Helvig of Holstein

Helvig of Holstein

Helvig von Holstein (also Hedwig von Holstein; * around 1257? In Itzehoe ; † between 1324 and 1326) was Queen of Sweden from 1276 to 1290 .

queen

Helvig von Holstein was the daughter of Count Gerhard I von Itzehoe-Holstein (1232-1290) and his wife Elisabeth von Mecklenburg († approx. 1280).

On November 11, 1276, Helvig married the Swedish King Magnus I (1240-1290) in Kalmar , who had been elected King of Sweden a year earlier. The wedding was under a bad star, as almost the entire city burned down due to a fire during the celebrations.

Helvig was officially crowned Queen of Sweden on July 29, 1281 in Söderköping . It was the first ever coronation of a royal consort in Swedish history .

In Swedish historiography, Helvig is described as an exemplary queen and mother. Politically, their influence was probably small.

widow

After her husband's death, Helvig settled on the Dåvö estate near Munktorp ( Västmanland ), which she had received as a morning gift for her wedding. Helvig survived all of her sons who feuded in domestic disputes. She died on Dåvö between March 1324 and February 1326. Today she is presumably buried in Riddarholmskyrkan in Stockholm next to her husband and daughter Rikissa.

children

Magnus and Helvig had six children from their marriage:

1. Erik Magnusson (1277-1279)
2. Ingeborg Magnusdotter (1277 / 1279–1319), married to the Danish King Erik VI. Menved (1274-1319)
3. Birger Magnusson (1280–1321), King of Sweden
4. Erik Magnusson , Duke of Södermanland (1282-1318)
5. Waldemar Magnusson (around 1280–1318), Duke of Finland
6. Rikissa Magnusdotter (1285 / 1287–1347 / 1348), abbess of the Sankta Klara monastery in Stockholm

literature

• Helvig of Holstein . In: Theodor Westrin (Ed.): Nordisk familjebok konversationslexikon och realencyklopedi . 2nd Edition. tape 11 : Harrisburg – Hypereides . Nordisk familjeboks förlag, Stockholm 1909, Sp. 374 (Swedish, runeberg.org ).