Noble family House of Billung Mother Eilika of Schweinfurt | Name Gertrude Saxony | |
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Father Bernard II, Duke of Saxony Died August 4, 1113, Veurne, Belgium Spouse Robert I, Count of Flanders (m. 1063), Floris I, Count of Holland (m. 1050) Children Dirk V, Count of Holland, Bertha of Holland Parents Bernard II, Duke of Saxony, Eilika of Schweinfurt Grandchildren Floris II, Count of Holland, Ingegerd Knutsdatter Similar People Robert I - Count of Flanders, Baldwin V - Count of Flanders, Philip I of France, Louis VI of France, Henry I of France | ||
Gertrude of Saxony (c. 1030 – August 4, 1113), also known as Gertrude Billung, was a countess consort of Holland, and a countess consort of Flanders by marriage. She was regent of Holland during the minority of her son.
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Countess of Holland
She was the daughter of Bernard II, Duke of Saxony and Eilika of Schweinfurt. She married Floris I, Count of Holland (c. 1017 – June 28, 1061) c. 1050, and upon his death, her son Dirk V became Count of Holland. Since he was still young, she became regent.
When Dirk V came into power, William I, Bishop of Utrecht, took advantage of the situation, occupying territory that he had claimed in Holland. Gertrude and her son withdrew to the islands of Frisia (Zeeland), leaving William to occupy the disputed lands.
Countess of Flanders
In 1063 Gertrude married Robert of Flanders (Robert the Frisian), the second son of Baldwin V of Flanders. This act gave Dirk the Imperial Flanders as an appanage – including the islands of Frisia west of the Frisian Scheldt. She and her husband then acted as co-regents for the young count.
Family and children
She had a total of seven children with Floris I, Count of Holland:
- Albert (b. c. 1051), a canon in Liege.
- Dirk V (c. 1052, Vlaardingen–17 June 1091).
- Peter (b. c. 1053), a canon in Liége.
- Bertha (c. 1055–1094, Montreuil-sur-Mer), who married Philip I of France in 1072.
- Floris (b. c. 1055), a canon in Liége.
- Matilda (b. c. 1057)
- Adela (b. c. 1061), who married Count Baudouin I of Guînes.
From her second marriage to Robert of Flanders she had five children:
- Robert II of Flanders (c. 1065 – October 5, 1111).
- Adela (d. 1115), who first married king Canute IV of Denmark, and was the mother of Charles the Good, later count of Flanders. She then married Roger Borsa, duke of Apulia.
- Gertrude, who married Theodoric II, Duke of Lorraine, and was the mother of Thierry of Alsace, also later count of Flanders.
- Philip of Loo, whose illegitimate son William of Ypres was also a claimant to the county of Flanders.
- Ogiva, abbess of Messines.