Ingeborg of Denmark, Queen of France
(1174-1237)
BIRTH
1174
PLACE
Denmark
DEATH
July 29, 1237
PLACE
Corbeil-Essonnes, France
FAMILY
HUSBAND
Philip II of France
(1165-1223)
HOMES
RELIGIOUS VIEWS
CHRISTIAN
CATHOLIC
MEMBERSHIPS
AWARDS
Ingeborg of Denmark was queen of France as the second wife of Philip II Augustus. She married Philip at Amiens on August 14, 1193. Philip tried to send Ingeborg back to Denmark, but she refused to leave. She was held for years in convents and castles, including Étampes. Philip formally restored her as queen in 1213. After his death in 1223 she lived at Corbeil, where she founded a priory of the Knights Hospitaller, and she died there on July 29, 1237.
EARLY LIFE
Ingeborg was born in 1174, the daughter of Valdemar I, King of Denmark, and Sophia of Minsk. Her brother Canute VI was king of Denmark when Philip II, widowed since the death of Isabelle of Hainault, sought an alliance with the Danes, whose fleet and old claim to the English throne might help him against England. A large dowry was agreed, and Ingeborg traveled to France. She married Philip at Amiens on August 14, 1193. The next day the king turned against her for reasons that have never been explained.
Philip tried to send Ingeborg back to Denmark, but she refused to leave. In November 1193 a council of French bishops annulled the marriage on the grounds of kinship, and Ingeborg appealed to the pope.
She was held for years in convents and castles, including Étampes. When Philip married Agnes of Merania, Pope Innocent III placed France under an interdict in 1200, and the king was pressed to take Ingeborg back.
Philip formally restored her as queen in 1213. After his death in 1223 she lived at Corbeil, where she founded a priory of the Knights Hospitaller, and she died there on July 29, 1237.
CAREER
DEATH
In November 1193 a council of French bishops annulled the marriage on the grounds of kinship, and Ingeborg appealed to the pope. When Philip married Agnes of Merania, Pope Innocent III placed France under an interdict in 1200, and the king was pressed to take Ingeborg back. Ingeborg of Denmark was queen of France as the second wife of Philip II Augustus. She married Philip at Amiens on August 14, 1193. Philip tried to send Ingeborg back to Denmark, but she refused to leave. She was held for years in convents and castles, including Étampes. Philip formally restored her as queen in 1213. After his death in 1223 she lived at Corbeil, where she founded a priory of the Knights Hospitaller, and she died there on July 29, 1237. The available biographical account does not describe a continuous final medical course. It gives no dependable sequence of treatment and last symptoms from which to reconstruct a more detailed bedside narrative.
POPULAR BIOGRAPHIES
Ingeborg of Denmark, Philip II Augustus’s queen of France, distinct from queens of Norway and Denmark with the same name. Duggan’s collection includes George Conklin’s biographical chapter on Ingeborg. Editorial selections prioritize biographical coverage; five standalone biographies were not established. Family and collective biographies, primary writings, references and related studies are labelled individually. Multi-volume works and series are counted as one selection.
1. Queens and Queenship in Medieval Europe — Anne J. Duggan (editor). [Collective biography and royal studies; includes Conklin’s chapter on Ingeborg] Find on Amazon
2. Philip Augustus: King of France, 1180–1223 — Jim Bradbury. [Related biography of her husband] Find on Amazon
3. The Government of Philip Augustus: Foundations of French Royal Power in the Middle Ages — John W. Baldwin. [Related political and biographical history] Find on Amazon
4. The Deeds of Philip Augustus: An English Translation of Rigord’s Gesta Philippi Augusti — Rigord; Larry F. Field (translator); M. Cecilia Gaposchkin; Sean L. Field (editors). [Primary royal narrative with commentary] Find on Amazon
5. Capetian Women — Kathleen D. Nolan (editor). [Collective royal biography and studies] Find on Amazon
102233