Recommended listening: Hildegard von Bingen - Canticles of Ecstasy
Story
It was the 14th of September in the year 1000, and things were not going to plan. Gandersheim Abbey, one of the jewels of the Ottonian Empire, was due to be re-consecrated after being repaired from fire damage. The abbess, Gerberga, was gravely ill, so her duties had been taken over by the 24-year-old Sophia. The daughter of the late emperor Otto II and sister of the current emperor Otto III, Sophia had been preparing for this role since she'd been placed into the abbey's care as an infant. Sophia's installation as a canoness had been the start of a new chapter for Gandersheim, bringing it closer than ever before to the imperial family. But this newfound importance did not come without its complications.
Sophia, always eager to assert Gandersheim's connection to her family, wanted the abbey to be consecrated by Archbishop Willigis of Mainz. An ally of her late mother, the empress Theophanu, Willigis was the Archchancellor of the Holy Roman Empire. Getting him to consecrate the abbey would be a sign of the abbey's status, as well as Sophia's own. There was just one problem: the local bishop Bernward. The conflicts between Sophia and the local bishops of Hildesheim had begun when she was only eleven years old. She (and most likely her mother) wanted Willigis to consecrate her as a canoness, believing that only an archbishop's hand befitted the installation of an imperial daughter in the abbey. Bishop Osdag of Hildesheim had disputed this, and in the end, a compromise was reached where both men veiled Sophia together at the same time.
But now Bernward was bishop, and no such compromise was forthcoming. September 14th had been chosen as the original date for the re-consecration of Gandersheim, but at the last minute, the date was changed to September 21st - a day when Bernward would be unable to attend. Undeterred, Bernward arrived a week early on the original date. The Mass he held to try to consecrate the church broke out into a riot when he publicly lamented that Sophia had tried to stop him. The canonesses were furious, and the dispute known as the Gandersheim Conflict had begun. Over the next several months synods met to try to mediate the matter, with even the pope getting involved to try to stop the armed followers of either party from engaging in violence. The dispute was interrupted by the death of Otto III in 1002, and was not fully resolved until 1030, when Emperor Conrad II decreed that Gandersheim would fall under Hildesheim's jurisdiction.
Why was Bernward so determined to consecrate the abbey himself, and why was Sophia so determined to exclude him? Gandersheim's community of canonesses had been under Hildesheim's jurisdiction for its first four years of existence before it moved to its present location. In the years that followed, it grew to be a centre of learning and culture in the Ottonian kingdom. Gerberga, Sophia's mentor, had led the abbey into its golden age. Aristocrats from all over the empire sent their daughters to be educated at Gandersheim, where they studied ancient texts in Latin and even Greek. Some of the canonesses achieved great fame, such as the playwright and poet Hrotsvitha, the first named female poet in German history. Although the bishops of Hildesheim hadn't properly controlled Gandersheim since the mid-9th century, the increased prestige that Gerberga's reign brought made it a prize worth fighting for.
The abbey's value only increased with the installation of Sophia as a canoness. She was the daughter of Otto II and his Greek wife Theophanu, who may have even given birth to Sophia in Gandersheim or another nearby female monastery. Coming from both the German and Byzantine imperial lines, she appears to have been a confident and perhaps even arrogant woman, born into power and ready to take it. Although she had been ostensibly made a woman of the religious life when she took her vows at age eleven, Sophia remained actively engaged with imperial politics. She came to court in 991 after her mother's unexpected death, and from then on was closely involved with the family's political affairs. When her brother, the newly crowned Otto III, embarked on his first Italian campaign in 995, Sophia accompanied him. He was unmarried, and so she acted as his consort, advising him and helping him in the campaign. Willigis too had come with her, leaving Gandersheim effectively under Bernward's influence. Their return to Saxony in 997 set the stage for the Gandersheim Conflict - after their long absence, they were ready to reassert their control over one of the empire's most important monasteries.
Sophia is pictured here with her sister Adelheid. Adelheid was the abbess of Quedlinburg, another centre of Ottonian intellectual and cultural life. Earlier in the year she had joined her brother on his victory tour of the Ottonian Empire, but now she has come to Gandersheim to represent her monastery at this important event. Perhaps more than that though, she would have served as a key ally of her sister Sophia, strategizing with her about how best to thwart Bernward. While Adelheid's role in the Gandersheim Conflict hasn't been documented, the two sisters were close collaborators just a few years later in the imperial election of 1002. Their brother Otto had died without an heir while his fiancee was en route to the wedding. In the scramble for power that followed, Sophia and Adelheid emerged as the key kingmakers. Their political manoeuvring led directly to the installation of their counsin Henry II as the new Ottonian emperor. Over the years they would continue to wield powerful influence, deciding the election in Conrad II's favour in 1027.
