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Clementia of Zähringen
Clementia of Zähringen
Duchess of Bavaria and Saxony; Countess of Savoy
	Tomb of Clementia of Zähringen
Died	1175
Spouse	Henry the Lion; Umberto III, Count of Savoy
Issue	Henry of Saxony; Gertrude, Queen of Denmark; Richenza of Saxony; Sophia, Lady of Ferrara; Alicia of Savoy
House	House of Zähringen
Father	Conrad I, Duke of Zähringen
Mother	Clementia of Namur

Clementia of Zähringen (died 1175), was a daughter of Conrad I, Duke of Zähringen and his wife Clementia of Namur.^[1] By her first marriage, Clementia was Duchess of Bavaria and Saxony. By her second marriage she was Countess of Savoy.

Duchess of Saxony and Bavaria

Clementia was the youngest of six children, her family owned territory in Swabia. She was a great-granddaughter of Conrad I, Count of Luxembourg and his wife Clementia of Aquitaine, herself daughter of William VII, Duke of Aquitaine.

Clementia was firstly married in 1147 to Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony,^[2] he later inherited Bavaria. The marriage was arranged to confirm her father's alliance with the Welf party in Southern Germany.^[3] She was heiress of Badenweiler, although her husband sold these Swabian estates to Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor in 1158, receiving in exchange Herzberg, Scharzfels and Pöhlde south of the Harz.^[4]

Clementia and Henry had three children:

Henry, died young
Gertrude (1155–1197), married first Frederick IV, Duke of Swabia, and then King Canute VI of Denmark
Richenza (c. 1157 – 1167), died young

Henry repudiated Clementia because of the growing difficulties between her brother Duke Berthold IV and Emperor Frederick, the latter with whom Duke Henry was by then in close alliance with.^[5] Frederick did not cherish Guelphish possessions in his home area and offered Henry several fortresses in Saxony in exchange. The couple's marriage was declared null at Constance on 23 November 1162.

Countess of Savoy

Clementia remained unwed for two years before she married her second husband, Umberto III, Count of Savoy, Clementia being his third wife.^[2] Umberto's first two marriages were not successful, his first wife died young; his second marriage ended in an annulment. Umberto gave up and became a Carthusian monk. However, the nobles and common people of Savoy begged him to marry yet again, which he reluctantly did to Clementia.

Clementia and Humbert had two daughters:

Sophia (1165–1202), married Azzo VI of Este^[6]
Alicia (1166–1178), betrothed to John of England^[7]

Clementia died in 1175, predeceasing both her husbands and three of her four daughters. After her death, Umberto attempted to return to the monastic life yet again but was forced to remarry a fourth and final time to Beatrice of Viennois who bore him the long-awaited son and heir, Thomas.^[6]

Ancestry

Ancestors of Clementia of Zähringen

16. Bezzelin von Villingen

8. Berthold II, Duke of Carinthia

17. Luitgard

4. Berthold II, Duke of Swabia

9. Richwara

2. Conrad I, Duke of Zähringen

20. Kuno of Rheinfelden

10. Rudolf of Rheinfelden

5. Agnes of Rheinfelden

22. Otto I, Count of Savoy

11. Adelaide of Savoy

23. Adelaide of Susa

1. Clementia of Zähringen

24. Albert II, Count of Namur

12. Albert III, Count of Namur

25. Regilinda of Lower Lorraine

6. Godfrey I, Count of Namur

26. Bernard II, Duke of Saxony

13. Ida of Saxony

27. Eilika of Schweinfurt

3. Clementia of Namur

28. Giselbert of Luxembourg

14. Conrad I, Count of Luxembourg

7. Ermesinde of Luxembourg

30. William VII, Duke of Aquitaine

15. Clementia of Aquitaine

31. Ermesinde

Notes

^ Lyon 2013, p. 249.
^ ^a ^b Previte-Orton 1912, p. 329.
^ Haverkamp (1988), p. 146
^ Jordan (1986), pp. 65 and 95.
^ Haverkamp (1988), p. 223.
^ ^a ^b Previte-Orton 1912, p. 352.
^ Previte-Orton 1912, p. 339.

References

Lyon, Jonathan R. (2013). Princely Brother and Sisters: The Sibling Bond in German Politics, 1100-1250. Cornell University Press.
Previte-Orton, C.W. (1912). The Early History of the House of Savoy: 1000-1233. Cambridge University Press.

Vacant Title last held by Sophie of Winzenburg	Duchess of Saxony 1147–1162	Vacant Title next held by Matilda of England
Preceded by Theodora Komnene	Duchess of Bavaria 1156–1162	Vacant Title next held by Matilda of England
Vacant Title last held by Gertrude of Flanders	Countess of Savoy 1162–1164	Vacant Title next held by Beatrice of Viennois