View source for Agnes of Poitou

{{Short description|Holy Roman Empress from 1046 to 1056}}
{{Other people|Agnes of Aquitaine}}
{{redirect|Agnes of Poitiers|the saint|Saint Agnes of Poitiers}}
{{Infobox royalty
| image       = Empress Agnes (cropped).jpg
| caption     = Agnes at Mary's throne, [[Golden Gospels of Henry III|Speyer Evangeliary]], 1046
| consort = yes
| succession  = [[Empress of the Holy Roman Empire]]
| reign       = 1046–1056
| coronation  = 25 December 1046
| succession1 = [[Queen consort of Germany]]
| reign1      = 1043–1056
| coronation1 = 
| issue       = [[Adelaide II, Abbess of Quedlinburg]]<br>[[Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor]]<br>[[Conrad II, Duke of Bavaria]]<br>[[Judith of Swabia|Judith, Queen of Hungary]]<br>[[Matilda of Germany, Duchess of Swabia|Matilda, Duchess of Swabia]]
| issue-link  = #Marriage and children
| issue-pipe  = more...
| house       = [[Ramnulfids]]
| father      = [[William V, Duke of Aquitaine]]
| mother      = [[Agnes of Burgundy, Duchess of Aquitaine|Agnes of Burgundy]]
| spouse      = [[Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor]]
| birth_date  = {{circa|1025}}
| birth_place = 
| death_date  = {{death date|1077|12|14|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Rome]]
}}
'''Agnes of Poitou''' ({{circa|1025}} &ndash; 14 December 1077) was the [[queen of Germany]] from 1043 and [[empress of the Holy Roman Empire]] from 1046 until 1056 as the wife of [[Emperor Henry III]]. From 1056 to 1061, she ruled the [[Holy Roman Empire]] as [[regent]] during the minority of their son [[Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry IV]].

After the death of her husband, she proved an inexperienced regent unable to effectively assert her power and secure loyal allies{{opinion|date=April 2023}}{{citation needed|date=April 2023}}. In Germany, she is still remembered as a sympathetic historical figure, even if a flawed politician.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Tanner |first1=Heather J. |title=Medieval Elite Women and the Exercise of Power, 1100–1400: Moving beyond the Exceptionalist Debate |date= 2019 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-030-01346-2 |page=181 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HxyDDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA181 |access-date=24 July 2022 |language=en}}</ref><ref name =Ingelheim>{{cite web |title=Agnes |url=https://saeulen-der-macht-ingelheim.de/agnes-2/ |website=Säulen der Macht Ingelheim |access-date=24 July 2022 |language=de-DE}}</ref>

==Early life==

Agnes was the daughter of the [[Ramnulfid]] Duke [[William V of Aquitaine]] (d. 1030)<ref name="Jackson-Laufer1999">{{cite book|author=Guida Myrl Jackson-Laufer|title=Women rulers throughout the ages: an illustrated guide|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9791576070917|url-access=registration|access-date=18 December 2011|year=1999|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-57607-091-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9791576070917/page/12 12]–13}}</ref> and [[Agnes of Burgundy, Duchess of Aquitaine|Agnes of Burgundy]] and as such a member of the [[Ramnulfid]] family.{{sfn|Bachrach|1993|p=268}}

==Empress==

Agnes married King [[Henry III of Germany]] in November 1043<ref group="Note">Munster cites November 21; Jackson-Laufer cites November 1</ref> at the [[Imperial Palace Ingelheim]].<ref>[[Sebastian Münster]], ''[[Cosmographia (Sebastian Münster)|Cosmographia]]'', 1550, Book III, 333.</ref> She was his second wife<ref name="Jackson-Laufer1999"/> after [[Gunhilda of Denmark]], who had died, possibly from [[malaria]], in 1038.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Germany in the high middle ages c. 1050–1200|last=Fuhrmann|first=H.|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1995|page=40|translator-last=Reuter|translator-first=T.}}</ref> This marriage helped to solidify the Empire's relationships with the princely houses in the west.<ref name="Jackson-Laufer1999"/> King Henry was able to improve his position versus the [[Kingdom of France|French]] royal dynasty and to exert his influence in the [[Duchy of Burgundy]]. Agnes, like her husband, was of profound piety; her family had founded [[Cluny Abbey]] and Abbot [[Hugh of Cluny|Hugh the Great]] was godfather of her son Henry IV.

