23 July – At the cradle of a dynasty

Ita of Lorraine was born on 23 July, around the year 995. She belonged to the Counts of Metz and the Dukes of Swabia, although her exact lineage remains uncertain. Through her marriage to Radbot, Count of Klettgau, she became one of the progenitors of the House of Habsburg.

At that time, the Habsburgs were merely one of many noble families holding estates in the borderlands of present-day Switzerland, Germany, and France. Radbot, however, built the Castle of Habichtsburg, or Hawk’s Castle, in the Canton of Aargau, Switzerland. This modest hilltop fortress, intended solely for defence, became the ancestral seat and principal residence of the dynasty for more than two centuries. The first member of the family to bear the title “of Habsburg” was Ita and Radbot’s grandson Otto.

Another lasting monument to the couple is Muri Abbey, traditionally said to have been founded at Ita’s request. A Baroque memorial dedicated to the founders can still be seen in the abbey church.

Ita bore three sons and a daughter. She died in 1035, at approximately forty years of age. Tradition holds that both Ita and Radbot were buried in the crypt of Muri Abbey. However, the identity of the individuals interred there remains uncertain.