Sophie of Thuringia, Duchess of Brabant
Encyclopedia
Sophie of Thuringia was the second wife and only Duchess consort of Henry II, Duke of Brabant
and Lothier
. She was the heiress of Hesse
which she passed on to her son, Henry
upon her retention of the territory following her partial victory in the War of the Thuringian Succession
in which she was one of the belligerents. Sophie was the founder of the Brabant dynasty of Hesse.
, near Eisenach
in Thuringia
, central Germany
on 20 March 1224, the eldest daughter and second child of Ludwig IV of Thuringia
and St. Elisabeth of Hungary
, daughter of King Andrew II of Hungary
and Gertrude of Merania
. The Cronica Reinhardsbrunnensis recorded Sophie's birth: 1224 mensis tercio XX die to beata Elisabeth of filiam Sophiam in castro Wartburg. She had an older brother Hermann II, Landgrave of Thuringia
and a younger sister, Gertrud who was born posthumously; she entered the Church and later became Abbess of Altenberg. When Sophie was three years old, her father embarked for the Sixth Crusade
, and died unexpectedly of a fever on his way to the Holy Land
. Her brother Hermann succeeded as landgrave; however, their uncle Henry Raspe acted as his regent
. Her mother, following the birth of her posthumous daughter, Gertrud, left Wartburg Castle and went to live in Marburg where she founded a Franciscan
hospital for the poor and sick. Sophie and her two siblings were sent away on the orders of their mother's manipulative confessor, Konrad of Marburg. They were placed in Bollenstein Castle, under the supervision of their great-uncle Egbert, Bishop of Bamberg. When Sophie was seven, her mother died, leaving her and her siblings orphans. In 1235, Elisabeth was canonised as a saint. Upon Elisabeth's death, which had occurred in 1231, Henry Raspe assumed control of Thuringia, becoming its de facto landgrave; and Sophie's brother eventually died in 1241, never having reigned.
and the Archbishopric of Mainz
, which claimed the territories as fiefs of the Archbishop. This dispute led to the War of the Thuringian Succession
, which lasted for 17 years. Sophie, who was backed by the Hessen nobility, achieved a partial victory in 1264 as she managed to win Hesse, with her son, Henry succeeding as the first landgrave by right of his mother; whereas her cousin, Henry received Thuringia. The outcome of the dispute was the emergence of Hesse as an independent landgraviate, which eventually became a powerful territorial principality.
and Lothier
as his second wife. Her marriage was recorded in the Annales Parchenses. She was his only wife to be styled Duchess of Brabant and Lothier, as Henry's first wife Marie of Hohenstaufen
had died just six months before he succeeded his father to the dukedom. Together Henry and Sophie had two children:
Sophie also had six stepchildren from her husband's first marriage to Marie.
She was described as having been an "energetic and courageous woman, proud of her saintly ancestry". She began all her letters and charters with the following: "We, Sophie, duchess of Brabant, daughter of St. Elisabeth".
After the death of her husband, Sophie resided in a castle situated beside the Dijle river in the village of Sint-Agatha-Rode
, Brabant.
She died on 29 May 1275 in Marburg
, and was buried in Villers Abbey
in Brabant. There is a statue representing her and her son Henry in Marburg.
Henry II, Duke of Brabant
Henry II of Brabant was Duke of Brabant and Lothier after the death of his father Henry I in 1235...
and Lothier
Duke of Lothier
Lothier refers to the territory within the Duchy of Lower Lotharingia, governed by the Dukes of Brabant and their successors after 1190 until the end of the Ancien Régime in 1796....
. She was the heiress of Hesse
Hesse
Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
which she passed on to her son, Henry
Henry I, Landgrave of Hesse
Henry I of Hesse "the Child" was the first Landgrave of Hesse. He was the son of Henry II, Duke of Brabant and Sophie of Thuringia.-Life:...
upon her retention of the territory following her partial victory in the War of the Thuringian Succession
War of the Thuringian Succession
The War of the Thuringen Succession was a military battle over a successor to the last Landgrave of Thuringia in present-day Germany.- Source of the conflict :...
in which she was one of the belligerents. Sophie was the founder of the Brabant dynasty of Hesse.
