'Gunhilda of Denmark' (c.
1020 -
18 July,
1038) was the first wife of
Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor.
Family
She was a daughter of
Canute the Great and
Emma of Normandy. Her maternal grandparents were
Richard I of Normandy and his second wife
Gunnora, Duchess of Normandy.
Gunhilda was a sister of
Harthacanute. She was a paternal half-sister of
Svein of Norway and
Harold Harefoot. She was also a maternal half-sister of
Alfred Aetheling and
Edward the Confessor.
Marriage
In 1036, Gunhilda married
Henry III, King of Germany. He was the son and heir of
Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor and
Gisela of Swabia. They only had one daughter:
★
Beatrice (
1037 –
13 July 1061), abbess of
Quedlinburg and
Gandersheim.
Her marriage was part of a pact between her father Canute and Conrad II over peaceful borders in the area of
Kiel. The agreement had occurred prior to the death of Canute in 1035.
In 1038, Conrad II was asked to intervene in a territorrial dispute between
Guaimar IV of Salerno and
Pandulf IV of Capua. He campaigned in the
Mezzogiorno in support of Guaimar. Their victory found most of the Mezzogiorno loyal to the
Holy Roman Empire. Both Henry III and Gunhilda followed Conrad in his campaign.
During the return trip to Germany, an
epidemic broke out among the Imperial troops. Gunhilda was among the casualties.
External links
★
A listing of descendants of Gorm the Old
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