Editing Hedwig of Silesia (section)

==Life==
The daughter of Count [[Berthold, Duke of Merania|Berthold IV of Andechs]], [[margrave]] of [[March of Carniola|Carniola]] and [[March of Istria|Istria]] and his second wife [[Agnes of Rochlitz|Agnes of Wettin]],<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07189a.htm |last=Kirsch |first=Johann Peter |title=St. Hedwig |encyclopedia=The Catholic Encyclopedia |volume=7 |location=New York |publisher=Robert Appleton Company |date= 1910 |access-date=2007-02-18}}</ref> she was born at [[Andechs Abbey|Andechs Castle]] in the [[Duchy of Bavaria]]. Her elder sister, [[Agnes of Merania|Agnes]], married King [[Philip II of France]] (annulled in 1200) and her sister [[Gertrude of Merania|Gertrude]] (killed in 1213) married King [[Andrew II of Hungary]], while the youngest Matilda, (Mechtild) became abbess at the [[Benedictine]] Abbey of [[Kitzingen]] in [[Franconia]], where Hedwig also received her education. Hedwig's brother was Bishop [[Ekbert of Bamberg]], Count of Andechs-Meranien. Another brother was [[Berthold (patriarch of Aquileia)|Berthold]], Archbishop of Kalocsa and [[Patriarch of Aquileia]], while her brother [[Henry II, Margrave of Istria|Henry, Margrave of Istria]] was the first lord of [[Carniola]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.savel-hobi.net/leksikon/zgodovina_sl/nastanekm8.htm|title = Zgodovina Slovencev - NASTANEK MEST IN ENOTNEGA PODLOŽNIŠKEGA RAZREDA. ZDRUŽEVANJE SLOVENSKIH POKRAJIN - Boj za Kranjsko in Otokarjev poskus združitve slovenskih dežel s češkimi}}</ref>

Through her sister Gertrude, she was the aunt of [[Elizabeth of Hungary]].

===Duchess consort===
At the age of twelve, Hedwig married [[Henry I the Bearded]], son and heir of the [[Silesian Piasts|Piast]] duke [[Bolesław I the Tall|Boleslaus the Tall]] of [[Duchy of Silesia|Silesia]]. As soon as Henry succeeded his father in 1201, he had to struggle with his [[Piast dynasty|Piast]] relatives, at first with his uncle Duke [[Mieszko IV Tanglefoot]] who immediately seized the Upper Silesian [[Duchy of Opole]]. In 1206 Henry and his cousin Duke [[Władysław III Spindleshanks]] of [[Greater Poland]] agreed to swap the Silesian [[Lubusz Land]] against the [[Kalisz]] region, which met with fierce protest by Władysław's III nephew [[Władysław Odonic]]. When Henry went to [[Gąsawa]] in 1227 to meet his Piast cousins, he narrowly saved his life, while High Duke [[Leszek I the White]] was killed by the men of the [[Pomerelia]]n Duke [[Swietopelk II, Duke of Pomerania|Swietopelk II]], instigated by Władysław Odonic.

[[File:Sw Jadwiga godzi Henryka Brodatego z Konradem Mazowieckim.jpg|thumb|160px|left|Hedwig intercedes between Henry and Konrad, 19th century depiction]]

The next year Henry's ally [[Władysław III Spindleshanks]] succeeded Leszek I as [[Seniorate Province|High Duke]]; however as he was still contested by his nephew in Greater Poland, he made Henry his governor at [[Kraków]], whereby the Silesian duke once again became entangled in the dispute over the [[Seniorate Province]]. In 1229 he was captured and arrested at [[Płock]] Castle by rivaling Duke [[Konrad I of Masovia]]. Hedwig proceeded to Płock pleading for Henry and was able to have him released.

Her actions promoted the reign of her husband: upon the death of the Polish High Duke Władysław III Spindleshanks in 1231, Henry also became Duke of [[Greater Poland]] and the next year prevailed as High Duke at Kraków. He thereby was the first of the Silesian Piast descendants of [[Władysław II the Exile]] to gain the rule over Silesia and the Seniorate Province in accord with the 1138 [[Testament of Bolesław III Krzywousty]].

===Widow===
[[File:Landkern St. Servatius 10418.JPG|thumb|right|Stained glass at St.Servatiuskirche Landkern]]
Upon his death in 1238, Henry was buried at a [[Cistercian]] monastery of nuns, [[Sanctuary of St. Jadwiga in Trzebnica|Trzebnica Abbey]] (''Kloster Trebnitz''), which he had established in 1202 at Hedwig's request. Hedwig accepted the death of her beloved husband with faith. She said:<ref name=SHMI>{{cite book|author=Fr. Paolo O. Pirlo, SHMI|title=My First Book of Saints|year=1997|publisher=Sons of Holy Mary Immaculate - Quality Catholic Publications|isbn=971-91595-4-5|pages=243–244|chapter=St. Hedwig}}</ref>
{{Blockquote|"Would you oppose the will of God? Our lives are His."}}
The widow moved into the monastery, which was led by her daughter Gertrude, assuming the [[religious habit]] of a [[lay brother|lay sister]], but she did not take vows. She invited numerous [[Germans|German]] religious people from the [[Holy Roman Empire]] into the Silesian lands, as well as German settlers who founded numerous cities, towns and villages in the course of the ''[[Ostsiedlung]]'', while cultivating barren parts of Silesia for agriculture.

[[File:HedwigAltarXXX.jpg|thumb|160px|left|Scene from an altar of St. Hedwig of Silesia, [[Wrocław|Breslau]], around 1430, restored in 1929, [[National Museum, Warsaw|National Museum Warsaw]]]]
Hedwig and Henry had several daughters, though only one surviving son, [[Henry II the Pious]], who succeeded his father as Duke of Silesia and Polish High Duke. The widow, however, had to witness the killing of her son, vainly awaiting the support of Emperor [[Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick II]], during the [[First Mongol invasion of Poland|Mongol invasion of Poland]] at the [[Battle of Legnica]] (''Wahlstatt'') in 1241. The hopes for a re-united Poland were lost, and even Silesia fragmented into numerous Piast [[Duchies of Silesia|duchies]] under Henry II's sons. Hedwig and her daughter-in-law, Henry II's widow [[Anne of Bohemia (1204–1265)|Anna of Bohemia]], established a [[Benedictine abbey]] at the site of the battle in [[Legnickie Pole]], settled with monks coming from [[Opatovice nad Labem|Opatovice]] in [[Bohemia]].

Hedwig and Henry had lived very pious lives, and Hedwig had great [[diligence|zeal]] for her faith. She had supported her husband in donating the [[Augustinians|Augustinian]] provostry at [[Nowogród Bobrzański]] (''Naumburg'') and the commandery of the [[Knights Templar]] at [[Oleśnica Mała]] (''Klein Oels''). Hedwig always helped the poor, the widows and the orphans, founded several hospitals for the sick and the lepers and donated all her fortune to the [[Catholic Church|Church]]. She allowed no one to leave her uncomforted, and one time she spent ten weeks teaching the [[Lord's Prayer|Our Father]] to a poor woman. According to legend, she went barefoot even in winter, and when she was urged by the [[Bishop of Wrocław]] to wear shoes, she carried them in her hands.<ref name=SHMI /> On 15 October 1243, Hedwig died and was buried in Trzebnica Abbey with her husband, while [[relic]]s of her are preserved at [[Andechs Abbey]] and [[St. Hedwig's Cathedral]] in [[Berlin]].