Mechtild of Holstein
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Mechtild of Holstein, (1220 or 1225-Kiel 1288), was a Danish queen consort, married to King Abel of Denmark and then to Birger Jarl, Regent of Sweden.
Mechtild was born the child of count Adolf IV of Holstein and Hedvig of Lippe. In 25 April 1237 she was married to Prince Abel of Denmark in Schleswig. When Abel became king in 1250, she was crowned with him in Roskilde on 1 November.
Whe Abel died in 1252, she was forced to leave Denmark and enter a convent. She managed to get her son released from the captivity of the archbishop of Cologne and fought for the inheritance of her children in Schleswig. In 1260, she pawned the areas Eider and Schlei in southern Denmark to her brothers. She made a pact with Jacob Erlandssen, archbishop of Lund, and then broke her vows of the convent by marrying the Swedish regent Birger Jarl in 1261. After the death of Birger in 1266, she mowed to Kiel.
In 1288, shortly before her death, she gave up Eider and Schlei to her brothers. She was unpopular in Denmark, where she was called the daughter of the Devil and accused of destroying letters from the Pope and emperor to Valdemar Sejr.
[edit] References
- Dansk Biografisk Lexikon, band 11, sida 205-206, Köpenhamn 1897
- Annales Stadenses 1237-1241, MGH SS XVI, sida 363-367
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Mechtild of Holstein
Born: 1220s Died: 1288 |
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| Preceded by Jutta of Saxe (Queen consort) |
Royal Consort of Denmark (Queen consort) 1250 - 1252 |
Succeeded by Margaret Sambiria (Queen consort) |
