Gertrude, of Saxony

Gertrude, of Saxony

Female 1030 - 1113  (83 years)

Personal Information    |    Notes    |    All

  • Name Gertrude  
    Suffix of Saxony 
    Born 1030 
    Gender Female 
    Died 4 Aug 1113 
    Person ID I19109  Young Kent Ancestors
    Last Modified 6 Jan 2021 

    Father Bernard II,, Duke of Saxony 
    Mother Eilika, of Schweinfurt 
    Family ID F5919  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Floris I,, Count of Holland,   b. 1017, Vlaardingen, South Holland, Netherlands Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 28 Jun 1061, Nederhemert, Gelderland Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 44 years) 
    Children 
     1. Bertha, of Holland,   b. 1055, Vlaardingen, South Holland, Netherlands Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 15 Oct 1094, Montreuil, Pas-de-Calais, France Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 39 years)
    Last Modified 20 Mar 2022 
    Family ID F5918  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • Gertrude of Saxony (c. 1030 – August 4, 1113), also known as Gertrude Billung, was a countess of Holland by marriage to Floris I, Count of Holland, and countess of Flanders by marriage to Robert I, Count of Flanders. She was regent of Holland in 1061-1067 during the minority of her son Dirk V, and regent of Flanders during the absence of her spouse in 1086-1093.

      Biography
      She was the daughter of Bernard II, Duke of Saxony[1] and Eilika of Schweinfurt.

      Countess of Holland
      In c. 1050, she married Floris I, Count of Holland (c. 1017 – June 28, 1061).[2] Upon the death of her spouse in 1061, her son Dirk V became Count of Holland.[2] Since he was a minor, she became regent.

      When Dirk V came into power, William I, Bishop of Utrecht, took advantage of the situation, occupying territory that he had claimed in Holland. Gertrude and her son withdrew to the islands of Frisia (Zeeland), leaving William to occupy the disputed lands.

      Countess of Flanders
      In 1063 Gertrude married Robert of Flanders (Robert the Frisian),[3] the second son of Baldwin V of Flanders. This act gave Dirk the Imperial Flanders as an appanage – including the islands of Frisia west of the Frisian Scheldt.

      She and her husband then acted as co-regents of Holland for her son during his minority.

      When her spouse left for a journey to Jerusalem in 1086-1093, Gertrude served as regent of Flanders during his absence.

      Family and children
      She had a total of seven children with Floris I, Count of Holland:

      Albert (b. c. 1051), a canon in Liege.
      Dirk V (c. 1052, Vlaardingen–17 June 1091).
      Peter (b. c. 1053), a canon in Liége.
      Bertha (c. 1055–1094, Montreuil-sur-Mer), who married Philip I of France in 1072.[2]
      Floris (b. c. 1055), a canon in Liége.
      Matilda (b. c. 1057)
      Adela (b. c. 1061), who married Count Baudouin I of Guînes.
      From her second marriage to Robert of Flanders she had five children:

      Robert II of Flanders (c. 1065 – October 5, 1111).[3]
      Adela (d. 1115), who first married king Canute IV of Denmark,[3] and was the mother of Charles the Good, later count of Flanders. She then married Roger Borsa, duke of Apulia.
      Gertrude, who married Theodoric II, Duke of Lorraine,[3] and was the mother of Thierry of Alsace, also later count of Flanders.
      Philip of Loo, whose illegitimate son William of Ypres was also a claimant to the county of Flanders.
      Ogiva, abbess of Messines.
      References
      Rider 2013, p. 65.
      Nicholas 1999, p. 117.
      Nicholas 1999, p. 113.
      Sources
      Nicholas, Karen S. (1999). "Countess as Rulers in Flanders". In Evergates, Theodore (ed.). Aristocratic Women in Medieval France. University of Pennsylvania Press.
      Rider, Jeff (2013). "Vice, Tyranny, Violence, and the Usurpation of Flanders (1071) in Flemish Historiography from 1093 to 1294". In Guynn, Noah D.; Stahuljak, Zrinka (eds.). Violence and the Writing of History in the Medieval Francophone World. Boydell & Brewer.
      External links
      Genealogy A-Z
      Medieval Lands Project on Gertrude of Saxony