Berta of Alemannia

Berta von Alamannien (* around 907, † after January 2, 966 ), especially in Switzerland also known as Bertha von Schwaben, was the wife of Rudolf II. Queen of Hochburgund and after the union of Upper and Lower Burgundy from 933 queen of Burgundy . After 937 she became Queen of Lombardy during her second marriage.

Life

Berta was the daughter of Duke Burchard II of Swabia and his wife Regelinda . After the expansive rulers of Hochburgund moved their eastern border from the Aare to the Reuss at the expense of Swabia - Alamannia , they suffered a bitter defeat in the Battle of Winterthur in 919 . As a result, Berta was probably married in 922 as a gesture of reconciliation with King Rudolf II of Hochburgund, with whom she had three children. These were Rudolf, Konrad and Adelheid , who was the wife of Emperor Otto I in her second marriage .

Rudolf and Berta became major church donors in western Switzerland. After Rudolf's death in 937, Berta temporarily acted as guardian of her son, King Konrad of Burgundy , as he was still a minor. In the same year, on December 12, 937, she married King Hugo of Italy , the rival of her late husband. In addition, Hugo of Italy married his son Lothar to Adelheid. After Hugo's death in 947/948, Berta probably spent the rest of her life again in Burgundy north of the Alps, although the information is uncertain. It should be added that Berta received the Erstein Abbey from Emperor Otto I at this time, which was an attempt by Otto to link Alsace with Burgundy more closely, since Erstein was at the head of royal itinerary stations in Alsace.

Berta supported the founding of the Marienkloster Payerne , which was built after her death by her daughter, Empress Adelheid over the burial place of her mother for the purpose of the memoria (see also memorials ), with donations.

She is a figure of identification shrouded in legend and legend in French-speaking Switzerland (the good Queen Bertha, La reine Berthe ), also when the canton of Vaud was founded , where her cult experienced an enormous boom since the 19th century. As early as the 15th century, Berta's cult expanded to include other Burgundian pens. With the Reformation, her image was reinterpreted from the good ruler to that of the exemplary housewife. Another nickname, Berta the Spinner, is derived from it.

literature

• Bernd Schneidmüller : The Guelphs. Rule and memory. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-17-014999-7 ; 2nd edition 2014 (only covers the period from the 9th to the 13th centuries)
• Franz Staab : Thorsten Unger (ed.): Empress Adelheid and her monastery founding in Selz (= publications of the Palatinate Society for the Promotion of Science in Speyer. Vol. 99). Papers at the scientific conference in Landau and Selz from October 15 to 17, 1999. Publishing house of the Society for the Advancement of Science, Speyer 2005, ISBN 3-932155-21-1 .
• Ernst Tremp: Bertha. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .

Web links

Commons : Berta von Alamannien  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Historical report on Berta of Alemannia (PDF file; 71 kB)