List of Abbesses of Essen
The abbesses of the Essen monastery ruled the Essen women's monastery from the end of the 9th century until its abolition in 1802. The monastery was founded around 845 by a group of nobility around the later Hildesheim bishop Altfrid . As heads of a rich women's monastery , which in the 10th century had a position comparable to that of a house monastery of the then ruling Liudolfinger , they were imperial princesses of the Holy Roman Empire from around 1226 .
The list follows the list drawn up by the Essen Cathedral Chapter Alfred Pothmann in 1987. Due to the poor sources, the order of the abbesses between 906 and 973 is uncertain, according to some researchers (such as Torsten Fremer), who touched on this question in the introduction of his dissertation on Abbess Theophanu , Agana held office at the beginning of the 10th century. Research is increasingly joining in with this.
Abbesses
Name (life data) | Abbatiat | Death day | Remarks | |
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Gerswith I. unknown |
from foundation to ?? | 30th of December | Gerswith I is said to have been the sister of the founder of the Abbey, Altfrid . Her grave poem has been handed down. The grave is said to have been in the St. Quintin's Chapel in Essen . | |
Gerswith II unknown |
unknown | 23rd October | With Gerswith II, the family of Bishop Altfrids probably died out. | |
Adalwi unknown |
unknown to probably 895 | September 22 | Adalwi was included in the prayer memorial of the Liudolfingers . | |
Wicburg unknown |
895 (?) To 906 | 17th August | Wicburg received a donation from King Zwentibold at Pentecost 898 , the oldest surviving document of the Essen monastery, and was included in the prayer memorial of the Liudolfingers. | |
Mathilde unknown |
906 (?) To 910 (?) | January 7th | Said to be buried in the Essen Minster Church. | |
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Hathwig unknown |
910 (?) To 951 (?) | July 18th | The monastery burned down under Hathwig in 946, which sources confirm. According to the traditional grave poem, she officiated for 48 years. |
Agana unknown |
951 (?) To 965 (?) | November 17th | Said to have built the first crypt of Essen Minster and to be buried there. | |
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Ida unknown |
965 (?) To 971 (?) | 16th of July | Donated a cross, of which an inscription plate has been preserved in the Essen Cathedral Treasury . Name giver of the Ida column in the minster church. |
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Mathilde 949 to November 5, 1011 |
971 (?) To 1011 | November 5th | Granddaughter of Emperor Otto the Great . Had the westwork of the Essen Minster built, donated the Marsus Shrine , the Otto Mathilden Cross , the seven-armed candlestick and the cross with the large sinkholes . The Golden Madonna came to Essen under her . Said to have founded the Rellinghausen Abbey . |
Sophia 975 to January 30, 1039 |
1011 to 1039 (?) | January 30th | Daughter of Emperor Otto II , was also abbess in the Gandersheim monastery . The fact that she neglected her abbatiat in Essen, as the older Essen researchers accused her, is questioned by more recent research. | |
Theophanu 997 to March 5, 1058 |
1039 to 1058 | 5. March | Granddaughter of Emperor Otto II. Had the eastern part of the Essen Minster built with the crypt that still exists today, donated the Theophanu Gospels , Theophanu Cross and the cross nail reliquaries of the Essen Cathedral Treasury, as well as the younger Mathildenkreuz . | |
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Suanhild unknown until July 30, 1085 (?) |
1058 (?) To 1085 (?) | 30th July | Builder of the Stoppenberg collegiate church , donated a splendid gospel book and probably also an arm reliquary. |
Lutgardis unknown |
1085 to 1118 | |||
Oda (from Calw) unknown |
1118 (?) To 1137 (?) | August 31st (?) | ||
Ermentrudis unknown |
1137 (?) To 1154 (?) | April 25 (?) | Had the vestibule built on the south transept, with the treasury located on the upper floor | |
Hadwig von Wied unknown |
1154 (?) To 1172 | July 4th (?) | Hadwig, sister of Cologne's Archbishop Arnold II von Wied , was also the abbess of the Gerresheim monastery and founded the Schwarzrheindorf monastery | |
Elizabeth I unknown |
1172 (?) To before 1216 | April 14 (?) | Was also abbess of the monasteries of St. Maria im Kapitol and Vreden |
Princesses
In 1228 the abbess of the monastery was first named in a document as a princess . Until the abolition of the monastery, the abbesses were imperial princesses of the Holy Roman Empire .
