Benedicta Ebbesdotter of Hvide

Benedicta (Benedikte) Ebbesdotter of Hvide (ca. 1165 or 1170 – ca. 1199 or 1200) was a Swedish queen consort, first consort of king Sverker II of Sweden. In Sweden she was often called Queen Bengta.

Biography

Benedicta was born in Knadrup in Northern Zealand in Denmark between 1165 and 1170 as the child of the noble Ebbe Sunesson Hvide. In about the year of 1185, she married Sverker Karlsson.

In 1195, her spouse became king of Sweden, and she became queen consort. The same year, her relative, the priest Andreas Sunesson, returned to Sweden from France and became the leading clerical politician in the archbishopric under Absalon, also a relative of Benedicta. Queen Benedicta is described as religious, and she supported the power aspirations of the church and the archbishop Olov Lambatunga in Uppsala.

Queen Benedicta died in 1199 or in 1200. The cause of her death are unknown, but is sometimes believed to have ben childbirth.

Children

1. Helena Sverkersdotter born ca 1190, d. after 1222, mother of Queen Catherine of Sweden.
2. Karl Sverkersson the younger (d. 1198); parentage unconfirmed.
3. Christina (d. 1252), married to Henry Borwin II of Mecklenburg; parentage unconfirmed.
4. Margareta (1192–1232), married to Wizlaw I, Prince of Rügen; parentage unconfirmed.

References

• Åke Ohlmarks: Alla Sveriges drottningar (All the queens of Sweden) (Swedish)

Succession