Agnes of Babenberg

Not to be confused with Agnes of Brandenburg

Agnes of Babenberg (German: Agnes von Babenberg, Polish: Agnieszka Babenberg; b. ca. 1108/13 – d. 24/25 January 1163), was a German noblewoman, a scion of the Franconian House of Babenberg and by marriage High Duchess of Poland and Duchess of Silesia.

She was a daughter of Leopold III, Margrave of Austria, by his second wife, Agnes, second but eldest surviving daughter of Emperor Henry IV.

Life

Family and personality

Through her mother, Agnes was a descendant of the Salian Dynasty, which ruled the Holy Roman Empire since 1024 until her maternal uncle, Emperor Henry V, died without issue in 1125. She was the half-sister of Frederick II, Duke of Swabia, and Conrad III, King of Germany since 1138 (both born from her mother's first marriage with Frederick I, Duke of Swabia). Of her full-siblings, one sister Judith married Marquess William V of Montferrat and one brother was Bishop Otto of Freising, a renowned medieval chronicler.

According to Wincenty Kadłubek, Polish chronicler and Bishop of Kraków (and this opinion is shared by other sources), Agnes was a very ambitious, energetic woman, and proud of her origins. It is no wonder the Bishop called her in the pages of his Polish Chronicle, "Tigress" (Polish: tygrysica).