Agnes of Leiningen


Agnes of Leiningen was a countess of the House of Leiningen and by marriage Countess of Nassau. She was probably Regent of the County of Nassau for some time for her youngest son.

Biography

Agnes was a daughter of Count Emich IV of Leiningen and his wife Elisabeth. She married before 1270 Count Otto I of Nassau. Her husband had divided the County of Nassau with his elder brother Walram II on 16 December 1255, on which occasion Otto had obtained the area north of the river Lahn, containing, among others, Siegen, Dillenburg, Herborn, Tringenstein, Neukirch and Emmerichenhain.
From this union came the following children:
  1. Henry, succeeded his father to become Count of Nassau-Siegen in 1303.
  2. Matilda, married around 1289 Gerhard of Schöneck.
  3. Emicho, succeeded his father to become Count of Nassau-Hadamar in 1303.
  4. Otto, was canon at Worms in 1294.
  5. John, succeeded his father to become Count of Nassau-Dillenburg in 1303.
  6. Gertrudis, was abbess of Altenberg Abbey, a Premonstratensian nunnery near Wetzlar.
"Ottho comes de Nassawen... cum uxore nostra Agnete nec non Henrico nostro primogenito" confirmed the gift of goods "in Hasilbach et Aldindorph" to the church in "Aldenburg" made by "matrem nostram Methildim comitissam bone mem... cum sorore nostra Katherina ibidem locata" by charter dated 3 May 1289. This is the last mention of Otto: in a charter dated 19 March 1290 he is mentioned as deceased.
Agnes ruled with her sons after the death of her husband. That can only mean that she acted as regent for her younger sons, the eldest two being of age at the death of their father. Nothing else is known about her regency.
On 13 April 1298 Agnes obtained permission from Bishop Emich I of Worms to found a monastery in Abenheim. The current Klausenberg Chapel is probably the remains of that monastery. Agnes was a second cousin of the bishop. In 1299 she and her sons Henry and Emich confirmed the foundation in a charter.
"Agnes relicta quondam... dni Ottonis... comitis de Nassawe" gave property in "Herberin" to "Aldenburg" "et... sororie nostre Dne Katerine et filie nostre Gertrudis", with the consent of "nostrorum filiorum.. Henrici, Emiconis militum, Ottonis et Iohannis clericorum", in a charter dated December 1299. This is the last mention of Agnes in a charter. When she died is unknown. She had already died when her sons divided the County of Nassau after a long dispute in 1303. She was buried in Altenberg Abbey.
Agnes is the ancestor of the Ottonian branch of the House of Nassau and therefore a direct ancestor of the Kings of the Netherlands.