AGNESE di MERANIA. – Daughter of Duke Bertoldo di Merania, she married in 1196 Filippo II Augusto of France, who had repudiated his first wife Ingberg, sister of Canuto VI of Denmark. Since this repudiation led Innocent III to place France under interdict (1198), A. was forced to withdraw to the castle of Poissy, where she died in August 1201. Her two children were legitimized by the same Pope. To honor her memory, Filippo II founded a Benedictine abbey at St-Corentin-les-Mantes, where A. was buried.
BIBL.: A. Cartellieri, Philipp II. August, König von Frankreich, 4 vols., Leipzig 1899; L. H. Cottineau, Répertoire topobibliographique des abbayes et prières, II, Mâcon 1937, p. 2640. Emma Santovito