Theodrada

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Charlemagne gives Theodrada the "sacred tunic of Argenteuil". Leaded glass window from 1913 in the parish church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste in Dammartin-en-Goële .

Theodrada (* probably 785 , † January 9 844 / 853 in the Abbey Münsterschwarzach in Schwarzach am Main ) was a daughter of Charlemagne and abbess in Argenteuil and Münsterschwarzach.

Life

She was born as the older of the two daughters of Karl's fourth wife Fastrada and the twelfth child of the Frankish king.

From 814 she is documented as abbess of Notre-Dame d'Argenteuil. A document, believed to date from 828, states that Theodrada received Argenteuil from her father. In any case, on the occasion of the transfer, the abbey became independent from the Abbey of Saint-Denis and, as a Carolingian house monastery, was directly subordinate to the Frankish king. In the aforementioned document of 828, Theodrada returned the monastery to St. Denis on the condition that she was allowed to use it for life, unless she voluntarily renounced it or was compensated with another monastery.

Charlemagne is said to have given Hugo von Amiens ( Archbishop of Rouen ), who lived in the 12th century, to his daughter and her monastery as a relic the holy robe , allegedly a garment of Jesus woven by Mary. However, this lore can also be a legend that was supposed to give the relic additional meaning by associating it with Charlemagne. Therefore the report is no indication of the date of Theodrada's inauguration due to its time lag. The textile, which dates from the first or second century AD, made Argenteuil a popular place of pilgrimage from the 15th century.

When Normans devastated the area around Paris in which the monastery was located, Theodrada fled to the East Franconian Empire and became abbess of the Münsterschwarzach women's monastery . In the period that followed, she prevented the nuns' free election of the heads of the nuns, which had been envisaged since the monastery reform Benedict von Anianes . In order to protect the abbey, she subordinated the entire property to the bishops of Würzburg . Nevertheless, she herself continued to have certain rights in the monastery, because in a document dated January 9, 844 she (with the consent of Würzburg Bishop Gozbald ) appoints Blutenda as her successor.

Theodrada's date of death is just as badly passed on as the history of Münsterschwarzach in the following years: On July 21, 853, Hildegard , daughter of Ludwig the German and great-niece Theodradas, became abbess of the Fraumünster monastery in Zurich , after she had previously held this office in Münsterschwarzach. Theodrada must have died some time before this date, since Hildegard's term of office must also lie between 844 (her last documented mention as a living person) and 853. In previous years either Blutenda had died or the document from 844 had been revoked, because a document dated March 27, 857 indicates that Theodrada had assured Hildegard of the lifelong right of use to Münsterschwarzach for the time after her death, while Bleeding is completely ignored here. Since Theodrada is definitely described as deceased in this document, 857 is the absolute term ante quem for the year of her death.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Wilfried Hartmann : Emperor Charlemagne (768 / 800-814). In: Gerhard Hartmann, Karl Schnith (ed.): The emperors. 1200 years of European history. Marix Verlag Wiesbaden 2006, ISBN 3-86539-074-9 , p. 42 f.
  2. ^ RI I n.848 , in: Regesta Imperii Online
  3. ^ RI I n.848 , in: Regesta Imperii Online
  4. ^ Alfred Wendehorst : The Diocese of Würzburg. Part 1: The series of bishops up to 1254 (= Germania Sacra , NF 1). Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 1962, ISBN 3-11-001291-X , p. 45 ( online ).
  5. ^ RI I n.1375 , in: Regesta Imperii Online
  6. ^ Wilfried Hartmann: Emperor Ludwig the German (840-876). In: Gerhard Hartmann, Karl Schnith (ed.): The emperors. 1200 years of European history. Marix Verlag Wiesbaden 2006, ISBN 3-86539-074-9 , p. 70.
  7. ^ RI I n. 1422 , in: Regesta Imperii Online
Predecessors Office Successors
unknown Abbess of Argenteuil
before 814 - ??? 		unknown
not safe Abbess of Schwarzach am Main
after 824/828-after 844 		Bleeding
personal data
SURNAME Theodrada
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Frankish noblewoman, daughter of Charlemagne, Abbess of Argenteuil
DATE OF BIRTH at 785
DATE OF DEATH January 9, 844 or January 9, 853
Place of death Münsterschwarzach Abbey , Schwarzach am Main