Katrinette Bodarwé, Kalamazoo 2001

The research into the history of religious women monasteries is still at the beginning. This is especially true of the communities of canonesses, that are described as "Damenstifte" in later Middle Ages. They are regarded as insignificant because they are understood mainly as charitable institutions for unmarried daughters. Although this description would be fare more fitting for the lives of women in the 19^th century, it can be found again and again in scientific and popular publications even today. This devastating judgement is based on the medieval aversion of church reformers against free organised female communities and the dislike of women - especially religious women. Still today historians are willing to believe reports of reformers about awful situations in female communities without any historical critique - so secure they feel in the long line of negative judgement.

This tradition also determinates the perception of the role of the Ottonian communities. That those female communities must have had a special meaning in Ottonian times, is evident from the striking number of female religious communities in early medieval Saxony: already in the Carolingian period as many as fifteen foundations are attested, with at least a further thirty-six following under the Ottonians. No other institution of the christian culture attracted the Saxon nobility so much in the 9^th and 10^th century. Looking for an explanation, some thought of relicts of pagan death cults - as if a special role of women was inconceivable in christianity - other thought of a surplus of women as result of the Saxon wars - which leeds back to the argument that women' s communities must have been founded mainly for charity.

But looking for concrete information about these communities, that could explain their popularity you will find more questions than answers. Nevertheless there are many more sources than supposed, if we do not concentrate exclusively on narrative sources, but devote our attention to buildings, liturgy, treasures and manuscripts as well. I would like to discuss in this paper the example of the community of Essen to show you the results that can be obtained by interdisciplinary research. The results I present have been worked out by a group of scholars over several years and were published together last year (Herrschaft, Bildung und Gebet: Gründung und Anfänge des Frauenstifts Essen, hg. von Günter Berghaus, Thomas Schilp, Michael Schlagheck, Essen 2000).

The community of Essen was founded in the mid-ninth century by Altfrid, bishop of Hildesheim and the abbess Gersuit. Although the foundation was not situated in the main Saxon area, but at the Ripuarian border in the diocese of Cologne, Essen was Saxon in orientation in the Early Middle Ages (see map, from Angus Mackay, Atlas of Medieval Europe, p.36).

After a short period during which it was owned by the bishop of Hildesheim as an "Eigenkloster", Essen held the position of an Ottonian family convent and was one of the leading Saxon communities of females religious next to Gandersheim and Quedlinburg. [In the year 987 ( MGH DOIII, Nr.32) the emperor Otto III. granted the women community Vilich, near Bonn, the status: ad legem et ad regularem ordinem ceterorum monasteriorum in nostro regno degentium, scilicet Quidlingeburg, Ganderesheim, Asnithe. Over and over again these three communities were mentioned at the time as a unity in connection with the Ottonian family.]

How this monastery in Essen got in contact with the Liudolfingian family, is still unclear. But at the latest by the middle of the 10^th century Essen was governed by members of the Ottonian family. When they were promoted to kingship, Essen was promoted from the family monastery of an important aristocratic family to a royal community. The abbesses of the Ottonian family were now princesses, daughters and sisters of kings and emperors. The following three abbesses were the most important for the community of Essen (see genealogical tree):

1. Mathilde of Essen ( ca. 973 bis 1011)

Mathilde, daughter of duke Liudolf and Ida of Swabia, was born in 949 and given to the convent of Essen at an early age. In 966 her grandfather Otto I. granted a farm to Essen, and it seems possible that this was the date of her official taking the veil. When Mathilde became abbess is not known, but in 973, when Otto II. was crowned, she was already leading the community of Essen and was able to get a certification of the rights of Essen in a few weeks. Mathilde died in 1011, her death is announced in the Annales of Quedlinburg (MGH SS III, S.80).

2. Sophia of Gandersheim (1012-1029)

After the death of Mathilda her cousin Sophia, daughter of Otto II. and already abbess of Gandersheim, took over the community of Essen too. She may have reside primarily in Gandersheim, at least she is not known as a donator to Essen. But she made every effort to clarify the rights of Essen to the tenth. Sophie died in the year 1039.

3. Theophanu of Essen (1029 - ca. 1058)

Sophia was followed by her niece Theophanu, daughter of earl Ezzo and princess Mathilda. One of her brothers was archbishop Herimann of Cologne. Theophanu saw herself first of all as granddaughter of the Byzantine princess and roman empress of the same name: she was an "Ottonian abbess in Salian times".

Those three abbesses, especially Mathilda and Theophanu were responsible for the arrangement of Essen, that I would like to introduce to you.

