Dagmar of Bohemia
Dagmar of Bohemia (also Dagmar of Denmark , Czech Markéta Přemyslovna , Danish Dronning Dagmar ; * about 1186, † May 24, 1212 in Ribe , Denmark ) was a Bohemian princess and Danish queen. She died in childbed seven years after arriving in Denmark . Several traditional ballads sing about her life story. As a good and compassionate ruler, she found her way into popular culture, and a cross from her grave is a popular piece of jewelry to the present day.
Life
She was born as Markéta, daughter of the Přemyslid prince and later King Ottokar I. Přemysl and the Adelheid von Meißen ( Adléta Míšeňská ) from the Wettin family. She had two biological sisters: Božislava was married to the Bavarian Heinrich I von Ortenburg , Hedwika (1211–1282) became a religious sister in Gernrode and Prague. Another four half-sisters were from their father's second marriage. Markéta experienced displacement twice in her youth. The first time together with her parents, when the king in front of his relative Heinrich Břetislav III. had to flee to Meissen . In 1197 the family returned. Shortly afterwards, the king expelled his mother, who again found protection with her brother at the margravial court in Meißen.
In 1204, Danish ambassadors visited the Meissner court and proposed to Markéta the marriage of the Danish king Waldemar II, who had ruled since 1202 . This resulted in lengthy diplomatic efforts. Now Ottokar I proudly confessed to his daughter again because he was looking for a suitable political ally. While Adelheid was allowed to return to the Bohemian throne in 1205 after a few years of exile, 18-year-old Markéta was married in Lübeck in 1205 . With the wedding, she also received the new name Dagmar ( day maiden or dawn ), which should symbolize her beauty and noble figure. In 1209 she gave her husband her son Waldemar . She died after seven years of marriage with the birth of her second child and was buried in the St. Bendts Church in Ringsted on Zealand, built by Waldemar 1163-1170 . The whereabouts of their bones is unknown.
effect
In Denmark, Dagmar was very popular with the people. Her name can be found in a list of saints as early as the 13th century. Folk songs sing about their merciful deeds. The historian Anders Sørensen Vedel recorded several of these songs in his work Hundredvisebogen in 1591 . The songs are ballads , but they are thematically related to the Minne lyric . They describe, among other things, the wedding voyage of the Bohemian princess, who is recruited and accompanied by Waldemar's knight Strange Ebbeson, and her requests to Waldemar to release the prisoners as a morning gift and to exempt the farmers from taxes. Her successor, the "evil" Queen Berengaria , appears as an opponent . The most famous of these folk tunes is called Dronning Dagmar ligger udi Ribe syg (Queen Dagmar is sick in Ribe) and describes her death. It sounds daily as the carillon in Ribe Cathedral .
The Czech authors Václav Beneš Třebízský wrote a historical novel ( Královna Dagmar , 1883) and Svatopluk Čech an epic ( Dagmar , 1885) about their lives . The Dane Poul Schierbeck composed a cantata ( Dronning Dagmar ) in her honor . The sculptor Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen created a sculpture ( Dronning Dagmar , 1914) on the Riberhus Slotsbanke , the ruins of the castle at Ribe, which the queen temporarily used as her residence.
The Dagmark Cross , which was found when the tombs were opened in 1695, a Byzantine work of the 10th or 11th century, also goes back to their name . A replica of the cross is a traditional baptism or confirmation gift in Denmark. Brides in Ringsted also wear replicas.
Literature and Sources
- Jiřina Votočková-Joachimová: Královna Dagmar . In: Zdena Karešová, Jiří Pražák: Královny a kněžny české. Prague X-Egem, Nova Kniž. klub 1996, ISBN 80-7199-010-8 , pp. 59-68.
- The folk songs about Queen Dagmar in German translation by Wilhelm Grimm: Old Danish hero songs , ballads and fairy tales , Mohr and Zimmer, 1811, pp. 337–351. ( online )
Web links
Remarks
- ^ Beda Franziskus Dudík: Research in Sweden for the history of Moravia . 1852, p. 373
- ^ Carolyn Bain, Cristian Bonetto, Andrew Stone: Denmark . Lonely Planet 2012, p. 112
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Dagmar of Bohemia |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Dagmar of Denmark; Markéta Přemyslovna; Marketa Premyslowna |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Czech princess and Danish queen |
| DATE OF BIRTH | around 1186 |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 24, 1212 |
| Place of death | Denmark |