We see the two sisters here, dressed in the finery befitting princess-abbesses, walking briskly down the cloister at Gandersheim. They have withdrawn from the abbey church after Bernward's riotous Mass and are discussing what their next course of action should be. No doubt they are on their way to confer with the other canonesses and write a letter to Willigis to inform him of the day's dramatic events. Although Sophia was not yet officially abbess, the events of 1000 marked the beginning of her long leadership over an Ottonian intellectual powerhouse - and throughout the long years to follow, her sister Adelheid would be at her side.
Sophia, always eager to assert Gandersheim's connection to her family, wanted the abbey to be consecrated by Archbishop Willigis of Mainz. An ally of her late mother, the empress Theophanu, Willigis was the Archchancellor of the Holy Roman Empire. Getting him to consecrate the abbey would be a sign of the abbey's status, as well as Sophia's own. There was just one problem: the local bishop Bernward. The conflicts between Sophia and the local bishops of Hildesheim had begun when she was only eleven years old. She (and most likely her mother) wanted Willigis to consecrate her as a canoness, believing that only an archbishop's hand befitted the installation of an imperial daughter in the abbey. Bishop Osdag of Hildesheim had disputed this, and in the end, a compromise was reached where both men veiled Sophia together at the same time.
But now Bernward was bishop, and no such compromise was forthcoming. September 14th had been chosen as the original date for the re-consecration of Gandersheim, but at the last minute, the date was changed to September 21st - a day when Bernward would be unable to attend. Undeterred, Bernward arrived a week early on the original date. The Mass he held to try to consecrate the church broke out into a riot when he publicly lamented that Sophia had tried to stop him. The canonesses were furious, and the dispute known as the Gandersheim Conflict had begun. Over the next several months synods met to try to mediate the matter, with even the pope getting involved to try to stop the armed followers of either party from engaging in violence. The dispute was interrupted by the death of Otto III in 1002, and was not fully resolved until 1030, when Emperor Conrad II decreed that Gandersheim would fall under Hildesheim's jurisdiction.
Why was Bernward so determined to consecrate the abbey himself, and why was Sophia so determined to exclude him? Gandersheim's community of canonesses had been under Hildesheim's jurisdiction for its first four years of existence before it moved to its present location. In the years that followed, it grew to be a centre of learning and culture in the Ottonian kingdom. Gerberga, Sophia's mentor, had led the abbey into its golden age. Aristocrats from all over the empire sent their daughters to be educated at Gandersheim, where they studied ancient texts in Latin and even Greek. Some of the canonesses achieved great fame, such as the playwright and poet Hrotsvitha, the first named female poet in German history. Although the bishops of Hildesheim hadn't properly controlled Gandersheim since the mid-9th century, the increased prestige that Gerberga's reign brought made it a prize worth fighting for.
The abbey's value only increased with the installation of Sophia as a canoness. She was the daughter of Otto II and his Greek wife Theophanu, who may have even given birth to Sophia in Gandersheim or another nearby female monastery. Coming from both the German and Byzantine imperial lines, she appears to have been a confident and perhaps even arrogant woman, born into power and ready to take it. Although she had been ostensibly made a woman of the religious life when she took her vows at age eleven, Sophia remained actively engaged with imperial politics. She came to court in 991 after her mother's unexpected death, and from then on was closely involved with the family's political affairs. When her brother, the newly crowned Otto III, embarked on his first Italian campaign in 995, Sophia accompanied him. He was unmarried, and so she acted as his consort, advising him and helping him in the campaign. Willigis too had come with her, leaving Gandersheim effectively under Bernward's influence. Their return to Saxony in 997 set the stage for the Gandersheim Conflict - after their long absence, they were ready to reassert their control over one of the empire's most important monasteries.
Sophia is pictured here with her sister Adelheid. Adelheid was the abbess of Quedlinburg, another centre of Ottonian intellectual and cultural life. Earlier in the year she had joined her brother on his victory tour of the Ottonian Empire, but now she has come to Gandersheim to represent her monastery at this important event. Perhaps more than that though, she would have served as a key ally of her sister Sophia, strategizing with her about how best to thwart Bernward. While Adelheid's role in the Gandersheim Conflict hasn't been documented, the two sisters were close collaborators just a few years later in the imperial election of 1002. Their brother Otto had died without an heir while his fiancee was en route to the wedding. In the scramble for power that followed, Sophia and Adelheid emerged as the key kingmakers. Their political manoeuvring led directly to the installation of their counsin Henry II as the new Ottonian emperor. Over the years they would continue to wield powerful influence, deciding the election in Conrad II's favour in 1027.