The most important and lasting result of the donations of these abbesses is the rebuilding of the minster of Essen. In 949 the old church building burned down, the reconstruction took several periods and was finished not until the time of Theophanu. She built the still existing Crypta and the east-chorus over it.

Special attention is attracted by the western part of the Minster: In an artistic construction a part of a polygon with arches in two floors was integrated into the rectangular "Westwerk": a clear quotation of the Minster of Aix-la-Chapelle (see picture, from: Herrschaft, Bildung und Gebet, p.49).

The meaning of this quotation seems unambiguous: The western part of the church of Essen is identified with the minster of Aix-la-Chapelle, the place of Charlesmagne, the crowning church. So by this reference Essen place itself on a level with Aix-la-Chapelle: Essen is also a royal place, at Essen emperors can also be found.

Only one convenient use can be concluded for this "Westwerk": It must have been used as gallery for royal visitors, as seat for a king or emperor attending the divine service of the community. But beyond the concrete visit of the emperor this gallery represents the familiaritas, the familiarity of the community of Essen with their sovereigns: the king seems to be always present and the praying sanctimoniales of Essen seem to be in Aix-la-Chapelle and at the court of the king.

On the other hand this quotation can be seen as a claim of position of the community of Essen and its abbess. This can be shown by a view at the outer form of the minster (see pictures, from: Herrschaft, Bildung und Gebet, S.48). A powerful octagonal tower dominates the minster of Essen - here also the quotation of Aix-la-Chapelle is more than clear. What did this building suggest to the arriving visitor in the Early Middle Ages? Here is Aix-la-Chapelle, here you might find the king, here you might find his court? That it is a conscious quotation may be seen by the ground plan (from: Herrschaft, Bildung und Gebet, S.57): The tower seems to float over the church, there is no logical generation out of the form of the building or the gallery.

That quotation of Aix-la-Chapelle combined with the reception of classical Roman forms can be understand as a purposeful relation to the imperial policy of Otto III. The west-building of Essen translated the cult of Charlemagne and policy of renovation - the main ideals of Otto III. - into architectural structurs. For that it should be dated into the years 997 to 1001.

A church is more than just a building, it was and is a place of holiness, its function as a sacral place is based on the relics of saints placed in it. Because of their power of protection relics were the most valuable treasures in the Early Middle Ages. They guaranteed the presence and intercession of the holy men and women. The more saints a dynasty or a religious community could gather and the higher the rank of the holy men has been, the better welfare and reign were secured.

At the same time relics represented the giving: they were presents - given voluntary or by pressure - and represented the giver, the place or community, were the saint was buried.

In this sense the sanctimoniales of Essen collected in their church an especially precious and blessing treasure, that at the same time symbolized the relationships and importance of Essen and, respectively, of the Ottonian family. Mathilde and Theophanu enlarged the treasure of relics of the church of Essen considerably.

These Ottonian princesses used their political connections and relationships and profited from the relic-imports of Otto I. from Rome and Byzantium and those of his grandson Otto III. from Westfrancia. From their fathers or brothers, who were dukes of Swabia and Bavaria, they got relics too (see map of the relics of Essen).

Some of the important acquisitions were relics of Marsus from Auxerre, of Liuttrud from Corvey, of Walburga from Heidenheim, of Florinus from Koblenz, of Liborius from Paderborn and of Regula from Zurich. Most important was the donation of a relic of the cross at the time of Theophanu (see relic-tabula, donated for this relic by Theophanu, from: Herrschaft, Bildung und Gebet, p.150).

Only a few of these relics were kept in the altars, the more important pieces had their own shrines visible standing in the church. Most of those golden and luxury shrines are lost, but there was at least a shrine for the relics of Pinnosa, one for Marsus and Liuttrud and probably one for the patrons Cosmas and Damian. But attention was also drawn to the smaller ones hidden in the altars. Inscriptions in the crypta list the names of the collected saints and give the visitors an impression of the summarized holiness of the place Essen.

Many of these saints also awoke political impressions, one example can be seen on the evangeliary of Theophanu. On the golden cover of that book she portrayed the Roman representatives Peter and Paul above the patrons of Essen Cosmas and Damian (see book-cover, from: Herrschaft, Bildung und Gebet, p.60).

Essen really had some relics of both the churchmen, although it is unknown if they were acquired by the founder Altfrid or in the 10^th century by the Ottonian rulers. But the picture of Peter and Paul refers to Essens direct juridical subordination to Rome, that was granted to Essen by Pope Agapit in the middle of the 10^th century.

It was already mentioned, that Mathilde and Theophanu donated shrines and boxes for their acquired relics. But there are a lot more pieces in the treasury of Essen, that are ascribed to these abbesses, among others 4 golden crosses, a golden ceremony-sword, the already shown relic-tabula, a golden statue of Mary with a crown and a sevenarmed candlestick whith about 2m high (see the candlestick on the picture, from: Herrschaft, Bildung und Gebet, p.49).