Family
Sophie was born in Wartburg CastleWartburg Castle
The Wartburg is a castle situated on a 1230-foot precipice to the southwest of, and overlooking the town of Eisenach, in the state of Thuringia, Germany...
, near Eisenach
Eisenach
Eisenach is a city in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated between the northern foothills of the Thuringian Forest and the Hainich National Park. Its population in 2006 was 43,626.-History:...
in Thuringia
Thuringia
The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....
, central Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
on 20 March 1224, the eldest daughter and second child of Ludwig IV of Thuringia
Ludwig IV of Thuringia
Ludwig IV or Louis IV was the Landgrave of Thuringia from 1217 to 1227.Louis was born in Creuzburg to Hermann I, Landgrave of Thuringia, and Duchess Sophia, daughter of Otto of Wittelsbach, Duke of Bavaria. Upon his father's death in 1216, Louis ascended the Thuringian throne at the age of...
and St. Elisabeth of Hungary
Elisabeth of Hungary
Elizabeth of Hungary, T.O.S.F., was a princess of the Kingdom of Hungary, Countess of Thuringia, Germany and a greatly-venerated Catholic saint. Elizabeth was married at the age of 14, and widowed at 20. She then became one of the first members of the newly-founded Third Order of St. Francis,...
, daughter of King Andrew II of Hungary
Andrew II of Hungary
Andrew II the Jerosolimitan was King of Hungary and Croatia . He was the younger son of King Béla III of Hungary, who invested him with the government of the Principality of Halych...
and Gertrude of Merania
Gertrude of Merania
Gertrude of Merania was the first wife of King Andrew II of Hungary and thereby Queen consort of Hungary from 1205 until her assassination.-Family:...
. The Cronica Reinhardsbrunnensis recorded Sophie's birth: 1224 mensis tercio XX die to beata Elisabeth of filiam Sophiam in castro Wartburg. She had an older brother Hermann II, Landgrave of Thuringia
Hermann II, Landgrave of Thuringia
Hermann II was the titular Landgrave of Thuringia and the son of Ludwig IV, Landgrave of Thuringia, and St. Elisabeth of Hungary....
and a younger sister, Gertrud who was born posthumously; she entered the Church and later became Abbess of Altenberg. When Sophie was three years old, her father embarked for the Sixth Crusade
Sixth Crusade
The Sixth Crusade started in 1228 as an attempt to regain Jerusalem. It began seven years after the failure of the Fifth Crusade. It involved very little actual fighting...
, and died unexpectedly of a fever on his way to the Holy Land
Holy Land
The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...
. Her brother Hermann succeeded as landgrave; however, their uncle Henry Raspe acted as his regent
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
. Her mother, following the birth of her posthumous daughter, Gertrud, left Wartburg Castle and went to live in Marburg where she founded a Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
hospital for the poor and sick. Sophie and her two siblings were sent away on the orders of their mother's manipulative confessor, Konrad of Marburg. They were placed in Bollenstein Castle, under the supervision of their great-uncle Egbert, Bishop of Bamberg. When Sophie was seven, her mother died, leaving her and her siblings orphans. In 1235, Elisabeth was canonised as a saint. Upon Elisabeth's death, which had occurred in 1231, Henry Raspe assumed control of Thuringia, becoming its de facto landgrave; and Sophie's brother eventually died in 1241, never having reigned.
War of the Thuringian Succession
When Sophie's uncle, Henry Raspe, Landgrave of Thuringia died without issue in 1247, Sophie entered into a dispute over the succession to the Ludowinger territories of Thuringia and Hesse to which she was a claimant; her rivals were her cousin, Henry III, Margrave of MeissenHenry III, Margrave of Meissen
Henry III, called Henry the Illustrious from the House of Wettin was Margrave of Meissen and last Margrave of Lusatia from 1221 until his death; from 1242 also Landgrave of Thuringia.-Life:Born probably at the Albrechtsburg residence in Meissen, Henry was the youngest son of Margrave Theodoric I...
and the Archbishopric of Mainz
Archbishopric of Mainz
The Archbishopric of Mainz or Electorate of Mainz was an influential ecclesiastic and secular prince-bishopric in the Holy Roman Empire between 780–82 and 1802. In the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy, the Archbishop of Mainz was the primas Germaniae, the substitute of the Pope north of the Alps...
