Madeleine of Arendaal, Holy Germanic Empress

Madeleine of Arendaal, Holy Germanic Empress (1430 - 1510) was perhaps the most famous Empress of the Holy Germanic Empire, as the wife of the first Franconian Emperor, Heinrich V/VI. Hailed as the force which helped bring Franken the Imperial throne in 1453, Madeleine was one of the great heroines of the Middle Ages/Renaissance. Renowned in her time for being the most beautiful woman in Europe, the wife, mother and grandmother of Holy Germanic Emperors, she was, without question, the most powerful women of the 15th century and among the most important in all of European history.

Empress Madeleine was a daughter of Queen Regent Madeleine I of Arendaal and Prince Charles of Montelimar. Interestingly, she was also the younger sister of Sigrid of Arendaal, Holy Germanic Empress, wife of Emperor Victor the Bold, the Saxon predecessor of Madeleine's husband as Holy Germanic Emperor.

Early life and Marriage (1443)
Madeleine was born a Princess of the Kingdom of Arendaal, the daughter of the Aren Queen Regent, Madeleine I and her husband Charles, Prince of Montelimar. At her birth, her father declared that the young princess was the very image of her mother, and so Madeleine was promptly named for the Queen. Her parents were likened to the living embodiments of Venus and Mars, and their court was a place of resplendent pageantry where the influence of "humanism" reigned. Queen Madeleine was the most famous beauty in Europe and one of the most prominent cultural influences of the age; patronizing artists, architects, scientists, philosophers and scholars at her magnificent court. She educated her children carefully and arranged prestigious matches for them all.

When Madeleine was 7 years old, her elder sister, Princess Sigrid married Victor the Bold of Saxony, Holy Germanic Emperor. Six years later, when Madeleine departed Arendaal to marry the son of the Duke of Franken, she would spend some months before her wedding at her sister's court. The sisters maintained close correspondence throughout their lives, and Sigrid would prove a continual source of support and advise for Madeleine.

In 1443, at the tender of of 13, Madeleine of Arendaal stood at the wedding altar in the capital city of the Duchy of Franken. The young man facing her was Heinrich, who would become Duke in his own right a mere three years later. The handsome young couple had a lot in common. An unquenchable desire for power, seemingly limitless energy, and unbreakable will were just a few of their shared attributes. In many ways, Heinrich was her princely mirror in energy, intelligence and sexuality. Few would have guessed then that their wedding ceremony would soon change the very face of Europe.

Reign of Heinrich V/VI: Franken's Imperial Power (1446-78)
At a time when women were regarded as little more than chattel, Madeleine managed to defy convention as she exercised power in the political sphere and crucial influence over her husband, son and grandsons. When Madeleine's brother-in-law, Victor "the Bold", died without male issue, the Houses of Franconia and Swabia emerged as the two principle contenders for the imperial throne. Through his political machinations, Heinrich "the Franconian" would become the first of three Knýtling Emperors in 1453. The formidable Madeleine played a prominent role throughout his reign, both as a patron of the fine arts and as an able political supporter. To allow him focus on his imperial ambitions, Elector Heinrich was prevailed upon to sign away de-facto rule over Oelar. It was Madeleine and her entourage who convinced him that he could not suppress both Oelar and try to take the imperial throne simultaneously. At his resplendent coronation ceremony on Christmas Eve, 1453, Madeleine was crowned Holy Germanic Empress Consort alongside her husband.

Heinrich and Madeleine were inseparable from the moment of their marriage to Heinrich's death in 1478. She was considered the Emperor's foremost advisor and most trusted confidant. She ensured that his court was among the most luxurious and acclaimed in all of Europe, supporting his strategies against Swabia and providing him with a several children. She invited notable cultural figures from Arendaal to her court, and her close ties to her brothers Pieter I and Gustav IV made Franken's relations with Arendaal ever closer. Duke Heinrich was besotted by his beautiful bride, whose tastes, attitudes and personality perfectly matched his own. In official documents she is constantly referred to as Heinrich's "most beloved consort and Empress" and he is repeatedly recorded as referring to her as "the most beautiful woman alive, and the dearest in the world to me." Most famously he declared that Madeleine had "a mind like Aristotle and a form like mortal sin."

Reigns of Emperors Heinrich VI/VII and Edmund III (1478-94)
Madeleine's influence would last throughout her long life, well into the lives of her grandchildren. For the duration of her son Emperor Heinrich VI/VII's rule, she was deprived of official political influence and installed in a Palace outside of the Imperial capital of Nürnberg. Heinrich VI/VII shared his mother's temperament and strong will, and was determined to reign without her meddling in political affairs. He pursued a strategy regarding Swabia that was notably different to that of his father's, much to Madeleine's displeasure. His efforts to curtail her influence was not entirely successful, however. It was Madeleine, for instance, who first suggested that Heinrich VI/VII seek to arrange a match between his son, Edmund, and the heiress of the Margrave of Oberrhön, Katherina von Oberrhön, and in order to gain political advantage. The teenage Katherina was sent to live with Madeleine for a time before her marriage, to be schooled in courtly manners.

