Agnes of Denmark

For the wife of Eric V of Denmark, see Agnes of Brandenburg.

Agnes of Denmark
Abbess of St. Agneta
Reign	1264-1266
Born	1249
Died	after 1290
House	House of Estridsen
Father	Eric IV of Denmark
Mother	Jutta of Saxony
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Agnes of Denmark (1249-after 1290) was the youngest daughter of Eric IV of Denmark and his wife Jutta of Saxony. She founded the Convent of St. Agneta in Roskilde, becoming Abbess there.

Agnes lost her father at the age of one, and after her mother left for remarriage in Germany, she and her sister Jutta remained to be raised at the court of her paternal uncle, the king of Denmark. The sisters had the right to large estates after their father, but were not able to enforce them against their uncle, who deposed their father. In 1264, a convent for women of the Dominican order was founded in Roskilde and named after her. The convent was founded by initiative of Countess Ingerd of Hvide, but the application was sent to the Pope in the name of Agnes, who was officially named as founder. Agnes was placed there as its first abbess, and the regent of Denmark was forced to swear that she had been placed there by her own free will. In 1266, also her sister Jutta was placed in the convent, and replaced her as abbess. Both sister greatly disliked the life as nuns, and the both left the convent in 1270. Agnes seem to have managed to gain control over at least parts of her father's estates. She lived the rest of her life managing her estates at Själland, and there are several documents mentioning her acts as a landowner. She is last mentioned alive in 1290. The year of her death is unknown. the Danish Royal House and the Saint Agnes Abbey battled over her inheritance until the Protestant reformation.

References

• http://www.kvinfo.dk/side/597/bio/276/origin/170/

Ancestry

Family of Agnes of Denmark

16. Canute Lavard               8. Valdemar I of Denmark                       17. Ingeborg of Kiev               4. Valdemar II of Denmark                             18. Volodar of Minsk               9. Sophia of Minsk                       19. Richeza of Poland               2. Eric IV of Denmark                                   20. Afonso I of Portugal               10. Sancho I of Portugal                       21. Maud of Savoy               5. Berengaria of Portugal                             22. Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona               11. Dulce of Aragon                       23. Petronila of Aragon               1. Agnes of Denmark                                         24. Albert the Bear               12. Bernard III, Duke of Saxony                       25. Sophie of Winzenburg               6. Albert I, Duke of Saxony                             26. Canute V of Denmark               13. Birgitte of Denmark                       3. Jutta of Saxony                                   28. Leopold V, Duke of Austria               14. Leopold VI, Duke of Austria                       29. Helena of Hungary               7. Agnes of Austria                             15. Theodora Angelina

Sources

• DENMARK, Medieval Lands