==Regency==
After her husband's death on 5 October 1056, Empress Agnes served as regent on behalf of her young son Henry IV.<ref name="Jackson 1999">{{cite book|last=Jackson|first=Guida M.|title=Women rulers throughout the ages : an illustrated guide|year=1999|publisher=ABC-CLIO|location=Santa Barbara, Calif|isbn=1576070913|edition=2nd rev., expanded and updated|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9791576070917}}</ref> Henry III had secured the [[Imperial election|election]] of his son as [[King of the Romans]] on his deathbed. Aided by Abbott Hugh of Cluny and [[Pope Victor II]], also [[bishop of Eichstätt]], Agnes tried to continue her husband's politics and to strengthen the rule of the [[Salian dynasty]]. However, despite being related to kings of Italy and Burgundy, she gained little respect as a leader.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://epistolae.ctl.columbia.edu/woman/23.html|title=Agnes of Poitiers, empress {{!}} Epistolae|website=epistolae.ctl.columbia.edu|access-date=2019-04-02}}</ref> The loss of some of her family's ancestral lands later weakened her son's position tremendously.<ref name =Ingelheim/>

After Henry's death, Agnes was placed in a difficult position between secular and religious powers.<ref name =Ingelheim/> She had support from her retinue and territories she had brought from France upon her marriage, and she wanted to follow the example of [[Adelaide of Italy|Empress Adelheid]]. She was however more restricted than the Ottonian queen-empresses.<ref>{{cite book |title=Royal and Elite Households in Medieval and Early Modern Europe: More than Just a Castle |date= 2018 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-36076-1 |page=54 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iHtTDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA54 |access-date=24 July 2022 |language=en}}</ref>

To win allies, she gave away three German [[Stem duchy|duchies]]:<ref name="Jackson-Laufer1999"/> already on Christmas 1056, the [[Ezzonid]] scion [[Conrad III, Duke of Carinthia|Conrad III]], a nephew of Count palatine [[Ezzo, Count Palatine of Lotharingia|Ezzo of Lotharingia]], received the [[Duchy of Carinthia]]. The next year she enfeoffed [[Rudolf of Rheinfelden]] with [[Duchy of Swabia|Swabia]], appointed him administrator of [[Kingdom of Burgundy|Burgundy]] and offered him the hand of her daughter Matilda. According to the medieval chronicler [[Frutolf of Michelsberg]], Rudolf had possibly abducted Matilda and extorted the betrothal. However, Agnes' late husband had promised the Swabian duchy to [[Berthold II, Duke of Carinthia|Berthold of Zähringen]], who in turn had to be compensated with Carinthia upon Conrad's death in 1061.

At the same time, while German forces interfered in the fratricidal struggle of King [[Andrew I of Hungary|Andrew I]] and [[Béla I of Hungary]], Agnes ceded the [[Duchy of Bavaria]] to Count [[Otto of Nordheim]]. He reached a settlement with Hungary by enforcing the coronation of Andrew's son [[Solomon, King of Hungary|Solomon]] but later became a bitter rival of her son Henry IV.

Though initially a follower of the [[Cluniac Reforms]], Agnes opposed the contemporary papal reform movement, and took the side of Italian anti-reform party.<ref name="Jackson-Laufer1999"/> Things had worsened after the death of Pope Victor II in 1057: his successor [[Pope Stephen IX|Stephen IX]] was unable to take actual possession of Rome due to the Roman aristocracy's election of antipope [[Antipope Benedict X|Benedict X]], and Stephen sent Anselm of Lucca (future Pope [[Pope Alexander II|Alexander II]]) and Hildebrand of [[Sovana]] (future Pope [[Pope Gregory VII|Gregory VII]]) to Germany to obtain the support of Agnes as regent.

