Mathilde (saint)

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Mathilde ( Old High German "the mighty in battle") (* around 896 ; † March 14, 968 in Quedlinburg ) was a Saxon noblewoman and through her marriage in 909 with Heinrich I after 919 the first Liudolfingian queen in the East Franconian Empire . Due to her active marriage policy - her children were (sometimes repeatedly) married to numerous greats of the neighboring empires and duchies - she became the “mother-in-law of Europe”. When her eldest son Otto 962 in Rome the emperor was crowned, the Mathilde made her the mother of a reigning emperor. She founded several religious institutions such as women's monasteries on the possessions of her dowry ( dos ) and actively worked on their long-term stabilization. Contemporaries saw her as extremely pious, just and benevolent. Relevant sources about Mathilde's life and work are her two biographies and Widukind von Corvey's Saxon story .

Life

Origin and marriage to Heinrich I.

Relatives table of the Liudolfinger family with Heinricus rex and Methildis regina in a double circle (Chronica St. Pantaleonis, second half of the 12th century. Herzog August Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel, Cod. Guelf. 74.3 Aug., pag. 226)

Mathilde was the daughter of Reinhild, who came from a noble family with Danish-Frisian roots. Her father was the Saxon Count Dietrich , a descendant of the Saxon Duke Widukind , who resisted Charlemagne for a long time. Mathilde is assigned to the so-called "Widukindisch-immedingischen relatives group". She was born around 896 and raised in Herford Monastery by her grandmother of the same name. Mathilde had three sisters, Amalrada, Fridarun and Bia. Frederuna married Count Wichmann the Elder , creating an alliance between Liudolfingern and Billungern , which expanded the family's possessions to the west. In 909 Mathilde was married to Heinrich, the then Duke of Saxony and later King of East Franconia in the royal palace of Wallhausen , after he had annulled his first marriage to Hatheburg von Merseburg. She gave birth to five children: Otto (912–973), who was crowned emperor in Rome in 962, Gerberga (913–968 / 69), who first married Duke Giselbert of Lorraine and later the Carolingian King Louis IV of France, Hadwig ( 914 / 19–965 / 80), who married the Capetian Hugo the Great , Heinrich (919 / 22–955), who was appointed Duke of Bavaria in 948 and Brun (925–965), who was elected Archbishop of Cologne in 953 and 954 was appointed Duke of Lorraine .

Name entries of the family of King Heinrich I from 929 in the Reichenau fraternity book. In the second column from the right under Heinricus rex is his wife Mathild [ e ] reg [ ina ] et om [ ne ] s debitores eo [ rum ]. Zurich, Central Library , Sign. Ms. Rh. Hist. 27, pag. 63

Mathilde probably thought Heinrich, who was born around 922, was the most worthy successor in the royal office for her deceased husband. Heinrich was born when Mathilde's husband was already king. However, during his lifetime, King Heinrich determined that only the eldest son Otto should follow him in the royal throne. He also ended the Carolingian practice of dividing the empire among all legitimate sons. On September 16, 929, Mathilde received her Wittum (widow's property) for life from her husband in the so-called "house rules" for the first time by Carl Erdmann in the places Quedlinburg , Pöhlde , Nordhausen , Grone and Duderstadt with the respective castle towns and accessories . After her death, the Wittum was to be used for the next queen. This decision was made in the presence of his faithful and with the consent of his son. Already during her time as queen she campaigned for women's monasteries and is also said to have influenced her husband's rule with her strong sense of justice.

