Gertrud of Lorraine

Petronilla of Lorraine ( 1082 – 23 May 1144) was Countess of Holland by marriage to Floris II, Count of Holland, and regent of the County of Holland during the minority of her son Dirk VI in 1121-1129. She was a daughter of Theodoric II, Duke of Lorraine and Hedwig of Formbach. Biography Named after her maternal grandmother, she changed her name from Gertrude to Petronilla after her marriage in 1100. In 1121, after her husband's early death, she became regent for their son, Dirk VI. She is described as an ambitious and dominant regent who ruled with a "strong hand". In 1123-25, she gave military support to her brother the emperor in his struggle with his rival emperor Henry. After Baldwin VII, Count of Flanders died without heirs, she supported her son's claim to become Count of Flanders during the Flemish succession war of 1127, but Baldwin was eventually succeeded by Charles I. Her mandate as regent formally expired when her son reached maturity in 1129, but according to contemporary Egmond chronicle, she remained de facto regent until 1133. In the struggle for power between Dirk and his younger brother, Floris the Black in 1129-31, she supported the latter upon his first attempt. In 1131, however, she retracted her support and refused to support him.