We see the two sisters here, dressed in the finery befitting princess-abbesses, walking briskly down the cloister at Gandersheim. They have withdrawn from the abbey church after Bernward's riotous Mass and are discussing what their next course of action should be. No doubt they are on their way to confer with the other canonesses and write a letter to Willigis to inform him of the day's dramatic events. Although Sophia was not yet officially abbess, the events of 1000 marked the beginning of her long leadership over an Ottonian intellectual powerhouse - and throughout the long years to follow, her sister Adelheid would be at her side.
Artist's Comments
The first nuns in my series, can you believe it? (Well, technically they're not nuns, they're canonesses... but shhh!) I'd like to thank Sarah Greer for sending me her thesis about Ottonian abbesses when I asked for it over a year ago, and for tipping me off about the gorgeous clothing these women would have worn. Sophia's clothing is based on a portrait of her contemporary Mathilde of Essen, an abbey where Sophia herself would later be appointed abbess. I actually coloured her dress a rich purplish red, but my scanner ate up all the purple so you are left with red. Oh well! Sophia is my first redheaded woman in the series - I looked at portraits of her father and brother which seemed to have a definite reddish tint, so I went with that for her. I tried to make Adelheid look like her while perhaps resembling Theophanu, their Greek mother, a bit more. My reference for the background was the Romanesque cloister at Hildesheim Cathedral - fitting, if a bit ironic!! Thanks to my friend Dizzy for her help on the hands in this picture which were quite tricky. I've wanted to bring you all the stories of some princess-abbesses for a long time now, so I hope you enjoyed learning about them! ~ May 29, 2020
Resources
Want to learn more about Sophia, Adelheid, and other royal Ottonian women? Here are some recommended resources.
Gandersheim and Quedlinburg, c. 852 - 1024: the development of female royal monasteries in Saxony by Sarah Greer
This thesis, which Dr. Greer kindly sent me a copy of, has a wealth of information about Ottonian royal monasteries. Sophia's role in the Gandersheim Conflict is explored here with many details that informed my description of the event. I'm also grateful to Sarah for pointing me towards this resplendent portrayal of Mathilde of Essen's clothing, which I used as a model for this illustration. Sarah created a short and excellent video about Mathilda of Quedlinburg, Adelheid's predecessor as abbess, which you can watch here. Her work on the early history of Gandersheim and Quedlinburg will be published in an upcoming book, Commemorating Power in Early Medieval Saxony: Writing and Rewriting the Past at Gandersheim and Quedlinburg.
Die Quedlinburger Äbtissinnen im Hochmittelalter. Das Stift Quedlinburg in Zeiten der Krise und des Wandels bis 1137 by Christian Marlow
This thesis provided the most details I could find about Adelheid's life, with lots of information about Sophia as well. I particularly appreciated his details about the relationship between Adelheid and her brother, and about how Sophia and Adelheid acted as kingmakers in 1002. Of course, all of this was with a little help from Google Translate!
"The Abbatial Effigies at Quedlinburg: A Convent's Identity Reconfigured" by Karen Blough
Adelheid was the subject of one of the earliest tomb effigies in the Middle Ages. You can read about why hers and other portraits might have been commissioned in this article. You can see the effigy of Adelheid here. The article discusses Adelheid's reign as abbess and compares it to that of other abbesses of Quedlinburg.
"Ottonian intellectual culture in the tenth century and the role of Theophanu" by Rosamond McKitterick
One of the greatest scholars in the field analyses the role of Ottonian royal women in influencing culture in the late tenth century. The article skillfully uses clues from historical sources such as manuscript gifts to reconstruct their intellectual networks and social relationships. Interesting details include the role of Gandersheim and Quedlinburg in helping Theophanu through her back-to-back pregnancies and evidence that the Greek-speaking Theophanu knew little Latin before her marriage. Her daughters' patronage of intellectual culture is contrasted to her own milder output.
"The Impact of Silk on Ottonian and Salian Manuscripts" by Stephen Wagner
There are lots of beautiful images at the end of this short article. You can see the chasuble that Sophia's ally Willigis actually wore, the marriage contract of her parents, and many beautiful manuscript pages from Hildesheim Cathedral.
Ottonian Queenship by Simon MacLean
I haven't read much of this book, but it's by one of my former teachers, Simon MacLean, and is a landmark book about Ottonian women. It's the first book in English on Ottonian queens and looks at the historical circumstances of the period to explain why royal women achieved so much power and influence in Ottonian society. Sophia and Adelheid's mother Theophanu is one of the major figures examined in the work.
