Bertha of Holland

Bertha von Holland, detail from a miniature from the Grandes Chroniques de France

Bertha von Holland ( French Berthe de Hollande ; * around 1055; † October 15, 1094 in Montreuil-sur-Mer ), also Bertha von Friesland and incorrectly also called Bertrada, was by her marriage to the French King Philip I of 1071 or Queen of France from 1072 to 1092 . The connection was based on purely political considerations, and after around 20 years of marriage and several children, Bertha was cast out by her husband.

family

Bertha was the eldest daughter and the fourth child of Count Florens I of Holland and his wife Gertrude of Saxony . Through her mother, a daughter of Bernhard II , Duke in Saxony , she belonged to the rich and powerful family of the Billunger . Her father was probably murdered in June 1061 at the instigation of Wilhelm I , the Bishop of Utrecht . Berta's mother was suddenly left alone with three small children and married a second time in 1063. The groom was Robert the Frisian , son of Count Baldwin V of Flanders . Bertha therefore grew up under the tutelage of her stepfather. Her fate was closely linked to his. When Robert, despite previous promises to the contrary, after the death of his older brother Baldwin VI. von Flanders claimed the county of Flanders in 1070, disputes broke out with Balduin's son, Arnulf III , who was still underage . For which his mother Richilde the regency led. Bertha's stepfather won the Battle of Cassel in February 1071 , during the Arnulf III. was killed, and was able to secure the succession in Flanders. Through his actions, Robert came into conflict with the French King Philip I, who had supported Richilde and Arnulf's side militarily. A wedding was supposed to improve relations between Flanders and France, but Robert's biological daughters were still too young to marry, and so Bertha's stepfather arranged for them to marry the French king as a pledge of reconciliation. The wedding probably took place in 1071 before October 23. Bertha was about 16 years old at that time, her bridegroom about 19. Their connection also sealed a Franco-Flemish alliance against Normandy , which had become a threat under the rule of William the Conqueror .

The marriage of the two remained childless for a long time until around 1078 Bertha gave birth to her daughter Konstanze. But it took another three years before the royal couple and their son Ludwig were given the long-awaited heir to the throne. Another son named Heinrich died as a child.

Bertha mostly stayed in the background during their marriage and was apparently hardly involved in government affairs. Little can be found about them in contemporary sources. While her husband was often on campaigns against English troops, she mostly stayed in Paris . It only appeared politically on one occasion: at the appointment of the Abbot of Saint-Médard in Soissons , of which the Vita sancti Arnulfi , the biography of Saint Arnulf of Soissons, reports. After the death of Abbot Rainald around 1075/76, a pontius succeeded in being installed as his successor through simony by King Philip I. But since Pontius enriched himself in the monastery property, he had to give up the office. The monks chose Arnulf von Oudenburg as his successor. According to the Vita sancti Arnulfi , which was only written between 1095 and 1108, a hypocritical monk named Odo is said to have stirred up a conflict between Arnulf and the king, at the end of which Arnulf also had to leave the monastery. In order to prevent his predecessor Pontius from returning to the monastery as abbot, he made sure that the monks chose a certain Gerald as his successor. This provoked fierce opposition from Bertha, who vehemently promoted the reinstatement of Pontius. Arnulf is said to have prophesied that she would die as a despised and outcast if Bertha continued to disregard church laws. But the queen remained adamant and was finally able to push through her candidate as abbot. It is conceivable that the reasons for Bertha's opposition to Arnulf are to be found in conflicts within Flanders, because his family, von Oudenburg, had supported Richilde von Hainaut and her son against Bertha's stepfather in the follow-up conflict 1070/71 . The author of the Vita sancti Arnulfi used the name Bertrada throughout to name the queen, but due to the chronological order of events it is clear that this is Bertha of Holland.

After 20 years of marriage, King Philip I disowned his first wife in 1092 on the pretext that he and Bertha were too closely related, which he had not known before. According to Wilhelm von Malmesbury , this happened because Bertha had become too fat ( quad illa praepinguis corpulentiae esset, a lecto removit ). Ordericus Vitalis and Suger von Saint-Denis , however, report that Philip simply fell in love with Bertrada von Montfort , the wife of Count Fulko IV of Anjou , and therefore rejected Bertha von Holland. It is also possible, however, that Philip's actions simply resulted from dynastic interests, because since Bertha had only borne him one son, the succession to the throne was by no means completely secured. Bertha retired to the castle in her Wittum Montreuil-sur-Mer, which she had received as a wedding present. There she died only two years later on October 15, 1094. Her burial place is unknown. Probably he can be found in Montreuil, or at least in Ponthieu .

progeny

Bertha and Philipp had three children together:

• Konstanze (* probably 1078; † between 1124 and January 1126)

⚭ 1st between 1093 and 1095 Hugo I, Count of Troyes

⚭ 25/26 May 1106 Bohemond I, Prince of Antioch

• Louis VI. (Autumn 1081 - August 1, 1137)
• Heinrich (* probably 1083; † young)

Some authors cite two other children without giving the sources:

• Karl (* probably 1085; † young)
• Odo (* probably 1087; † 1096)

literature

• Christian Bouyer: Dictionnaire des Reines de France . Perrin, Paris 1992, ISBN 2-262-00789-6 , pp. 138-139.
• Jean-François Dreux du Radier: Mémoires historiques, critiques, et anecdotes des reines et régentes de France . Volume 2. Mame, Paris 1808, pp. 129-134. (on-line)
• Gerd Hit: The French queens. From Bertrada to Marie Antoinette (8th – 18th centuries) . VMA, Wiesbaden 2001, ISBN 3-928127-80-2 , pp. 84-85.
• Carsten Woll: The queens of high medieval France 987–1237 / 38. (= Historical research . Volume 24). Franz Steiner, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 3-515-08113-5 , pp. 117-135.

Web links

Commons : Bertha von Holland  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Information on Bertha von Holland on the Foundation for Medieval Genealogy website
• Marion van Bussel: Bertha van Holland . In: Digitaal Vrouwenlexicon van Nederland (Dutch)

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b c d e} Marion van Bussel: Bertha van Holland . In: Digitaal Vrouwenlexicon van Nederland. Accessed February 27, 2013.
2. ↑ Information on Florens I on the Foundation for Medieval Genealogy website , accessed on February 28, 2013
3. ↑ C. Woll: The queens of high medieval France 987–1237 / 38. S. 117. In the literature, however, the year 1072 is found just as often for the wedding.
4. ↑ C. Woll: The queens of high medieval France 987–1237 / 38. P. 117.
5. ↑ ^{a b} Information on Philip I on the Foundation for Medieval Genealogy website , accessed on February 28, 2013
6. ↑ C. Woll: The queens of high medieval France 987–1237 / 38. P. 118.
7. ↑ C. Woll: The queens of high medieval France 987–1237 / 38. P. 122.
8. ↑ Quoted from Joachim Ehlers : The Capetians . Kohlhammer, Stuttgart et al. 2000, ISBN 3-17-014233-X , p. 86.
9. ↑ K. Nieuwenhuijsen: Strijd om West Frisia - De ontstaansgeschiedenis van het graafschap Holland: 900-1100 . Omniboek, Utrecht, 2016. ISBN 9789401907569 , p. 221.
10. ↑ C. Woll: The queens of high medieval France 987–1237 / 38. P. 135.

predecessor	Office	Successor
Anna of Kiev	Queen of France 1072-1092	Bertrada of Montfort