Ludgarda (wife of Przemysł II)

Ludgarda
Ludgarda
Duchess consort of Poznań
Tenure	1273-1283
Predecessor	Elisabeth of Wrocław
Successor	Rikissa of Sweden
Duchess consort of Greater Poland
Tenure	1279-1283
Predecessor	Jolenta-Helena of Hungary
Successor	Rikissa of Sweden
Born	c. 1260
Died	c. 1283 (aged 22–23)
Burial	Cathedral of Gniezno
Spouse	Przemysł II
House	House of Mecklenburg (by birth) ; House of Piast (by marriage)
Father	Henry I the Pilgrim, Lord of Mecklenburg
Mother	Anastasia of Pomerania

Ludgarda (c. 1260/61 – bef. 14 December 1283), was a German noblewoman of the House of Mecklenburg, and by marriage Duchess consort of Poznań during 1273-1283 and of all Greater Poland during 1279-1283.

She was the eldest child and only daughter[1] of Henry I the Pilgrim, Lord of Mecklenburg by his wife Anastasia, daughter of Barnim I, Duke of Pomerania. She was probably named after her paternal grandmother, Luitgard of Henneberg.[2]

Life

The alliance between Dukes Bolesław the Pious of Greater Poland and Barnim I of Pomerania was sealed with the marriage between Przemysł II, Bolesław's nephew, and Ludgarda, Barnim I's granddaughter. The wedding ceremony was performed in the city of Szczecin, in 1273.[3]

After a happy beginning, the relationship between the couple became more complicated due to Ludgarda's apparent infertility after almost ten years of marriage. They may have been separated shortly before her death.

Ludgarda died suddenly in Gniezno, and was buried in the local cathedral on 14 December 1283, probably a few days after her death.[4]

According to Jan Długosz[5] and other contemporary sources, she was strangled by order of her husband, after her refusal of a divorce and return to Mecklenburg. However, modern historiography suggests the innocence of Przemysł II.

References

Henry I and Anastasia of Pomerania married in 1259, and their two sons Henry II and John III were born in around 1267 and 1270, respectively. It is speculated that Ludgarda was the eldest child of her parents, being born around 1260-1261, because she was already considered of a marriageable age in 1273. B. Nowacki: Przemysł II książę wielkopolski, król Polski 1257–1295, Poznań 1995, p. 54; K. Jasiński: Genealogia Piastów wielkopolskich. Potomstwo Władysława Odonica, [in:] Nasi Piastowie "Kronika Miasta Poznania", nr 2/95, Poznań 1995, p. 54; A. Swieżawski: Przemysł. Król Polski, Warsaw 2006, p. 94.
Complete Genealogy of the House of Mecklenburg (retrieved 6 July 2014).
Kronika wielkopolska, Warsaw 1965, p. 297.
The exact day of her death is unknown. Roznik Traski, [in:] MPH, vol. II, p. 849, and Rocznik Małopolski, [in:] MPH, vol. III, p. 182.
Jan Długosz: Annales seu cronicae incliti Regni Poloniae, Fr. VII-VIII, Warsaw 1975, pp. 225-226.

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[1] Henry I and Anastasia of Pomerania married in 1259, and their two sons Henry II and John III were born in around 1267 and 1270, respectively. It is speculated that Ludgarda was the eldest child of her parents, being born around 1260-1261, because she was already considered of a marriageable age in 1273. B. Nowacki: Przemysł II książę wielkopolski, król Polski 1257–1295, Poznań 1995, p. 54; K. Jasiński: Genealogia Piastów wielkopolskich. Potomstwo Władysława Odonica, [in:] Nasi Piastowie "Kronika Miasta Poznania", nr 2/95, Poznań 1995, p. 54; A. Swieżawski: Przemysł. Król Polski, Warsaw 2006, p. 94.

[2] Complete Genealogy of the House of Mecklenburg (retrieved 6 July 2014).

[3] Kronika wielkopolska, Warsaw 1965, p. 297.

[4] The exact day of her death is unknown. Roznik Traski, [in:] MPH, vol. II, p. 849, and Rocznik Małopolski, [in:] MPH, vol. III, p. 182.

[5] Jan Długosz: Annales seu cronicae incliti Regni Poloniae, Fr. VII-VIII, Warsaw 1975, pp. 225-226.