Judith, Duchess of Bavaria
| Judith | |
|---|---|
| Duchess consort of Bavaria | |
Henry and Judith of Bavaria, by Lucas Cranach (1546)
|
|
| Reign | 947–955 |
| Predecessor | Biltrude |
| Successor | Gisela of Burgundy |
| Spouse(s) | Henry I, Duke of Bavaria |
| Issue | |
| Noble family | Luitpoldings |
| Father | Arnulf, Duke of Bavaria |
| Mother | Judith of Friuli(?) |
| Born | 925 |
| Died | 29 June after 985 Regensburg, Bavaria |
| Buried | Niedermünster Abbey |
Judith (925 – 29 June after 985), a member of the Luitpolding dynasty, was Duchess consort of Bavaria from 947 to 955, by her marriage with Duke Henry I. After her husband's death, she acted as regent of Bavaria during the minority of her son Henry the Wrangler.
Judith was the eldest daughter of the Bavarian duke Arnulf the Bad and, traditionally, Judith of Friuli (although modern scholars point to Judith, daughter of Count Eberhard of Sülichgau). In the emerging Kingdom of Germany, her father tried to maintain the autonomy of his Bavarian stem duchy and entered into several conflicts with King Conrad I as well as with his Ottonian successor Henry the Fowler. According to the Annales iuvavenses, he even proclaimed himself anti-king after Conrad's death in 918, nevertheless he reconciled with King Henry three years later.
Judith's elder brother Eberhard succeeded his father as Bavarian duke in 937 and again picked a fierce quarrel with Henry's son King Otto I. In 938 the king campaigned the Bavarian lands, declared Eberhard deposed and enfeoffed his uncle Berthold as duke. Though Berthold remained a loyal supporter of the Ottonian dynasty, he failed to secure the Bavarian duchy for his minor son Henry the Younger. Instead, King Otto had evolved plans to create a dynastic relation with the Luitpoldings and to install his own brother, Henry I, as duke.
Shortly before her father's death in 937, Judith and Henry I were betrothed, thereby legitimising Henry's claims to the Bavarian throne. Through this matrimonial alliance between the Luitpolding and Ottonian dynasties, the Bavarian duchy entered the growing Kingdom of Germany, and Judith's descent would back the recognition of her husband's rule. Upon Berthold's death in 947, Henry I succeeded him as duke. Judith remained loyal to her husband, even when he was temporarily expelled by the Bavarian nobility during the revolt of his nephew, Duke Liudolf of Swabia, in 953.
...
Wikipedia