Ida of Formbach-Ratelnberg

Ida of Formbach-Ratelnberg
Ida of Formbach-Ratelnberg on the tree
Ida depicted on the family tree (Genealogy of the Babenberg Ladies)
Born Ida
c. 1055
Died September 1101
Noble family House of Babenberg
Spouse(s) Leopold II of Austria
Issue
Father Rapoto IV of Cham
Mother Mathilde

Ida of Austria (c. 1055 – September 1101) was a Margravine of Austria by marriage to Leopold II of Austria. She was a crusader, participating in the Crusade of 1101 with her own army.[1]

Life

She was the daughter of Rapoto IV of Cham and Mathilde. She is also known as Itha. She married Leopold II of Austria and had a son, Leopold III. She was known as one of the great beauties of her day.

In 1101, Ida, alongside Thiemo of Salzburg and the dukes Welf IV of Bavaria and William IX of Bavaria, joined the Crusade of 1101,[2] and raised and led her own army toward Jerusalem.

In September of that year, she and her army were among those ambushed at Heraclea Cybistra by the sultan Kilij Arslan I. Ekkehard of Aura reports that Ida was killed in the fighting, but rumors persisted that she survived, and was carried off to a harem. Later legends claimed that she was the mother of the Muslim hero Zengi, but this is impossible on chronological grounds.

In fiction

Ida's fate is depicted in Beloved Pilgrim by Christopher Hawthorne (2011).

Issue

See also

Family tree

References

  1. ↑ Steven Runciman: Geschichte der Kreuzzüge. München 1978 (Sonderausgabe), S. 341
  2. ↑ Steven Runciman: Geschichte der Kreuzzüge. München 1978 (Sonderausgabe), S. 341

Sources

  • Historia Welforum Weingartensis
  • Runciman, Steven. History of the Crusades, Vol. II
  • Lechner Karl. Die Babenberger. Markgrafen und Herzoge von Österreich 976–1246, Böhlau Verlag Wien-Köln-Weimar 1992.
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