The Hidden History of Women's Ordination: Female Clergy in the Medieval West by Gary Macy
A book on a controversial subject - women's ordination in the medieval church. Of relevance here is Macy's analysis of the powers invested in a woman when she was ordained an abbess in the early medieval West. Abbesses could hear their nuns' confessions, assign them penance, absolve them, preach to them, and even excommunicate them! In some monasteries, abbesses even distributed communion, baptised children, and heard the confessions of laypeople, though none of his examples were from Quedlinburg or Gandersheim. Some of these powers were later reserved to priests, a process beginning in the mid-11th century which Macy explores in detail in the book.
After Empire: Using and Not Using the Past in the Crisis of the Carolingian World, c. 900-1050
If you'd like to learn more about the Ottonians in general, this website has some great resources. There are maps, guides to using primary sources, videos, and blog posts from researchers working on this period. The website covers different areas of Western Europe, but for the Ottonians specifically you can browse the Ottonians tag.
Gandersheim and Quedlinburg, c. 852 - 1024: the development of female royal monasteries in Saxony by Sarah Greer
This thesis, which Dr. Greer kindly sent me a copy of, has a wealth of information about Ottonian royal monasteries. Sophia's role in the Gandersheim Conflict is explored here with many details that informed my description of the event. I'm also grateful to Sarah for pointing me towards this resplendent portrayal of Mathilde of Essen's clothing, which I used as a model for this illustration. Sarah created a short and excellent video about Mathilda of Quedlinburg, Adelheid's predecessor as abbess, which you can watch here. Her work on the early history of Gandersheim and Quedlinburg will be published in an upcoming book, Commemorating Power in Early Medieval Saxony: Writing and Rewriting the Past at Gandersheim and Quedlinburg.
Die Quedlinburger Äbtissinnen im Hochmittelalter. Das Stift Quedlinburg in Zeiten der Krise und des Wandels bis 1137 by Christian Marlow
This thesis provided the most details I could find about Adelheid's life, with lots of information about Sophia as well. I particularly appreciated his details about the relationship between Adelheid and her brother, and about how Sophia and Adelheid acted as kingmakers in 1002. Of course, all of this was with a little help from Google Translate!
"The Abbatial Effigies at Quedlinburg: A Convent's Identity Reconfigured" by Karen Blough
Adelheid was the subject of one of the earliest tomb effigies in the Middle Ages. You can read about why hers and other portraits might have been commissioned in this article. You can see the effigy of Adelheid here. The article discusses Adelheid's reign as abbess and compares it to that of other abbesses of Quedlinburg.
"Ottonian intellectual culture in the tenth century and the role of Theophanu" by Rosamond McKitterick
One of the greatest scholars in the field analyses the role of Ottonian royal women in influencing culture in the late tenth century. The article skillfully uses clues from historical sources such as manuscript gifts to reconstruct their intellectual networks and social relationships. Interesting details include the role of Gandersheim and Quedlinburg in helping Theophanu through her back-to-back pregnancies and evidence that the Greek-speaking Theophanu knew little Latin before her marriage. Her daughters' patronage of intellectual culture is contrasted to her own milder output.
"The Impact of Silk on Ottonian and Salian Manuscripts" by Stephen Wagner
There are lots of beautiful images at the end of this short article. You can see the chasuble that Sophia's ally Willigis actually wore, the marriage contract of her parents, and many beautiful manuscript pages from Hildesheim Cathedral.
Ottonian Queenship by Simon MacLean
I haven't read much of this book, but it's by one of my former teachers, Simon MacLean, and is a landmark book about Ottonian women. It's the first book in English on Ottonian queens and looks at the historical circumstances of the period to explain why royal women achieved so much power and influence in Ottonian society. Sophia and Adelheid's mother Theophanu is one of the major figures examined in the work.
The Hidden History of Women's Ordination: Female Clergy in the Medieval West by Gary Macy
A book on a controversial subject - women's ordination in the medieval church. Of relevance here is Macy's analysis of the powers invested in a woman when she was ordained an abbess in the early medieval West. Abbesses could hear their nuns' confessions, assign them penance, absolve them, preach to them, and even excommunicate them! In some monasteries, abbesses even distributed communion, baptised children, and heard the confessions of laypeople, though none of his examples were from Quedlinburg or Gandersheim. Some of these powers were later reserved to priests, a process beginning in the mid-11th century which Macy explores in detail in the book.
After Empire: Using and Not Using the Past in the Crisis of the Carolingian World, c. 900-1050
If you'd like to learn more about the Ottonians in general, this website has some great resources. There are maps, guides to using primary sources, videos, and blog posts from researchers working on this period. The website covers different areas of Western Europe, but for the Ottonians specifically you can browse the Ottonians tag.