Queen Grimhilde of Schwartsvald

**Grimhilde Tabor**, later known as **Queen Grimhilde of Schwartsvald** (7 November 1520 - 11 November 1550) was Queen-Consort of Schwartsvald as the second wife of King Ferdinand I. Later, she became regent for her stepdaughter Blanche and usurped the throne from her before Blanche and her husband defeated her.

## Biography

Grimhilde's past is very obscure. Her birthdate is certain, as it is said that at her death she was exactly thirty years and four days old. Because of her name and spelling in some documents, it is very likely that she was born in Northern Italy, and that her birth name was *Grimalda*, which was later germanized. She once claimed to be one of three children, but the fate of her siblings is unknown.

### Meeting the King

Somehow, the beautiful Grimhilde found her way to Schwartsvald, where she became the mistress of King Ferdinand, who had been widowed since 1536. They soon married, to the court's great shock. Despite their future warfare, a six-year-old Blanche was quite smitten with her new stepmother. They danced together at the wedding, and it is rumoured that it was Grimhilde who first gave Blanche the nickname "Snow White" ("*Schneewittchen*"), based on her pale skin.

In 1545, King Ferdinand sat out to battle the Scots overseas. He died in a short battle and his army faced defeat.

### Regency

As her stepdaughter was nine at the time, Grimhilde assumed the regency without parliamentary consent. It seems that Grimhilde had a mental illness, which was set off by her husband's sudden death. She suddenly became violent, especially with her stepdaughter, who she locked in a tower. From 1546, Blanche (now ten) wanted to rule herself and conspired with several generals. She was allegedly mistreated by servants on her stepmother's orders. Her stepmother locked her up in the castle and went through all her mail. Even so, Blanche was able to agree to a wedding contract with Prince Florian of Bavaria, Herbert's son.

### Civil war (1549-1550)

Tired of battling enemies by herself, Grimhilde offered marriage to Prince Florian of Bavaria, only to find out that he already had an alliance with the true queen, Blanche. Grimhilde decided that Blanche had to die and sent a huntsman, Humbert, out to the woods to kill her. She was able to persuade him, however, to let her live and she fled. Humbert was beheaded on Grimhilde's orders.

Snow White fled to her father's seven generals and Florian and together they besieged Grimhilde and captured her. She was executed at the couple's wedding, being burned by glowing iron.

## Mental illness

Grimhilde's odd behaviour was a source of rumours of witchcraft in her own days. Nowadays, doctors have diagnosed Grimhilde with bipolar disorder, possibly due to childhood trauma, which would explain her violent outbursts. It is highly likely that increased stress from ruling and losing her husband suddenly added to her mental strain.

She also exhibited signs of a split personality, adopting different accents and sometimes insisting that she was of the same age or even younger than her step-daughter. Grimhilde also claimed that her mirror spoke to her and taunted her, after which she had it smashed.