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Birth:          1033 Flanders
Death:          5 Mar 1094 
Burial:         Weingarten

Notes
widow of Earl Tostig of Northumberland who d 1066 (son of Earl Godwin of Essex)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judith_of_Flanders_(died_1095)
Judith of Flanders, Countess of Northumbria, and later Duchess of Bavaria (1030-35 to 
5 March 1095)[1] was the wife firstly of Tostig Godwinson, Earl of Northumbria, and 
secondly of Welf I, Duke of Bavaria. Her niece was Matilda of Flanders, Queen 
consort of William the Conqueror, who was Judith's cousin.

She was the owner of many books and illuminated manuscripts, which she bequeathed 
to Weingarten Abbey.
Family[edit]

Judith was born between 1030 and 1035 in Bruges, the only child of Baldwin IV, Count 
of Flanders by his second wife, Eleanor of Normandy, who was herself, the daughter 
of Richard II of Normandy and Judith of Brittany.[2] Judith had an older half-brother, 
Baldwin V, Count of Flanders, who succeeded their father upon his death which had 
occurred when Judith was about two years old. (Some scholars argue that Judith's 
father was Baldwin V, not Baldwin IV.[3]) Judith's niece was Matilda of Flanders who 
married William, the first Norman king of England, known to history as "William the 
Conqueror". King William was Judith's first cousin, being the son of her maternal 
uncle, Robert of Normandy.

First Marriage[edit]

On an unknown date before September 1051, she married her first husband, Tostig 
Godwinson, brother of King Harold II of England. In September 1051, Judith was 
forced to flee England for Bruges, along with her husband and in-laws after Tostig 
joined his father's armed rebellion against King Edward the Confessor; however, they 
returned home the following year.

He was created Earl of Northumbria in 1055, making Judith the Countess of 
Northumbria, from that date onwards. His distinguished marriage to Judith had helped 
Tostig secure the earldom.[4]

Together they had children whose names and numbers are not recorded. They were 
described in the Vita Edwardi Regis as "unweaned" at the time of their father's death.
[5] Tostig had at least three illegitimate sons by unknown mistresses.

Judith was described as having been a "pious and inquisitive woman"; her piety was 
expressed in the many gifts and donations she made to the Church of St. Cuthbert in 
Durham, which included landed estates and an ornate crucifix. The latter allegedly 
was a present to appease the saint after she challenged St. Cuthbert's ruling that 
forbade women to enter the cathedral which housed his relics. Judith, angered that 
women were not permitted to set foot inside the church and wishing to worship at his 
tomb, had decided to put Cuthbert's prohibition to the test by ordering her serving 
woman to go inside to see what repercussions would follow for breaking the holy 
decree (Judith had planned to go herself upon the latter's safe return); when the 
woman was about to enter the churchyard, she was stricken by a sudden, violent 
force of wind that left her infirm and eventually killed her. Judith, as a result of 
superstitious fear, had the crucifix especially made for St. Cuthbert's shrine.[6] 
Throughout her life, she collected and commissioned many books and illuminated 
manuscripts, some of which are extant,[7] including the Gospels of Countess Judith, 
which are currently housed in Pierpont Morgan Library in New York City. These were 
written and illuminated by English scribes and artists to record for posterity, Judith's 
generosity to the Church.

In October 1065, Northumbria rose in rebellion against the rule of Tostig. After his 
brother Harold persuaded King Edward to accept the demands made by the rebels, 
there was an acrimonious confrontation between the two brothers, with Tostig 
accusing Harold of fomenting the rebellion. In November, Tostig was outlawed by King 
Edward, and Judith, along with Tostig and her children, was compelled to seek refuge 
with her half-brother in Flanders the following month. Count Baldwin appointed Tostig 
as castellan of Saint-Omer.[8] In May 1066 following the succession of Harold to the 
English throne in January, he returned to England with a fleet provided by Baldwin to 
seek revenge on his brother. He formed an alliance with King Harold III of Norway, but 
they were both killed on 25 September 1066 at the Battle of Stamford Bridge by the 
forces of King Harold.

After her husband's death at Stamford Bridge, Judith moved to Denmark.[9] It is 
presumed that she brought her "unweaned" children with her to Denmark; however, 
nothing certain is known of their subsequent fates. A pair of Norwegian king-sagas, 
Fagrskinna and Morkinskinna, identify Skuli Konungsfóstri, male-line ancestor of king 
Inge II of Norway, as son of Tostig, but Heimskringla gives him different parentage. 
Neither names Judith as his mother. Less than a month after Tostig's death, Judith's 
brother-in-law was killed at the Battle of Hastings by the Norman army led by her 
cousin, William the Conqueror, who would thereafter reign as William I of England.

Second marriage[edit]

In 1071, when she was 38 years of age, she married her second husband, Welf I, 
Duke of Bavaria, who had divorced his childless wife, Etherinde von Northeim in 
1070.[10] Upon her marriage, she became Duchess of Bavaria; however in 1077, her 
husband was deprived of his title, and did not regain it until 1096, a year after her 
death.

They made their principal home at the castle of Ravensburg and together had two 
sons,[11] and one daughter:
Welf II, Duke of Bavaria (1072 – 24 September 1120), married Matilda of Tuscany, but 
the marriage did not produce issue.
Henry IX, Duke of Bavaria (1074 – 13 December 1126), married Wulfhild of Saxony, by 
whom he had seven children.
Kunizza of Bavaria (died 6 March 1120), married Frederich Rocho, Count of Diesen

Death[edit]

On 12 March 1094 Judith and her husband listed donations to the family monastery at 
Weingarten Abbey, where she was buried after her death on 5 March 1095, and where 
she was remembered as a widowed queen of England.[1] The abbey which had been 
built by Duke Welf on the Martinsberg in Weingarten, and had received Judith's 
patronage. She also had bequeathed her magnificent library and a relic of Christ's 
Blood to the abbey.[12] Her husband Duke Welf died in 1101 in Cyprus while returning 
home from the First Crusade.

Parents
DE LILLE Baldwin IV ( 980 - 30 May 1035)
OF NORMANDY Judith (Eleanor) (1010 - 1071)

Siblings
OF FLANDERS Judith (Fausta) (1033 - 5 Mar 1094)

Marriage To ____ Welf (Guelph) IV (1037 - 6 Nov 1101)
    m. ABT 1071 his 3d her 2d

Notes

Parents
____ Alberto Azzo II (10 Jul  997 - 1097)
OF ALTDORF Kunigunde (ABT 1020 - 31 Aug 1054)

Children by ____ Welf (Guelph) IV 1037 - 6 Nov 1101
____ Henry (Heinrich) (Welf) IX "the Black" (1074 - 13 Dec 1126)

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