Richardis of Schwerin, Duchess of Schleswig

Who is Richardis of Schwerin, Duchess of Schleswig?

Richardis of Schwerin, also called Richardis of Lauenburg or Rixa, was a Duchess consort of Schleswig and possibly a Danish queen consort, married to Valdemar III of Denmark. She was the daughter of Gunzelin VI, Count of Schwerin-Wittenburg and Richardis of Tecklenburg. She was the aunt of Richardis of Schwerin, Queen of Sweden.

The year of her marriage is unknown; her spouse was king of Denmark in 1326-1329, and if she married him before 1329, she would have been queen of Denmark. They had two sons, Valdemar and Henry, the latter, Henry, succeeded in Schleswig upon Valdemar's death. Richardis is mainly known for an incident in 1358, during the war between her spouse and king Valdemar Atterdag of Denmark. Atterdag made a siege on Sønderborg castle on Als, which was at the time the residence of Richardis. She defended the castle successfully for a long time, but when it was no longer possible, she opened the gates and walked out to the king with her daughters and all the women of the castle "in an attempt to beg the victorious master for mercy". This succeeded, and Atterdag agreed to leave her in control of the castle, on condition that she stay out of the war.