Name (life data) | ancestry | Abbatiat | Remarks | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Adelheid unknown until April 23, 1237 |
unknown | 1216 (?) To 1237 (?) | was buried in the minster church | |
Elisabeth II unknown until September 23, 1241 |
unknown | around 1237 (?) to around 23 September 1241 (?) | was also abbess of the monasteries of St. Maria im Kapitol and Vreden | |
Berta von Arnsberg unknown until January 8, 1292 |
Counts of Arnsberg | before 1243 to 1292 | Under Berta the reconstruction of the Essen collegiate church, which burned down in 1275, began in its present form. By transferring the bailiwick to King Rudolf von Habsburg , she protected the monastery from the expansive desires of the Archbishop of Cologne. | |
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Beatrix von Holte around 1250 until December 4, 1327 |
Noble von Holte | 1292 to 1327 | completed the reconstruction of the collegiate church and donated an arm reliquary for the church treasury. Promoted the settlement of beguines in Essen. |
Kunigunde von Berg unknown until November 21, 1355 |
Count of Limburg | 1327 to 1337 (resigned) | Kunigunde was also abbess of Gerresheim. Buried in Essen Minster. | |
Katharina von der Mark unknown until September 27, 1360 |
Counts of the Mark | 1337 to 1360 | Sister of Count and Bailiff Adolf II von der Mark | |
Irmgard von Broich unknown until February 28, 1370 |
House Broich | 1360 to 1370 | ||
Elisabeth of Nassau † December 30, 1412 |
Nassau Hadamar House | 1370 to 1412 (resigned) | Buried in the Essen Cathedral Church | |
Margarete von der Mark-Arensberg unknown until October 12, 1429 |
House Arenberg | 1412 to 1426 (resigned) | Buried in the Kreuzbrüderkirche in Cologne | |
Elisabeth Stecke van Beeck unknown until May 5, 1445 |
knightly descent | 1426 to 1445 | Asserted herself in the second Essen abbess dispute against Margarete von Limburg-Broich . Buried in the Essen Cathedral Church | |
Sophia von Daun-Oberstein unknown |
Lords of Daun-Oberstein | 1445 to 1447 | ||
Elisabeth von Saffenberg unknown until August 28, 1459 |
Counts of Virneburg (?) | 1447 to 1459 | ||
Sophia von Gleichen unknown until August 5, 1489 |
Counts of equals | 1459 to 1489 (resigned) | Sophia had the parish church of St. Johann Baptist renewed. Her brother Konrad von Gleichen was abbot of the neighboring Werden monastery . | |
Meyna von Daun-Oberstein unknown until 1525 |
Lords of Daun-Oberstein | 1489 to 1521 (resigned) | Her successor was not elected until 1525. | |
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Margareta von Beichlingen unknown until December 11, 1534 |
Count of Beichlingen | 1525 to 1534 | Also abbess in Vreden. Commissioned the altarpieces from Bartholomäus Bruyn the Elder . |
Sibylle von Montfort-Rothenfels unknown until March 10, 1551 |
Count of Montfort | 1534 to 1551 | ||
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Katharina von Tecklenburg December 31, 1517 to March 9, 1560 |
Count of Tecklenburg | 1551 to 1560 | Sister of Konrad von Tecklenburg-Schwerin , who introduced the Reformation in his country. |
Maria von Spiegelberg unknown until September 13, 1561 |
Counts of Spiegelberg (?) | 1560 to 1561 | ||
Irmgard von Diepholz unknown until June 28, 1575 |
Counts of Diepholz (?) | 1561 to 1575 | ||
Elisabeth von Manderscheid-Blankenheim April 3, 1544 to September 3, 1586 |
