Agnes of Burgundy had blue blood as the grand-daughter of a King of Italy but had to scheme and plot to make sure she and her children would not lose influence when her first husband died.
She is my 25 x great-grandmother.
She was born in Macon, France1 sometime between 990 and 9952, daughter of Othon Guillaume Comte de Mâcon Bourgogne-Comté and his wife Ermentrude de Roucy2. Othon was the son of Adalberto II King of Italy1.
Titles
While married to William V, the Duke of Aquitaine, she held the title of Duchess of Aquitaine2.
Agnes was Regent of Aquitaine for her son William the VIII Duke of Aquitaine between 1039 and 10442.
Family
In 1019 she married Duke William V of Aquitaine, as his third wife1 2.
In 1023 she gave birth to:
- Pierre and Guy Geoffrey, twins. Guy Geoffrey became William VIII, Duke of Aquitaine.
- Agnes, who married Holy Roman Emperor Henry III.
She later married Geoffrey II, Count of Anjou.
Notable events
In 1020, she donated property to the Abbey of Cluny2. This abbey had been founded by Duke William I in 9103.
When William died in 1030, his son from a previous marriage inherited the duchy leaving her in a precarious position4. When the new Duke died in 1038, Guy Geoffrey inherited the title2 4. He took the name William to become Duke William VIII of Aquitaine2.
On 31 May 1040 she and her second husband founded the abbey of La Trinité de Vendôme. I wrote about the abbey and the legend behind it.
In 1047 after separating from her second husband she founded the abbey of Notre-Dame de Saintes and joined the abbey as a nun in 10682.
She also founded the abbey of Saint-Nicolas at Poitou with the consent of her sons2. This could have been in 10502.
Death
She died in the abbey of Notre-Dame de Saintes on 10 November 10681 4 but I don’t know what she died of. They buried her in the priory of Saint-Nicolas de Poitiers1 2.
Lineage
She is my 25 x great-grandmother.
Get in touch!
Do you have any other information about this person? Would you like to ask me something about my research? I’d love to hear from you!
References
- Fmg.ac. (2023). BURGUNDY DUCHY NOBILITY – MÁCON & BEAUJEU. [online] Available at: http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/BURGUNDIAN%20NOBILITY.htm [Accessed 31 Jul. 2024][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
- Aquitaine, Dukes; Medieval Lands; Charles Cawley; 2019-02-16[↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
- Crusaders: An Epic History of the Wars for the Holy Lands; Dan Jones; 05 September 2019[↩]
- Agnes of Aquitaine; Encyclopedia.com; 2019-12-17[↩][↩][↩]
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