Petronilla from Holland

Petronilla of Holland (also Gertrud of Upper Lorraine or Alsace ) (* around 1082 ; † 23 May 1144 ) was Countess of Holland and from 1122 to 1133 regent of the county.

Life

She was born as the daughter of Duke Dietrich II of Upper Lorraine and a member of the Saxon noble family of Billunger and baptized in the name of Gertrud. She was a half-sister of the Saxon Emperor Lothar von Süpplinburg ; their mother was Hedwig von Formbach .

In 1113 she married Count Florentius II of Holland . For their underage son Dietrich VI. After Floren's death from 1122 to 1125, she officially ran the official business as the widow of the Count of Lorraine of Holland- Zeeland and Friesland , together with the Counts of Egmond , Rijnsburg and Middelburg . In 1122/23 the county of Holland fell into the disapproval of the German Emperor Heinrich V because it leaned against France. The fact that her half-brother was surprisingly elected to succeed Henry V in 1125 strengthened her position and that of her son. In 1127 she supported the imperial candidate Dietrich von Lothringen in the Flanders Hereditary War. Petronilla's younger son, Florence the Black, fought as Count of Friesland for the region's independence. He was the leader of the resistance against Holland and thus took a stand against his own brother and mother.

Petronilla founded the Rijnsburg monastery , to which she retired in 1133 when her son took full government office. This is also where she was buried.

progeny

• Dietrich VI. (* around 1110 - † August 6, 1157)
• Florence the Black (around 1115 - October 26, 1133)
• Simon († unknown) - Canon in Utrecht
• Hedwig († 1132) - nun of Rijnsburg

Web links

• EHP Cordfunke: Petronilla van Saksen . In: Digitaal Vrouwenlexicon van Nederland , April 15, 2012, accessed on June 6, 2012.