Berthold VI, Count von Andechs, Duke of Meran and Dalmatia, was the father of four daughters. The eldest, Agnes, attracted the interest of Philippe II August, King of France, but, because of their bigamous marriage, the pope placed an interdict on France. Gertrud the second daughter, Queen of King Andreas II of Hungary and mother of the later St.Elisabeth of Hungary, was murdered. Mechtild, the youngest, became abbess in Kitzingen, while Hedwig, the third daughter, became known as St.Hedwig of Meran. 
She married Heinrich I, "the Bearded", Duke of Silesia, and they became the parents of six children. A religious man, Heinrich supported and encouraged Hedwig's charitable enterprises and together 
they founded the abbey of Cistercian nuns at Trebnitz. Some of their children caused them distress, but one son, Heinrich II, became known as "the Pious" and a daughter, Gertrude, the only one Hedwig didn't outlive, became abbess of Trebnitz. 
After the death of her husband in 1238, she lived in the convent without becoming a nun. From then onwards she devoted herself to the welfare, spiritual and temporal, of the people around her, using her fortune to relieve the poverty and suffering of the Silesian people. By their policies and foundations, Hedwig and Heinrich increased the Germanic influence in Silesia.
 

Source: Leo van de Pas