Though Stephen died before being able to return to Rome, Agnes' help was instrumental in enabling Hildebrand to depose the antipope<ref>According to the sources, feeling his was nearing his end, Stephen had his cardinal swear that they would wait for Hildebrand's return to Rome before electing his successor.{{cite journal|first=Agostino|last=Paravicini Bagliani|title=Una carriera dieotr le quinte|journal=Medioevo|issue=143|date=December 2008|page=70}}</ref> and to replace him by the [[bishop of Florence]], [[Pope Nicholas II|Nicholas II]]. Thereafter,  on Easter 1059 Nicholas issued the momentous papal bull ''[[In nomine Domini]]'' establishing the [[Cardinal (Catholicism)|cardinals]] as the sole electors of the pope, denying this power to the emperor and all temporal rulers, including Agnes herself.

When Pope Alexander II was elected on 30 September 1061, Empress Agnes refused to acknowledge him and had [[Antipope Honorius II|Honorius II]] elected. This [[schism]] did not end until Pentecost 1064. The empress' candidate could not prevail against the Roman Curia; in consequence, Agnes retired from politics, leaving the regency to her confidant Bishop [[Henry II of Augsburg]].
[[File:Kaiserswerth1.jpg|thumb|Kaiserswerth Pfalz ruins]]
Bishop Henry did not receive wide acceptance due to his awkward and haughty manners, as well as scandalous rumours about his relationship with the empress, as recorded by [[Lambert of Hersfeld]]{{Citation needed|date=April 2019}}. Moreover, the fact that the heir to the throne was raised by common ''[[ministeriales]]'' provoked anger among the [[Princes of the Holy Roman Empire|princes]]. In 1062, young Henry IV was abducted by a group including Archbishop [[Anno II, Archbishop of Cologne|Anno II of Cologne]] and Otto of Nordheim, in a conspiracy to remove Agnes from the throne, referred to as the [[Coup of Kaiserswerth]]. Henry was brought to [[Cologne]], and despite jumping overboard to escape, he was recaptured. From this point, the power shifted to Rome, as the pope elected the emperor.<ref name=Ingelheim/>

Defeated, Agnes resigned as regent and was replaced by Anno together with the archbishops [[Siegfried I (archbishop of Mainz)|Siegfried of Mainz]] and [[Adalbert of Hamburg|Adalbert of Bremen]].<ref name="Jackson-Laufer1999"/>

==Later life==
According to Frutolf of Michelsberg, Agnes retired to [[Fruttuaria]] Abbey after the coup. When Henry IV reached the age of majority, Agnes moved to Rome, where her arrival in 1065 is documented by [[Peter Damian]]. Agnes went on to act as a mediator and peacemaker between her son and the papacy.<ref name=Jackson-Laufer1999 /> She died in Rome on 14 December 1077 and is buried at [[St. Peter's Basilica]].

==Personality==
Agnes was a reserved and gentle woman, lacking the sternness and imposing qualities that characterized successful Ottonian and Salian queen-empresses like [[Matilda of Ringelheim|Matilda]], [[Adelaide of Italy|Adelaide]], [[Theophanu]], [[Cunigunde of Luxemburg|Kunigunde]] and [[Gisela of Swabia|Gisela]].<ref name=Ingelheim/><ref>{{cite book |title=Histories of England, France, Germany, and Holland from the Encyclopaedia Britannica |date=1883 |publisher=Scribner |page=487 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gxEMAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA487 |access-date=24 July 2022 |language=en}}</ref>

==Legacy==
Agnes is a featured figure on [[Judy Chicago]]'s installation piece ''[[The Dinner Party]]'', being represented as one of the 999 names on the ''[[List of women in the Heritage Floor|Heritage Floor]].''<ref name="Agnes">{{cite web | year=2007 | title=Agnes of Poitou | work=Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art: The Dinner Party: Heritage Floor: Agnes of Poitou| publisher=[[Brooklyn Museum]] | url=http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/dinner_party/heritage_floor/agnes_of_poitou.php | access-date=17 December 2011}}</ref><ref name="C121">Chicago, 121.</ref>

