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Matilda, Abbess of Quedlinburg

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Reign
  
966–999

Name
  
Matilda, of

Successor
  
Adelheid I

Died
  
999 AD, Quedlinburg Abbey

Mother
  
Adelaide of Italy

House
  
Ottonian dynasty

Religion
  
Roman Catholic


Father
  
Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor

Parents
  
Adelaide of Italy, Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor

Cousins
  
Lothair of France, Charles, Duke of Lower Lorraine

Grandparents
  
Matilda of Ringelheim, Henry the Fowler, Bertha of Swabia, Rudolph II of Burgundy

Similar People
  
Otto I - Holy Roman Emperor, Adelaide of Italy, Matilda of Ringelheim, Henry the Fowler, Otto II - Holy Roman Emperor

Matilda (December 955 – 999), also known as Mathilda and Mathilde, was the first Princess-Abbess of Quedlinburg. She was the daughter of Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, and his second wife, Adelaide of Italy.

Contents

Taking the veil

Her grandmother, Saint Matilda, founded the Quedlinburg Abbey in 936 and led it. In April 966, in a splendid ceremony requested by her father, the eleven-year-old granddaughter and namesake of Saint Matilda was recognized as abbess by all bishops and archbishops of the Holy Roman Empire.

Regency

A year after becoming abbess, her grandmother died, and Matilda was left as the only member of the Ottonian Dynasty in the kingdom when her father and brother Otto went to Italy. Thus, her task was to represent her dynasty and rule over Saxony in a particularly difficult situation.

As regent, Matilda held a reforming synod at Dornberg. The synod was reforming in character and it concerned the church in Germany. In 984, she held an imperial diet at her abbey. At the diet, Henry the Wrangler questioned the right of Matilda's nephew to succeed his father. Matilda successfully defeated his claims and secured the election of her nephew as Holy Roman Emperor, therefore "holding the empire together". In 984, Matilda, her mother, Empress Adelaide, and her sister-in-law, Empress Theophanu, became co-regents for Matilda's young nephew, Otto III. A contemporary chronicler described her regency as being "without female levity". Matilda succeeded in restoring peace and authority by leading an army against the barbarians. She was praised for achieving her goals without using military force, even though it was at her disposal.

Death

She died in 999 and was succeeded by her niece, Adelaide I.

Widukind of Corvey, a Saxon historical chronicler, dedicated his writings, among which is the most important work of Ottonian historiography, to Matilda.

References

Matilda, Abbess of Quedlinburg Wikipedia