Ingeborg of Saxony


Ingeborg, was a Duchess consort of Saxony, married to John I, Duke of Saxony.
In contemporary German sources, Ingeborg is referred to as filia regis Suecie and filia Regis Sweonum. In his 1876 commentary on the Annales Lubecenses, Claes Annerstedt speculated that she was the daughter of King Erik Eriksson. The Danish genealogist Sixten Otto Brenner made the same claim independently in 1961. Brenner noted that Ingeborg's seal featured three leopards, the symbol of the Danish royal family, which Erik had inherited from his mother. He further supported his claim by citing the papal dispensations required for Ingeborg's daughters, Helena and Elisabeth, to marry Count Günther IX of Schwarzburg-Blankenburg and Duke Valdemar of Schleswig, despite their fourth degree of affinity with their husbands.
Hans Gillingstam challenged these conclusions in 1967. He pointed out that Erik Eriksson is known to have been inherited by his sister Ingeborg Eriksdotter, which suggests that Erik's marriage was childless. Gillingstam argued that it is more likely Ingeborg was the daughter of Birger Jarl and Ingeborg Eriksdotter. He also noted that Birger's other daughter Rikissa is referred to as filia regis Suecie in Chronica principum Saxonie, and the same papal dispensations would have been required for Ingeborg's daughters as for Erik's.

Marriage and issue

Ingeborg married John I, Duke of Saxony, in 1270. She had eight children, among them the following:
Category:Duchesses of Saxe-Lauenburg
Category:1250s births
Category:1302 deaths
Category:Year of birth uncertain
Category:House of Ascania
Category:House of Bjälbo
Category:Swedish emigrants to Germany
Category:Mothers of Saxon monarchs