HOME | DD

Description
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 med 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 ostenibly 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.

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 DizzyMountaineer 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!

Learn more on the website: womenof1000ad.weebly.com/sophi…

Others in the series include...

Mór
The Reader of Ancash
The Skiier of Sápmi
Mahendradatta
Martha Mother of Kings
Miss Zeng
The Singer and Dancer of Calos
The Devotee of Žemyna

The Little Family of Guayaquil

High Priestess Senshi

Description
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 med 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 ostenibly 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.

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 DizzyMountaineer 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!

Learn more on the website: womenof1000ad.weebly.com/sophi…

Others in the series include...

Mór
The Reader of Ancash
The Skiier of Sápmi
Mahendradatta
Martha Mother of Kings
Miss Zeng
The Singer and Dancer of Calos
The Devotee of Žemyna

The Little Family of Guayaquil

High Priestess Senshi