Hedwig of Silesia
Wife of Duke Henry the Bearded, she exerted great influence and acted as regent. Revered for her charity and austerity, she founded and supported many monasteries. After her death, her memory as a saintly figure inspired popular veneration and led to her canonization.
- Middle Ages
- Germany
- Feast day October 16
- 1174 – 1243
- Queen
- Founder
Saint Hedwig of Silesia, born around 1174 in Andechs, Bavaria, was the daughter of Duke Berthold IV of Merania. Educated at the Cistercian monastery of Kitzingen, she married Henry I the Bearded, Duke of Silesia and Krakow, at the age of 12, with whom she had seven children. She is best known for her profound piety, personal asceticism (wearing a hair shirt and often walking barefoot even in winter), and charity towards the poor, sick, and imprisoned. She founded numerous hospitals and monasteries, including the famous Cistercian monastery of Trebnitz (now Trzebnica, Poland) in 1202, where she was buried. After her husband's death in 1238, she retired to Trebnitz, leading a quasi-monastic life without taking formal vows. She suffered the loss of her son, Henry II the Pious, who fell in battle against the Mongols in 1241. She died on October 16, 1243, and was canonized by Pope Clement IV in 1267.