Richeza of Lotharingia (also called Richenza, Rixa, Ryksa; born about 995/1000 – 21 March 1063) was a member of the Ezzonen dynasty who became queen of Poland as the wife of Mieszko II Lambert. Her Polish marriage was arranged to strengthen the ties between Mieszko and her uncle Emperor Otto III. She returned to Germany following the deposition of her husband in 1031, either divorcing or separating from him. Upon the death of her brother Duke Otto II of Swabia and the consequent extinction of the male line of her family, Richeza became a nun, worked to preserve the Ezzonen heritage, and funded the restoration of the Abbey of Brauweiler. She has been beatified.

Family and betrothal

She was the eldest daughter of Count Palatine Ezzo of Lotharingia by his wife, Matilda, daughter of Emperor Otto II and Empress Theophanu. Richeza's parents were married in 993. Polish historian Kazimierz Jasiński supposed that she was few years younger than her husband Mieszko II Lambert.

In 1000 during the Congress of Gniezno, an agreement was apparently made between Bolesław the Brave and Richeza's uncle Emperor Otto III. Among the usual political talks, they decided to strengthen ties through marriage. Otto's childlessness meant that the seven daughters of his sister Mathilde (the only of Otto II's daughters who married and produced children) were the potential brides for Mieszko, Bolesław I's son and heir; the oldest of Otto III's nieces, Richeza, was chosen. However, Otto's unexpected death in 1002, the reorientation of the Holy Roman Empire politics by his successor, Henry II, and wars between Henry and Bolesław led to the delay of the wedding. The Emperor took the opportunity of a settlement with the Ezzonen family and in Merseburg negotiated a temporary peace with Poland. The marriage between Mieszko and Richeza took place in Merseburg, probably during the Pentecost festivities.

Queenship

After the final peace agreement between the Holy Roman Empire and Poland, which was signed in 1018 in Bautzen, Richeza and Mieszko maintained close contact with the German court. In 1021 they participated in the consecration of part of the Bamberg Cathedral.

Bolesław I the Brave died on 17 June 1025. Six months later, on Christmas Day, Mieszko II Lambert and Richeza were crowned king and queen of Poland by the archbishop of Gniezno, Hipolit, in the Gniezno Cathedral. Mieszko's reign was short-lived: in 1031, the invasion of both German and Kievan troops forced him to escape to Bohemia, where he was imprisoned and castrated by orders of Duke Oldrich. Mieszko II's half-brother Bezprym took the government of Poland and began a cruel persecution of the followers of the former king. The Brauweiler Chronicle indicated that soon after the escape of her husband, Richeza and her children fled to Germany and with him the territorial and political objectives of his family. Richeza now inherited large parts of the Ezzonen possessions.

Otto's death seems to have touched Richeza. At his funeral in Brauweiler, according to Bruno of Toul (later Pope Leo IX), she put her fine jewellery on the altar. She declared that she would spend the rest of her life as a nun

Heritage

thumbnail|Image of Richeza in Cologne Cathedral

Richeza was buried in Cologne's church of St. Maria ad Gradus and not, as she had wished, in Brauweiler. This was prompted by Archbishop Anno II, who appealed to an oral agreement with Richeza. The Klotten estate donated her funeral arrangements to St. Maria ad Gradus, whose relationship with Richeza, Hermann II and Anno II is unclear. Possibly St. Maria ad Gradus was an unfinished work of Richeza's brother and completed by Anno II, who wanted to secure part of the Ezzonen patrimony in this way. The Brauweiler Abbey claimed the validity of the 1051 charter and demanded the remains of the Polish Queen.

The dispute ended in 1090 when the then-current archbishop of Cologne, Hermann III, ruled in favour of the monastery of Brauweiler. However, Richeza's grave remained in St. Maria ad Gradus until 1816, when it was transferred to Cologne Cathedral. Her grave was placed in the chapel dedicated to St. John the Baptist in a classic wooden sarcophagus. Beside the coffin hang two medieval portraits of Richeza and Anno II that originate from the medieval grave in St. Maria ad Gradus.

Her grave was opened multiple times after the transfer to Cologne Cathedral. The last opening was in 1959 and revealed her bones. According to witnesses, Richeza had a small and graceful stature. Her collarbone showed traces of a fracture. Richeza's relics were located in St. Nicholas church in Brauweiler and were moved to the Klotter parish church in 2002.

Marriage and issue

Richeza and Mieszko had:

  • Richeza (born 1013) - married Béla I of Hungary
  • Casimir (born 1016) - Duke of Poland
  • Gertruda (born 1025), married Grand Prince Iziaslav I of Kiev
  • possibly Agatha, wife of Edward the Exile, whose origins are unknown. One theory that has been put forward is that she was the daughter of Mieszko II and Richeza.

Legacy

The most important of Richeza's projects was the rebuilding of the Abbey of Brauweiler. Her parents had founded Brauweiler, but the original church was modestly furnished, which was incompatible with the dynasty's territorial objectives. After Otto's death, Richeza decided to make Brauweiler the centre of Ezzonen memory. Since the original building didn't suit this purpose, Richeza built a new abbey, which remains in good condition. When the construction began a three-aisled pillared basilica was planned with a projecting transept to the east apse across a crypt. The aisles were groined vaults with flat ceilings in the central nave. Inside, the nave had five , each of which was half as large as the square crossing. Throughout the Abbey the cross-vaulted ceiling could be seen (for example in the aisles, pillars or the crypt), which can be found in many Ezzonen buildings. The crypt was consecrated on 11 December 1051. The rest of the construction was consecrated on 30 October 1063, seven months after Richeza's death.

The building has distinct references to the Church of St. Maria im Kapitol in Cologne, founded by Richeza's sister Ida. Both crypts are laid out identically, the two bays in Brauweiler, however, were shorter. In the upper church, there are clear references. Brauweiler is seen as a copy of the Cologne Cathedral, probably thanks to the influence of Richeza's brother Hermann II, who in 1040 consecrated Stavelot Abbey. Richeza planned to make Brauweiler the Ezzonen family crypt, in 1051 interring the remains of her sister Adelaide, Abbess of Nivelles. In 1054 she transferred the remains of her father from Augsburg to be buried next to her sister.

The Gospel Book of Queen Richeza (today in possession of the Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Darmstadt), comes from St. Maria ad Gradus, where Richeza had a space reserved in the central nave, normally occupied by the Donors. It is not clear whether this was done at the behest of Anno II, or by Richeza. An indication of the latter thesis, however, is the Gospel Book. The manuscript is made of 153 pages in the pergamin style in an 18 x 13.5 cm format. In 150 of the pages of the book, a prayer is recorded, which suggests a high-born owner. The following pages contain entries about the Ezzonen memorial. In addition to Richeza, Anno II and her parents were named. The entries can be counted among drawings in the Codex style recognized around 1100. The Codex itself was built around 1040, probably in Maasland, with incomplete ornamentation: the Mark and Luke are drawn completely, but only in a preliminary sketch. Matthew wasn't drawn. Another possible indication is the Codex date: After 1047, Richeza took her monastic vows and had no need for a personal representative signature. It is unknown whether it remained in her possession and was used together with other relics of Anno II from her estate of St. Maria ad Gradus, or had already been donated to her brother before her death.

References

Further reading

  • Kazimierz Jasiński, Rycheza, żona króla polskiego Mieszka II
  • Klaus Gereon Beuckers: Die Ezzonen und ihre Stiftungen. Münster: LIT Verlag, 1993, .

Sources

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