Working as a widow

The maintenance of remembrance, the memoria , was the most important task of a widow. On July 31, 936, Mathilde founded a monastery in Heinrich's burial site Quedlinburg . Apparently there was tension between Mathilde and Otto. Otto's ascension to the king took place on August 7, 936 in Aachen. However, Mathilde was in Quedlinburg on July 31, 936 and could not have participated in the king's uprising because of the great spatial distance of 500 kilometers between the two places. The freedom to dispose of her widow's estate, which Heinrich I had granted her before his death, caused a dispute between Queen Mathilde and her son Otto I between 936 and 946. In a deed of foundation dated September 13, 936, Otto Mathilde withdrew Heinrich's I. Assured control over the pen established by it. According to the older description of her life, Mathilde even had to withdraw to her paternal inheritance in Enger. The Dionysius and Servatius Foundation in Quedlinburg became the most important center of prayer and commemoration of the dead in the East Franconian Empire. In addition, daughters of the higher nobility were brought up in Quedlinburg and other women's foundations in the East Franconian Empire, in order to use them later as marriage candidates or abbesses, thus increasing the family's sphere of influence. Mathilde's granddaughter, also named Mathilde , daughter of Otto I and Adelheid of Burgundy , was given the management of the monastery in 966. The then 14-year-old Mathilde became the first consecrated abbess 30 years after the founding of the Quedlinburg Abbey. Otto's wife, Queen Edgith , is said to have brought about the reconciliation in which Mathilde was left with her goods and Otto was forgiven for his deeds.

Mathilde also donated spiritual institutions on her other estates, including in Enger , where she founded a canonical foundation between 936 and 947 and stayed several times. It made its last foundation in 961 in Nordhausen. In order to additionally protect her property, Mathilde obtained papal privileges for all women's convents in East Saxony in the time before her death in early 968. However, their efforts were unsustainable, as Otto I and Otto II re-awarded their Wittum after their death; it was finally passed on to Otto II's wife, Theophanu , in the marriage certificate in 972 .

death

Statue of St. Mathilde in front of the church consecrated to her in Quedlinburg

After a long illness, Queen Mathilde died on March 14, 968 in the Servatiusstift she had founded in Quedlinburg. There she was buried at the side of her husband in a previous building of today's collegiate church.

Mathilde in posterity and research

Mathildenviten

Almost all information about Queen Mathilde comes from two biographies, the earlier one ("Vita Mathildis reginae antiquior") and the later one ("Vita Mathildis reginae posterior"). The earlier Vita was written soon after the Queen's death in 968. It is dated to the period between 973 and 975, as it ends with the death of Otto I and the successor of his son Otto II around 973. She names Otto II as the client. The Nordhausen nunnery is generally regarded as the place of origin. Bernd Schütte also considers Quedlinburg to be conceivable as the place of origin of the Vita. The author's question has also not been clearly clarified. However, since both Nordhausen and Quedlinburg were women's convents, a female author is assumed. Here Ricburg, the first abbess of Nordhausen, could come into question because of the familiar portrayal of the relationship between the abbess and Mathilde. The later vita must have been written after 1002, as it is dedicated to King Heinrich II , who was crowned king that year. Nordhausen is also assumed to be the place of origin, but the area of ​​Saxony is generally used. Who wrote the vita remains unclear, although the later vita was written for a more monastic than episcopal target group.

Throughout her life, Mathilde distinguished herself as a benefactor and founder of spiritual foundations - this is expressed about her several times in both biographies.

reception

The "courtship" in the romanticizing painting (1896) by Konrad Astfalck is moved outdoors.

Ferdinand Leeke recorded Heinrich's courtship for Mathilde in a wood engraving around 1890 ( Heinrich der Vogler courted Mathilde ). Also Konrad Astfalck devoted to this event in a history painting. Around 1860, Adolph Ehrhardt processed Mathilde's presence at the death of her husband Heinrich in a wood engraving ( Queen Mathilde on Heinrich I's deathbed ). Friedrich Hottenroth dealt with Mathilde's death in a wood engraving from around 1870 ( The Last Moments of Queen Mathilde ).

