Margaret of Pomerania

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Margarethe von Pommern (* around 1366; † April 30, 1407 ) was the first wife of Duke Ernst I of Austria from the Habsburg dynasty , who ruled over the inner Austrian duchies of Styria , Carinthia and Carniola .

Origin and family

Margarethe was a daughter of Duke Bogislaw V of Pomerania from the Griffin family . Her mother was his second wife Adelheid von Braunschweig-Osterode (* around 1341), a daughter of Duke Ernst I of Braunschweig-Grubenhagen from his marriage to Adelheid von Everstein (noble family) . Margaret's older half-sister Elisabeth (around 1345; † 1393) was the fourth wife of Emperor Karl IV and mother of the future Emperor Siegmund .

Margaret's appearance and personality

The contemporary witness Leopold Stainreuter praises Margaret's beauty. She is said to have blue eyes and reddish blonde hair. There is no reliable information about her personality.

Life

The final marriage contract for the marriage between Duchess Margarethe of Pomerania and Duke Ernst I of Austria was signed on December 19, 1392 in Pressburg between the Hungarian King Siegmund (the later Emperor) and the Dukes Albrecht III. and Wilhelm of Austria, as part of an alliance directed against Siegmund's older half-brother, the Bohemian King Wenceslaus IV , who was then also the King of the Holy Roman Empire . The wedding is said to have already taken place on January 14, 1392 in Bruck an der Mur . During the marriage Margarethe stayed most of the time in Bleiburg , the rule over this city had been assigned to her together with Ernst. Until 1406 she was also likely to have been to Vienna a few times .

In the secondary literature there are different information about Margaret's death year. According to the Necrologium Runense , she is said to have died on April 30, 1407, which is confirmed by references in some documents. While a document from her brother-in-law, Duke Leopold IV of Austria, dated March 9, 1407, concerning the marriage property of her and Ernst I, proves that she was still alive at the time, documents were already issued in July 1407 in which her husband had arrangements for in the event of a new marriage.

It is unclear whether Ernst and Margarethe actually had no children or whether the children from this marriage died early.

After her death, Margarethe was buried in the Cistercian monastery in Rein , where Ernst I also found his final resting place after his death.

Margaret's death and the consequences

In the marriage contract of June 11, 1392, the modalities for a replacement of Margaret's marriage property in the event that there were no children entitled to inheritance were laid down in writing. In the event that Ernst should die before Margarethe, her marriage property should be paid out to King Siegmund, but only after her death. Should she die of seriousness, however, this should remain in the possession of her marriage property and this should be passed on to Duke Albrecht III after his death. and Duke Wilhelm or their descendants fall. The decisive factor in these provisions is that Siegmund himself was not able to raise Margaret's dowry in full after the marriage was consummated, which is why a large part of the sum was initially given by Albrecht III. was designed. Obviously Siegmund was neither able nor willing to pay his share in the later years. However, this did not prevent him several times from 1411 to around 1430, albeit unsuccessfully, from demanding the restitution of Margaret's marriage property for himself, first from Ernst I and, after his death, from Duke Friedrich IV , his younger brother and successor.

Fiction

  • Josephine von Kviatovska: Hedwiga and Cimburgis or the strong women . A historical novel from the 14th century. Vienna: Mausberger 1820

literature

  • Brigitte Hamann (ed.): The Habsburgs. A biographical lexicon. Carl Ueberreuter, Vienna / Piper, Munich 1988, p. 272
  • Monika Schellmann: On the story of Duke Ernst the Iron (1386 / 1402-1424) . Dissertation (unprinted), University of Vienna, 1966, especially pp. 239–245

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Monika Schellmann: On the story of Duke Ernst the Iron (1386 / 1402-1424) , p. 240f.
  2. ↑ a b Monika Schellmann: On the story of Duke Ernst the Iron (1386 / 1402-1424) , p. 239
  3. ↑ Monika Schellmann: On the story of Duke Ernst the Iron (1386 / 1402-1424) , p. 239f.
  4. ↑ Monika Schellmann: On the story of Duke Ernst the Iron (1386 / 1402-1424) , p. 245
  5. ↑ Peter Wiesflecker: Exquisite and edifying. Cultural work of the Reiner monks. Ed .: Cistercian Monastery Rein. Self-published by Zisterzienserstift Rein, Rein 2003, Rein und die Landesfürsten, pp. 163–192
  6. ↑ Monika Schellmann: On the story of Duke Ernst the Iron (1386 / 1402-1424) , p. 241f.
personal data
SURNAME Margaret of Pomerania
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Margarete; Margaretha
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Duchess of Pomerania; Duchess of Austria; Wife of Duke Ernst I of Austria
DATE OF BIRTH around 1366
DATE OF DEATH April 30, 1407