Bertha of Holland

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Bertha of Holland

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Bertha of Holland
Bertha with crown
Queen consort of the Franks
Tenure 1072–1092
Spouse King Philip I of France
Issue
Princess Constance
Louis VI of France
Prince Henry
Prince Charles
Prince Eudes
House House of Capet
Father Floris I, Count of Holland
Mother Gertrude of Saxony
Born c. 1055
Died 1093 (aged 37–38)

Bertha of Holland (c. 1055–1093) was the first wife of Philip I of France, the King of France.

Contents

Biography

She was the daughter of Floris I, Count of Holland, by his wife Gertrude of Saxony. After her father died in 1061, her mother remarried to Robert I, Count of Flanders. In 1072 her stepfather concluded a peace treaty with King Philip. As part of the terms of the treaty Bertha was married to Philip.

Nine years passed before Bertha produced the desired son and heir, Louis. Reportedly, her fertility was only restored thanks to the prayers of a hermit, Arnoul, who also named the child.

In 1092, Philip repudiated Bertha, alleging that she was too fat. He confined her to the fortress of Montreuil-sur-Mer, and took up with Bertrade de Montfort, the countess of Anjou.

Children

Together, Philip and Bertha had five children:

  1. Constance, married Hugh I of Champagne before 1097 and then, after her divorce, to Bohemund I of Antioch in 1106
  2. Louis (1 December 1081–1 August 1137)
  3. Henry (b. 1083) (died young)
  4. Charles (b. 1085) abbot of Charlieu Abbey
  5. Eudes (1087–1096)

Ancestry

Sources

  • Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America Before 1700 by Frederick Lewis Weis, Lines: 101-23, 103-23.
  • Duby, Georges. The Knight, the Lady, and the Priest: the making of modern marriage in medieval France, 1983.
  • Encyclopaedia Britannica: A New Survey of Universal Knowledge, 1942, s.v. "Philip I".
French royalty
Preceded by
Anne of Kiev
Queen consort of the Franks
1072–1092
Succeeded by
Bertrade de Montfort

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