A plaque for them was placed in the Walhalla memorial near Regensburg . The churches of St. Mathilde (Laatzen) , St. Mathilde (Quedlinburg) and the Mathilden Hospital in Herford bear their patronage . Her feast day is March 14th (Protestant and Roman Catholic).

research

For a long time, research on the Middle Ages was primarily characterized by legal and constitutional issues relating to rule and state in the European Middle Ages. The focus was always on the king as a representative of the medieval empire. In this research tradition, the queen and princess had only a subordinate meaning, their role in the medieval system of rule believed to have adequately described the research with the formula of the "consors regni", the shareholder in power. It is only in the last two decades that medieval studies have increasingly devoted themselves to queens as advisers, mediators, regents, imperial administrators or governors . Mathilde's work has not yet been systematically processed by recent research. The anniversary of Mathilde's death was 1050 times on March 14, 2018. The city of Enger celebrated the anniversary with an exhibition, a lecture and a publication. On this occasion, Gerd Althoff presented an overview for a wider audience.

swell

  • Sean Gilsdorf: Queenship and sanctity. The lives of Mathilda and The epitaph of Adelheid. Catholic University of America Press, Washington, DC, 2004, ISBN 0-8132-1374-6 .
  • Bernd Schütte (Ed.): The life descriptions of Queen Mathilde (= Monumenta Germaniae Historica. Scriptores. 7: Scriptores rerum germanicarum in usum scholarum separatim editi. Volume 66). Hahn, Hannover 1994, ISBN 3-7752-5387-4 , ( online ).
  • Widukind von Corvey : The Saxon history of Widukind von Corvey. In: Sources on the history of the Saxon imperial era (= Freiherr-vom-Stein-Gedächtnisausgabe. Volume 8.). Edited by Albert Bauer, Reinhold Rau. 5th edition. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 2002, ISBN 3-534-01416-2 , pp. 1–183.

literature

  • Gerd Althoff: Noble and royal families in the mirror of their memorial tradition. Studies on the commemoration of the dead of the Billunger and Ottonians (= Münster medieval writings. Volume 47). Fink, Munich 1984, ISBN 3-7705-2267-2 . ( online ).
  • Gerd Althoff:  Mathilde. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 16, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1990, ISBN 3-428-00197-4 , p. 371 f. ( Digitized version ).
  • Gerd Althoff: Queen Mathilde († 968): Her life as a bride, wife, widow and her strange life descriptions (= contributions to the history of the city. Volume 11). Publishing house for regional history, Bielefeld 2018, ISBN 3-7395-1081-1 .
  • Gerd Althoff: Causa scribendi and intention to represent. Queen Mathilde's biographies and other examples. In: Michael Borgolte , Herrad Spilling (ed.): Litterae Medii Aevi. Festschrift for Johanne Autenrieth on her 65th birthday. Thorbecke, Sigmaringen 1988, ISBN 3-7995-7061-6 , pp. 117-133.
  • Amalie Fößel : The Queen in the Medieval Empire. Exercise of power, rights of power, scope for action (= Middle Ages research. Vol. 4). Thorbecke, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-534-15141-0 ( online ; partly at the same time: Bayreuth, Universität, habilitation paper, 1997/1998 under the title: Nostri thori nostrique regni consors imperatrix augusta. ).
  • Knut Görich : Mathilde - Edgith - Adelheid. Ottonian rulers as advocates. In: Bernd Schneidmüller , Stefan Weinfurter (Ed.): Ottonian new beginnings. Symposium on the exhibition "Otto the Great, Magdeburg and Europe". von Zabern, Mainz 2001, ISBN 3-8053-2701-3 , pp. 251-291.
  • Bernd Schütte: Investigations into the life descriptions of Queen Mathilde (= Monumenta Germaniae Historica , studies and texts. Volume 9). Hahn, Hannover 1994, ISBN 3-7752-5409-9 .
  • Daniela Müller-Wiegand: Mediating- Advising- Remembering: Functions and areas of responsibility of women in the Ottonian ruling family (919-1024). kassel university press, Kassel 2003, ISBN 3-89958-147-4 .