Despite her stormy relations with her son, Madeleine dotted on her grandchildren, Emperor Edmund III and Duke Nikolaus IV. Both spent long periods at their grandmothers' estates outside of Nürnberg during their childhood and adolescence. Edmund's interest in the Talemantine legal system is often linked to Madeleine's own regard for Talemantine laws, as reflected in her many letter's to her sister-in-law, Eliana of the Talemantine Empire, Queen of Arendaal. Madeleine was invited back to live at court with the young Emperor's coronation in 1494. She assumed an pre-eminent role at Emperor Edmund III's court, who treasured his grandmother's advice.

Jakob I and the Regency of Nikolaus IV (1494 - 1510)
After the death of Emperor Edmund III, his 11 year old son Jakob I became Duke of Franken. Madeleine is credited by many with convincing her power hungry and ambitious grandson Nikolaus IV, who assumed the regency for his nephew Jakob I, to remove Jakob for the good of the Dynasty. The formidable Empress (Grand)Mother, whose longevity astonished her contemporaries, is thought to have argued that Nikolaus, her second oldest, should not to take any chances for Franken by allowing the rule of minor. By 1506, Nikolaus became Duke of Franken in his own right. Madeleine would live to see the first four years of his rule. When she died in 1510, at the age of 80, Nikolaus had her buried in Nürnberg Cathedral with all the pomp and circumstance befitting her status. Her tombstone reads thusly "Here lies Madeleine of Arendaal; Wife, mother and grandmother of the Great Knýtling Emperors, the Greatest Lady of all Christendom."

Personality and Legacy
While Kasia of Arendaal (wife of Knut Knýtling) is revered as the founding mother of the House of Knýtling, Madeleine is hailed as the force who helped bring Franken an even higher degree of power: the Imperial throne.

Possessing an unparalleled appeal, Madeleine of Arendaal retains her power to fascinate even 500 years after her death. The Empress was lauded as one of the most beautiful women of her century, closely resembling her dazzling mother, she was constantly praised for her appearance. A woman of surpassing loveliness, the charming and cultured Empress was called an "incomparable beauty". The Franconian chronicler Gerhard von Diehl wrote that she, "set men's hearts thumping and the fingers of poets to fevered scribbling of love sonnets. Many a man has been deprived of his reason for love of the entrancing Madeleine. To look upon her was more beautiful than anything; her splendour and her form were divine." Most famously, her husband Emperor Heinrich V/VI declared that "No one can rival her. She has a mind like Aristotle and a form like mortal sin." Even well into her 50s, she was upheld as a paradime of beauty.

However, the Empress she possessed much more than long, auburn hair and a lovely face. Her intelligence, wit and sophistication were unmatched by her contemporaries. Such was the confidence of her imperious carriage that she instinctively commanded the loyalty of those around her. Her critics called her "cunning, cold and devious". Katherina von Oberrhön, wife and Empress of Madeleine's grandson, Edmund, said the Empress was "very much like a cat. She would purr and she would scratch and she would look divinely pretty doing either." She has proved perpetually fascinating and intrigued historians, artists and writers alike. Rarely in the course of historical endeavour has so much been written, over so many centuries, about one individual. To this day, paintings, plays, novels, films, songs and stories about Madeleine abound.

Family, Marriage and Children
Madeleine of Arendaal married  Heinrich V/VI, Holy Germanic Emperor  in 1453 at the age of 13. Their children included:
 * Holy Germanic Emperor Heinrich VI/VII (1444 - 1494) - who succeeded his father as Duke of Franken and Holy Germanic Emperor in 1478

Siblings

 * Pieter I of Arendaal – brother. King of Arendaal between 1444 and his abdication in 1454
 * Gustav IV of Arendaal – brother. King of Arendaal between 1454 and 1480
 * Sigrid of Arendaal, Holy Germanic Empress – sister. Consort of Emperor Victor the Bold
 * Frederika of Arendaal, Queen of Eiffelland – sister. Consort of King Ludwig V of Eiffelland

Other Royal Relations

 * Eliana of the Talemantine Empire - sister-in-law (Pieter I's wife)
 * Niccola Grimaldi of Potenza, Queen of Arendaal - sister-in-law (Gustav IV's wife)
 * Harald III of Arendaal - nephew
 * Anne of Arendaal, Queen of Montelimar - niece
 * Nikolina of Arendaal, Empress of the Talemantine Empire - niece
 * Ottavia of the Talemantine Empire, Queen of Arendaal – nephew’s wife (Harald III's wife)
 * Marguerite I of Arendaal - great-niece
 * Rurik II of Arendaal - great-nephew
 * Nissa of Arendaal, Queen of Montelimar - maternal greataunt and paternal grandmother

Ancestors
's ancestors in four generations: