Helvig of Schauenburg

Helvig of Schauenburg, also known as Hedwig of Schauenburg, (1398-1436) was a countess of Schleswig and Holstein from the family of Schauenburg, and ancestor of the Danish Royal houses of Oldenburg and Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg.

She was a daughter of Count Gerhard IV of Holstein and his wife Elisabeth of Brunswick. Her brother was Count Adolf VIII of Schleswig-Holstein. Through their father, Helvig and Adolf were Cognatic descendants of the King Eric V of Denmark.

On 18 April 1417 Helvig was married to Prince Balthasar of Mecklenburg, who died of the plague in 1421. In 1423 she was married to Count Dietrich of Oldenburg. From her second marriage she had the following issue:
* Christian (1426-1481), who succeeded his father as Count of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst. In 1448, partly because of his mother's ancestry, he was elected King of Denmark. He also inheited the counties of Schleswig and Holstein upon the death of his childless uncle, Adolf VIII.
* Maurice (1428-1464); when his elder brother became king, he was given the County of Delmenhorst.
* Gerhard (1430-1500); when his eldest brother had become king, he was given the county of Oldenburg, and from his other brother's heirs he also inherited Delmenhorst in about 1483.
* Adelheid (1425-1475), first married count Ernest III of Hohnstein (d. 1454) and then in 1474 Count Gerhard VI of Mansfeld (d. 1492).

See also

* Counts of Schauenburg and Holstein