==Issue==
Agnes and Henry's children were:
*[[Adelaide II, Abbess of Quedlinburg|Adelaide II]] (1045, [[Goslar]] &ndash; 11 January 1096), abbess of [[Gandersheim Abbey|Gandersheim]] from 1061 and [[Quedlinburg Abbey|Quedlinburg]] from 1063{{sfn|Robinson|2008|p=78}}
*Gisela (1047, [[Ravenna]] &ndash; 6 May 1053)
*[[Matilda of Germany, Duchess of Swabia|Matilda]] (October 1048 &ndash; 12 May 1060, [[Pöhlde]]), married 1059 [[Rudolf of Rheinfelden]], duke of Swabia and [[antiking|anti-king]] (1077){{sfn|Robinson|2008|p=115}}
*[[Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry]], his successor<ref name="Jackson-Laufer1999"/>
*[[Conrad II, Duke of Bavaria|Conrad II]] (1052, [[Regensburg]] &ndash; 10 April 1055), [[List of rulers of Bavaria|Duke of Bavaria]] (from 1054)
*[[Judith of Swabia|Judith]] (1054, [[Goslar]] &ndash; 14 March 1092 or 1096),{{sfn|Wiszewski|2010|p=506}} married firstly 1063 [[Solomon of Hungary]] and secondly 1089 [[Władysław I Herman|Ladislaus I Herman]], [[List of Polish monarchs|Duke of Poland]]{{sfn|Brooke|1987|p=491}}

==Notes==
{{reflist|group="Note"}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* Chicago, Judy. ''The Dinner Party: From Creation to Preservation''. London: Merrell (2007). {{ISBN|1858943701}}
* Robinson, I.S. ''Henry IV of Germany 1056–1106'', 2000
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20061019204549/http://www.stm.unipi.it/Clioh/tabs/libri/2/02-Averkorn_11-30.pdf Women and Power in the Middle Ages: Political Aspects of Medieval Queenship] PDF of an article from an unknown book, lacks footnote information.
*{{cite book |title=Europe in the Central Middle Ages: 962-1154 |first=Christopher |last=Brooke |publisher=Routledge |year=1987 }}
* {{cite Q|Q115346632|editor1=Henry Gardiner Adams}}<!-- [[s:A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Agnes]] -->
*{{cite book |title=Fulk Nerra, the Neo-Roman Consul 987–1040 |first=Bernard S. |last=Bachrach |publisher=University of California Press |year=1993 }}
*{{cite book |title=Eleventh-century Germany: The Swabian chronicles |first=I.S. |last=Robinson |publisher=Manchester University Press |year=2008 }}
*{{cite book |title=Domus Bolezlai: Values and social identity in dynastic traditions of medieval Poland (c.966-1138) |first=Przemyslaw |last=Wiszewski |publisher=Brill |year=2010 }}

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline}}

{{S-start}}
{{S-hou|[[House of Poitiers]]||{{circa|1025}}|14 December|1077}}
{{S-reg}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Gunhilda of Denmark]]}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[Queen consort of Germany]] | years=1043&ndash;1054}}
{{S-aft|rows=4|after=[[Bertha of Savoy]]}}
{{S-bef|rows=3|before=[[Gisela of Swabia]]}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[Queen consort of Burgundy]] | years=1043&ndash;1056}}
|-
{{S-ttl|title=[[Holy Roman Empress]] | years=1046–1056}}
|-
{{S-ttl|title=[[Queen consort of Italy]] | years=1043&ndash;1056}}
{{S-end}}

{{Holy Roman Empresses}}
{{Royal consorts of Germany}}
{{Italian consorts}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Agnes of Poitou}}
[[Category:House of Poitiers]]
[[Category:Holy Roman Empresses]]
[[Category:Duchesses of Swabia]]
[[Category:1020s births]]
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]
[[Category:Place of birth unknown]]
[[Category:1077 deaths]]
[[Category:Burials at St. Peter's Basilica]]
[[Category:11th-century women regents]]
[[Category:11th-century regents]]
[[Category:11th-century Italian nobility]]
[[Category:11th-century Italian women]]
[[Category:11th-century women from the Holy Roman Empire]]
[[Category:11th-century German women]]
[[Category:Abbey of Fruttuaria]]
[[Category:Mothers of Holy Roman Emperors]]
[[Category:Italian queen mothers]]
[[Category:Mothers of Bavarian monarchs]]
[[Category:Mothers of German monarchs]]
[[Category:Regents of the Holy Roman Empire]]
[[Category:11th-century empresses consort]]