Maria of Swabia


Maria of Swabia was a member of the powerful Hohenstaufen dynasty of German kings.

Family

Maria of Hohenstaufen was born in Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy on 3 April 1201. She was the second daughter of Philip of Swabia and Irene Angelina of Byzantium. In 1208, at the age of seven, Maria was left an orphan by the unexpected deaths of her parents. On 21 June, her father was murdered by Otto of Wittelsbach, and two months later her mother died after giving birth to a daughter, who did not live beyond early infancy.

Marriage and issue

Sometime before 22 August 1215, she married Henry II, heir to the Duchy of Brabant and Lothier. They had:
Maria of Hohenstaufen died on 29 March 1235 in Leuven, Brabant, five days before her thirty-fourth birthday. Less than six months later, her husband succeeded his father as Duke of Brabant and Lothier.