Count of Manderscheid-Blankenheim | 1575 to 1578 (resigned) | Sister of Hermann von Manderscheid-Blankenheim and the Strasbourg Bishop Johann IV. Von Manderscheid-Blankenheim . Married Wirich VI on December 18, 1578 . by Daun-Falkenstein . | |
Elisabeth von Sayn unknown until March 5, 1588 |
Count of Sayn | 1578 to 1588 | also Abbess of Nottuln | |
Elisabeth von Manderscheid-Blankenheim unknown until May 2, 1598 |
Count of Manderscheid-Blankenheim | 1588 to 1598 | Buried in St. Dionysius Essen Borbeck | |
Margarete Elisabeth von Manderscheid-Blankenheim-Gerolstein unknown until November 28, 1604 |
Count of Manderscheid-Blankenheim-Gerolstein | 1598 to 1604 | Abbess of Gerresheim, Schwarzrheindorf and Freckenhorst. Buried in the Eusebiuskerk , Arnhem | |
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Elisabeth von Bergh-s'Heerenberg 1581 to January 12, 1614 |
Lords of Bergh | 1605 to 1614 | Abbess in Freckenhorst and Nottuln. Grave in the side aisle of the Essen Minster |
Maria Clara von Spaur, Pflaum and Vallier around 1590 to December 14, 1644 |
Barons of Spaur, Pflaum and Vallier | 1614 to 1644 | Abbess in Nottuln and Metelen . Due to the Thirty Years' War, fled with the cathedral treasure to Cologne, where she died. | |
Anna Eleonore von Staufen around 1580 until April 23, 1646 |
Countess of Staufen | 1645 to 1646 | Abbess of Thorn (Limburg) | |
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Anna Salome von Salm-Reifferscheidt October 4, 1622 to October 15, 1688 |
House Salm | 1646 to 1688 | In 1652 Augustiner Choir Women BMV settled in Essen, the school they founded still exists today. |
Anna Salome von Manderscheid-Blankenheim December 12, 1628 to March 15, 1691 |
Count of Manderscheid-Blankenheim | 1688 to 1691 | Abbess of Thorn (Limburg) | |
Bernhardine Sophia von Ostfriesland and Rietberg 1654 to 14 August 1726 |
Counts of East Friesland and Rietberg | 1691 to 1726 | Grave in the chapel of Styrum Castle | |
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Franziska Christine von Pfalz-Sulzbach May 16, 1696 to July 16, 1776 |
Wittelsbacher | 1726 to 1776 | Abbess of Thorn (Limburg). Founded the orphanage in Steele |
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Maria Kunigunde of Saxony November 10, 1740 to April 8, 1826 |
Wettiner | 1776 to 1802 (abolition of the pen) | Abbess of Thorn (Limburg). Ruled her principality from afar. |
literature
- Klaus Gereon Beuckers : Imperial Abbesses. Comments on the family positioning of the Ottonian abbesses in Quedlinburg, Gandersheim and Essen , in: Thomas Schilp (Ed.): Women build Europe. International links of the Essen women's monastery . Klartext Verlag, Essen 2011, ISBN 978-3-8375-0672-3 , pp. 65-88.
- Tobias Nüssel: Reflections on the Essen abbesses between Wicburg and Mathilde In: The Minster on Hellweg. Yearbook of the Association for the Preservation of the Essener Münsters-Münsterbauverein , 63, 2010, pp. 7–31
- Alfred Pothmann: The abbesses of the Essen monastery. In: Münster am Hellweg. Bulletin of the Association for the Preservation of the Essen Minster. 40, 1987, pp. 5-11.
Individual evidence
- ^ Katharina Ulrike Mersch: Social dimensions of visual communication in high and late medieval women's communities. Pens, women's choirs and monasteries in comparison , V&R Unipress, Göttingen 2012, ISBN 978-3-89971-930-7 , p. 379 ( Google Books )