, which claimed the territories as fiefs of the Archbishop. This dispute led to the War of the Thuringian Succession
War of the Thuringian Succession
The War of the Thuringen Succession was a military battle over a successor to the last Landgrave of Thuringia in present-day Germany.- Source of the conflict :...
, which lasted for 17 years. Sophie, who was backed by the Hessen nobility, achieved a partial victory in 1264 as she managed to win Hesse, with her son, Henry succeeding as the first landgrave by right of his mother; whereas her cousin, Henry received Thuringia. The outcome of the dispute was the emergence of Hesse as an independent landgraviate, which eventually became a powerful territorial principality.
Marriage and issue
In 1241 at the age of 17, Sophie married Henry II, Duke of BrabantHenry II, Duke of Brabant
Henry II of Brabant was Duke of Brabant and Lothier after the death of his father Henry I in 1235...
and Lothier
Duke of Lothier
Lothier refers to the territory within the Duchy of Lower Lotharingia, governed by the Dukes of Brabant and their successors after 1190 until the end of the Ancien Régime in 1796....
as his second wife. Her marriage was recorded in the Annales Parchenses. She was his only wife to be styled Duchess of Brabant and Lothier, as Henry's first wife Marie of Hohenstaufen
Marie of Hohenstaufen
Marie of Hohenstaufen was a member of the powerful Hohenstaufen dynasty of German kings which lasted from 1138 to 1254. She is also known to history as Maria of Swabia....
had died just six months before he succeeded his father to the dukedom. Together Henry and Sophie had two children:
- Elisabeth of Brabant (1243- 17 April/9 October 1261), married Albert I, Duke of Brunswick-LuneburgAlbert I, Duke of Brunswick-LüneburgAlbert the Tall , of the House of Welf, was Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg from 1252 to 1269 and the first ruler of the newly created Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel from 1269 until his death.-Life:...
; their marriage was childless. - Henry I, Landgrave of HesseHenry I, Landgrave of HesseHenry I of Hesse "the Child" was the first Landgrave of Hesse. He was the son of Henry II, Duke of Brabant and Sophie of Thuringia.-Life:...
"The Child" (24 June 1244 – 21 December 1308), married firstly Adelheid of Brunswick-Luneburg, by whom he had issue, married secondly Mechthild of Cleves, by whom he had additional issue.
Sophie also had six stepchildren from her husband's first marriage to Marie.
She was described as having been an "energetic and courageous woman, proud of her saintly ancestry". She began all her letters and charters with the following: "We, Sophie, duchess of Brabant, daughter of St. Elisabeth".
After the death of her husband, Sophie resided in a castle situated beside the Dijle river in the village of Sint-Agatha-Rode
Sint-Agatha-Rode
Sint-Agatha-Rode is a Dutch-speaking village in Belgian province of Flemish Brabant and lies within the district of the town of Huldenberg. Historically Sint-Agatha-Rode was an independent municipality until the merger of Belgian municipalities in 1977 when it was joined to the town of...
, Brabant.
She died on 29 May 1275 in Marburg
Marburg
Marburg is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany, on the River Lahn. It is the main town of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district and its population, as of March 2010, was 79,911.- Founding and early history :...
, and was buried in Villers Abbey
Villers Abbey
Villers Abbey is an ancient Cistercian abbey located near the town of Villers-la-Ville in the Brabant province of Wallonia , one piece of the Wallonia's Major Heritage. Founded in 1146, the abbey was abandoned in 1796...
in Brabant. There is a statue representing her and her son Henry in Marburg.