

Born	1220/25
Died	1288 Kiel
Burial	Varnhem Abbey
Spouse	Abel of Denmark Birger Jarl
Issue	Valdemar III, Duke of Schleswig Sophia, Princess of Anhalt-Bernburg Eric I, Duke of Schleswig Abel, Lord of Langeland
House	House of Schauenburg
Father	Adolf IV, Count of Holstein
Mother	Heilwig of Lippe
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Matilda of Holstein or Mechthild (1220 or 1225 – 1288 in Kiel) was a Danish queen consort, married to King Abel of Denmark and later to Birger Jarl, Regent of Sweden.

Life

Matilda was the daughter of Adolf IV, Count of Holstein, and Heilwig of Lippe. On 25 April 1237 she was married to Abel of Denmark in Schleswig. The marriage was arranged to form a tie between Holstein and Sønderjylland. In 1239, Abel became the guardian of her minor brothers.

When Abel became king in 1250, she was crowned with him in Roskilde on 1 November. When Abel died in 1252, he was succeeded by his brother rather than her son Valdemar, who was imprisoned at Cologne at the time, and she was forced to leave Denmark and enter a convent.

She managed to get her son Valdemar released from the captivity of the Archbishop of Cologne and fought for the inheritance of her children in the Duchy of Schleswig. In 1253, she secured the Duchy of Sønderjylland for her son Valdemar.^[1]

In 1260, her son Valdemar died, and she secured the Duchy for her next son, Erik. The same year, however, she pawned the areas Eider and Schlei in southern Denmark to her brothers.

She made a pact with Jacob Erlandsen, archbishop of Lund, and then broke her vows of the convent by marrying the Swedish regent Birger Jarl in 1261. After the death of Birger in 1266, she moved to Kiel.

In 1288, shortly before her death, she gave up Eider and Schlei to her brothers. She was unpopular in Denmark, where she was called the "daughter of the Devil"^[2] and accused of destroying letters from the Pope and emperor to King Valdemar II.^[3]

Issue

Queen Matilda bore her first husband three sons and a daughter:

Valdemar III (1238–1257); Duke of Schleswig 1254–1257
Sophie (born 1240, date of death unknown)
Eric I (c. 1241 – 27 May 1272); Duke of Schleswig 1260–1272
Abel (1252–1279)

Ancestry

Ancestors of Matilda of Holstein

16. Adolf I, Count of Holstein

8. Adolf II, Count of Holstein

17. Hildewa

4. Adolf III, Count of Holstein

18. Sizzo III, Count of Schwarzburg-Käfernburg

9. Mechthild of Schwarzburg

18. Gisela of Berg

2. Adolf IV, Count of Holstein

20. Burchard I of Querfurt, Burgrave of Magdeburg

10. Burchard II of Querfurt, Burgrave of Magdeburg

5. Adelheid of Querfurt

22. Lambert I, Count of Tonna

11. Mathilde of Gleichen

1. Matilda of Holstein

24. Herman I, Lord of Lippe

12. Bernhard II, Lord of Lippe

6. Hermann II, Lord of Lippe

26. Otto, Count of Are-Hostaden

13. Heilwig of Are-Hostaden

27. Adelheid of Hostaden

3. Heilwig of Lippe

28. Henry I, Count of Tecklenburg

14. Simon I, Count of Tecklenburg

29. Eilika of Oldenburg

7. Oda of Tecklenburg

30. Eberhard I, Count of Berg-Altena

15. Oda of Berg-Altena

31. Adelheid of Arnsberg

References

↑ Dansk Biografisk Leksikon
↑ Dansk Biografisk Leksikon
↑ Dansk Biografisk Leksikon

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Matilda of Holstein.

Dansk Biografisk Lexikon, volume 11, pp. 205–206, Copenhagen 1897
Annales Stadenses 1237–1241, MGH SS XVI, sida 363–367

Danish royalty
Matilda of Holstein House of Schauenburg Born: 1220s Died: 1288
Preceded by Jutta of Saxony	Queen consort of Denmark 1250–1252	Succeeded by Margaret Sambiria

Danish royal consorts

Henri de Laborde de Monpezat (1972–present) Ingrid of Sweden (1947–1972) Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1912–1947) Louise of Sweden (1906–1912) Louise of Hesse-Kassel (1863–1898) Caroline Amalie of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (1839–1848) Marie Sophie of Hesse-Kassel† (1808–1839) Caroline Matilda of Great Britain† (1766–1775) Juliana Maria of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel† (1752–1766) Louise of Great Britain† (1746–1751) Sophia Magdalene of Brandenburg-Kulmbach† (1730–1746) Anne Sophie Reventlow† (1721–1730) Louise of Mecklenburg-Güstrow† (1699–1721) Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel† (1670–1699) Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1648–1670) Anne Catherine of Brandenburg† (1597–1612) Sophie of Mecklenburg-Güstrow† (1572–1588) Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg† (1534–1559) Sophie of Pomerania† (1523–1533) Isabella of Austria†‡ (1515–1523) Christina of Saxony†‡ (1481–1513) Dorothea of Brandenburg†‡ (1445–1448 & 1449–1481) Philippa of England†‡ (1406–1430) Helvig of Schleswig (1340–1374) Elizabeth of Holstein-Rendsburg (1330–1331) Euphemia of Pomerania (1326–1330) Ingeborg Magnusdotter of Sweden (1296–1319) Agnes of Brandenburg (1273–1286) Margaret Sambiria (1252–1259) Matilda of Holstein (1250–1252) Jutta of Saxony (1239–1250) Eleanor of Portugal (1229–1231) Berengaria of Portugal (1214–1221) Dagmar of Bohemia (1205–1213) Gertrude of Bavaria (1182–1197) Sophia of Minsk (1157–1182) Helena of Sweden (1156–1157) Adela of Meissen (1152–1157) Lutgard of Salzwedel (1144–1146) Malmfred of Kiev† (1134–1137) Ulvhild Håkansdotter‡ (1130–1134) Margaret Fredkulla† (1104–1130) Boedil Thurgotsdatter (1095–1103) Ingegerd of Norway‡ (1086–1095) Adela of Flanders (1080–1086) Margareta Hasbjörnsdatter (1076–1080) Gunnhildr Sveinsdóttir‡ (1050–1052) Gyda of Sweden (1048–1049) Emma of Normandy† (1017–1035) Sigrid the Haughty/Świętosława/Gunhild of Wenden†‡ Tove of the Obotrites† (970–986) Gyrid of Sweden (952–970) Thyra (900–935)

† also Queen of Norway ‡ also Queen of Sweden

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