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Archiver > GEN-MEDIEVAL > 1997-01 > 0852271057
From: Don Stone < >
Subject: Re: AGATHA, WIFE of EDWARD the EXILE
Date: Fri, 3 Jan 1997 00:57:37 -0500
Todd A. Farmerie wrote:
>
> De Vajay concluded that Agatha was daughter
> of Liudolf, half-brother of Henry III...
>
> We (s.g.med) were told of a new solution shortly after the group
> started and again several months ago, ... so we
> knew it was coming. Still I must admit, I never would have guessed
> Jaroslav. Of the evidence I have seen cited by both Moriarty and de
> Vajay, nothing has pointed to a russian origin.
>
> Would someone with access to this NEHGR please summarize the arguments
> in favor of Jaroslav.
Here is my brief summary of the issues relating to the parentage
of Agatha, wife of Edward the Exile:
A definitive answer to the question of Agatha's parentage may be
difficult to obtain. De Vajay (1962) presents the case for
Liudolf, Margrave of West-Friesland, and Gertrude of Egisheim as
her parents, while Jette (1996) argues for Jaroslav I, Grand-
Prince of Kiev, and Ingegarde of Sweden. De Vajay's hypothesis
makes Agatha a daughter of a half-brother of Emperor Henry III,
consistent with early documents which specify that Agatha was
"filia germani imperatoris Henrici," i.e., a blood relative of
Emperor Henry, but Jette believes that this hypothesis requires
an unreasonably tight chronology and that the absence of mention
of such a connection by continental chroniclers makes it
suspect. Jette also adduces onomastic support for his proposal
that Jaroslav and Ingegarde were the parents of Agatha (a Greek
name), since Jaroslav had an attraction to Greek culture,
perhaps inspired by his stepmother Anne of Byzantium; in
addition, none of Agatha's children or grandchildren were given
German names, while two of her three children (Margaret and
Christine) had Swedish names. Jette believes that the blood
relationship with Emperor Henry may have been inferred by later
chroniclers from William of Malmesbury's statement that Agatha
was the sister of the Queen of Hungary. Jette's hypothesis
makes Agatha a sister of Anastasia, queen of Andrew I of
Hungary, but a later queen of Hungary was Judith, daughter of
Emperor Henry III and wife of Andrew's son Salomon.
References:
Jette, Rene. 1996. "Is the Mystery of the Origin of Agatha,
Wife of Edward the Exile, Finally Solved?" New England
Historical and Genealogical Register 150: 417-432.
de Vajay, Szabolcs. 1962. "Agatha, Mother of St. Margaret,
Queen of Scotland." Duquesne Review 7:71-80.
-- DS
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