Web links

Commons : Mathilde von Ringelheim  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ Winfried Glocker: The relatives of the Ottonians and their significance in politics. Studies on family policy and genealogy of the Saxon imperial family. Cologne 1989 p. 264.
  2. ^ Gerd Althoff:  Mathilde. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 16, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1990, ISBN 3-428-00197-4 , p. 371 f. ( Digitized version ).
  3. ↑ Gerd Althoff: Queen Mathilde († 968): Her life as a bride, wife, widow and her strange life descriptions. Bielefeld 2018, p. 11.
  4. ↑ Gerd Althoff: Queen Mathilde († 968): Her life as a bride, wife, widow and her strange life descriptions. Bielefeld 2018, p. 17.
  5. ↑ Gerd Althoff: Problems with the queen's dos. In: Michel Parisse (Ed.): Veuves et veuvage dans le haut Moyen Age. Paris 1993, pp. 123-133. MGH DD HI, No. 20
  6. ↑ Gerd Althoff: Queen Mathilde († 968): Her life as a bride, wife, widow and her strange life descriptions. Bielefeld 2018, pp. 17-23; on the function of the so-called “house rules” in the context of the ascension of Otto the Great as king, cf. Johannes Laudage : Domiciliary rights and succession to the throne. Thoughts on the rise of Otto the great as king and on the revolts of Thankmar, Heinrich and Liudolf. In: Historical yearbook. 112, 1992, pp. 23-71, here pp. 46-50.
  7. ↑ Matthias Becher: Otto the Great. Emperor and Empire. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 120.
  8. ↑ Matthias Becher: Otto the Great. Emperor and Empire. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 120.
  9. ↑ MGH DD OI , No. 1, p. 90.
  10. ^ Vita Mathildis antiquior, c. 5.
  11. ^ Gerd Althoff: Noble and royal families in the mirror of their memorial tradition. Studies on the commemoration of the dead of the Billunger and Ottonians. Munich 1984, pp. 169-179 ( online ).
  12. ↑ Daniela Müller-Wiegand: Mediating- advising- remembering: functions and areas of responsibility of women in the Ottonian ruling family (919-1024). Kassel 2003, p. 98 ff.
  13. ↑ Daniela Müller-Wiegand: Mediating- advising- remembering: functions and areas of responsibility of women in the Ottonian ruling family (919-1024). Kassel 2003, p. 124ff.
  14. ^ Heinrich Rüthing: To the early history of the Canonical Monastery in Enger. In: Stefan Brakensiek (Ed.): Widukind. Research on a Myth. Bielefeld 1997, pp. 9-20.
  15. ↑ Gerd Althoff: Queen Mathilde († 968): Her life as a bride, wife, widow and her strange life descriptions. Bielefeld 2018, p. 27.
  16. ↑ Gerd Althoff: Widukind von Corvey. Key witness and challenge. In: Early Medieval Studies. 27, 1993, pp. 253-272, here p. 263.
  17. ↑ Gerd Althoff: Queen Mathilde († 968): Her life as a bride, wife, widow and her strange life descriptions. Bielefeld 2018, p. 43.
  18. ↑ Hans Kurt Schulze : The marriage certificate of the Empress Theophanu. The Greek Empress and the Roman-German Empire 972–991. Hanover 2007.
  19. ↑ Gerd Althoff: Widukind von Corvey. Key witness and challenge. In: Early Medieval Studies. 27, 1993, pp. 253-272, here p. 261.
  20. ^ Joachim Ehlers: Heinrich I. in Quedlinburg. In: Gerd Althoff, Ernst Schubert (Hrsg.): Representation of power in Ottonian Saxony. Sigmaringen 1998, pp. 235-266, here: p. 257 ( online ).
  21. ↑ Bernd Schütte: Investigations into the life descriptions of Queen Mathilde. Hanover 1994, p. 70 ff.
  22. ↑ Sean Gilsdorf: Queenship and Sanctity: The Lives of Mathilda and the Epitaph of Adelheid. Washington 2004, p. 16.
  23. ↑ Sean Gilsdorf: Queenship and Sanctity: The Lives of Mathilda and the Epitaph of Adelheid. Washington 2004, p. 21.
  24. ↑ Gerd Althoff: Queen Mathilde († 968): Her life as a bride, wife, widow and her strange life descriptions. Bielefeld 2018.
predecessor Office Successor
––– Roman-German Queen
919 to 929 		Edgitha
personal data
SURNAME Mathilde
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Wife of King Henry I
DATE OF BIRTH at 895
PLACE OF BIRTH Enger , Saxony
DATE OF DEATH March 14, 968
Place of death Quedlinburg