AGNES OF MERAN (d. 1201), queen of France, was the daughter
of Bertold IV., duke of Meran in Tirol. She is called Marie
by some of the chroniclers. In June 1196 she married Philip
II., king of France, who had repudiated Ingeborg of Denmark in
1193. The pope espoused the cause of Ingeborg; but Philip
did not submit until 1200, when, interdict having been
added to excommunication, he consented to a separation from
Agnes. She died in July of the next year, at the castle of
Poissy, and was buried in the church of St Corentin, near
Nantes. Her two children by Philip II., Philip, count of
Clermont (d. 1234), and Mary, who married Philip, count of
Namur, were legitimized by Innocent III. in 1201 on the
demand of the king. Little is known of the personality
of Agnes, beyond the remarkable influence which she
exercised over Philip II. She has been made the heroine
of a tragedy by Francois Ponsard, Agnes de Meranie.
See the notes of Robert Davidsohn in Philipp II. August
von Frankreich und Ingeborg (Stuttgart, 1888). A
genealogical notice is furnished by the Chronicon of
the monk Alberic (Aubry) of Fontaines, (Albericus Trium
Fontium) in Pertz, Scriptores, vol. xxiii. pp. 872
f., and by the Genealogia Wettinensis, ibid. p. 229.
Initial text from 1911 encyclopedia -- Please update as needed