Background
She was the third daughter of Philip of Swabia and Irene Angelina of Byzantium, and her husband was Henry II, Duke of Brabant and Lothier. Maria of Hohenstaufen was born in Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy on 3 April 1201. Her paternal grandparents were Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor and Beatrice I, Countess of Burgundy, and her mother"s parents were Byzantine Emperor Isaac II Angelos and his first wife Herina.
On 21 June, her father was murdered by Otto of Wittelsbach, and two months later her mother died after giving birth to a daughter, who did not live beyond early infancy.