Gisela of Swabia

Gisela of Swabia
Empress Gisela entering a church
Empress of the Holy Roman Empire
Tenure1027–1039
Coronation26 March 1027
St. Peter's Basilica, Rome
Coronation21 September 1024
Cologne Cathedral
Bornc. 990
Died(1043-02-15)15 February 1043
Imperial Palace of Goslar, Saxony
Burial
SpouseBrun I, Count of Brunswick
Ernest I, Duke of Swabia
Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor
Issue
more...
Liudolf, Margrave of Frisia
Ernest II, Duke of Swabia
Herman IV, Duke of Swabia
Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor
Matilda of Franconia
HouseConradines
FatherHerman II, Duke of Swabia
MotherGerberga of Burgundy

Gisela of Swabia (c. 990 – 15 February 1043),[1] was queen of Germany from 1024 to 1039 and empress of the Holy Roman Empire from 1027 to 1039 by her third marriage with Emperor Conrad II. She was the mother of Emperor Henry III. She was regent of Swabia for her minor son Duke Ernest II of Swabia in 1015, although it seems at that time her husband Conrad was the one who held the reins of government, leading to the enmity between stepfather and stepson.[2]

She was an active empress, exemplifying a tradition in which, up to the period of the Hohenstaufens, as the consors regni (ruling partner to the king or emperor), the queen and empress held a substantive role in the government, often intervening in the drafting of documents or even issuing documents in her own name.[3][4] She reigned as regent for her absent husband in 1037.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference NDB was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Ingelheim was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Goetz, Hans-Werner (1993). Life in the Middle Ages: From the Seventh to the Thirteenth Century. University of Notre Dame Press. p. 44. ISBN 978-0-268-01300-4. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  4. ^ Tanner, Heather J. (9 January 2019). Medieval Elite Women and the Exercise of Power, 1100–1400: Moving beyond the Exceptionalist Debate. Springer. pp. 180, 181. ISBN 978-3-030-01346-2. Retrieved 11 October 2022.