The unique glow of these jewelleries must have been very impressive for contemporaries - but written documents are missing, that would inform us about the use of these objects. The crosses, the relic-table and the evangeliary were used at festive processions. But for what was the gold-decorated sword used, which later in the middle ages was misinterpreted as the one Cosmas and Damian were executed with? The meaning of the giant candlestick also stays unknown, apart from its construction after the description of the Old Testament (Exodus 25, 31-38; 37, 17-24).

Fortunately we are informed about the liturgical meaning and use of the golden statue of Mary - one of the earliest medieval statues at all, that demonstrates the special interest of the Ottonian abbesses for Mary (see picture, from: Herrschaft, Bildung und Gebet, p.74).

A late medieval note informs us, that abbess Theophanu first initiated a procession through the town of Essen at the feast of the purification (»In Purificatione B.M.V.«). In these processions the statue was carried around and put down at the "Stone", the place of judgement. There Mary was crowned in a very symbolic ceremony and carried again into the church. The crown may have been donated by Theophanu too - it is said to be the childcrown of Otto III (see picture of statue with crown, from: Herrschaft, Bildung und Gebet, p.75).

Also for the other saints brought to Essen as relics the sanctimoniales looked for new forms of veneration. The mass texts needed were collected in three sacramentaries of the 10^th century (Düsseldorf, Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek, D1, D2, D3). In extensive additions of the 10^th and 11^th century hundreds of texts are preserved, most of them are still not edited. Research about single saints such as st. Ursula or st. Liborius verify that the manuscripts of Essen are the oldest known testimonies of these text and therefore very important for the knowledge of the veneration of saints in the 10^th and 11^th century. Whether the sanctimoniales of Essen composed these masses on their own or whether they only collected them from other cathedrals, could only be shown after a detailed study of this collection.

That liturgy was also part of a deliberate imperial arrangement, can be shown by the use of the Greek language: the sacramentaries of Essen contain a Greek mass and a Greek Lord's prayer (Düsseldorf, ULB, D1: fol.216r-216v, Düsseldorf, ULB, D2: fol. 203r-v). They were written down in Latin letters and translated, so we can't assume a knowledge of the Greek language. But the mass-text was added by an sanctimoniale of Essen directly after the Prefatio for Cosmas and Damian, so it may have been used at the feast of the patrons. Irrespective of the feastday for that it was used for, the Greek language would give the mass a special dignity as it would have at Rome or Byzantium. In Rome the Greek Gloria and Credo was sung at christmas and easter and following that it is found in a lot of cathedrals in France and Germany. But remarkably the Greek mass of Essen is a new composition or at least an otherwise unknown combination - again an evidence of the special interest in liturgical forms of the sanctimoniales of Essen.

To be able to fulfil the liturgy with dignity and to pray for the king and his reign the sanctimoniales needed a good education. First they had to learn Latin, because they spoke Old-Saxon in Essen. They learned it by studying the Psalter and Evangeliary, for a better understanding of the bible they read homilies of Gregory, for a better understanding of the language they trained by reading Prudentius. The teachers in Essen found new ways of transmitting the meaning of the text by translating and noting glosses in Old Saxon - most of the documents of Old Saxon known today were written in Essen.

Homilies and commentaries of Gregory, Alcuin, Beda, Haimo of Auxerre were read in Essen, but the education was not limited to theological subjects. We can notice in Essen a kind of noble education-program: classics like Terence and Boethius have been used as well as history books like the Anglosaxon chronicle of Aethelweard and the Antapodosis of Liutprand. Even Vegetius "De re militari" was copied in Essen. Especially striking for a women's community are legal texts like the Collectio canonum Dionysio-Hadriana and the penitential of Beda-Egbert. The first of the legal texts is found in an Italian manuscript of the 9^th century which might have come to Essen as a present of the Ottonian emperors. As we know from Gandersheim and Quedlinburg, the Ottonian rulers presented not only relics but also manuscripts to their communities.

But, if we remember Gandersheim and Quedlinburg, it seems remarkable that we do not know of any literary production from Essen, especially no notes about the history of the convent. Were education and knowledge of Latin too bad in Essen, was the interest in historical contexts missing? Both questions have to be denied, because it was abbess Mathilda who asked Aethelweard to write her a chronicle about the deeds of her Anglo-Saxon ancestors. It is difficult to argue "ex silentio" about this topic but the missing written documents are balanced at least partly by the sources we have discussed.

If we take the still existing evidence and try - with some imagination - to reconstruct a picture of Ottonian Essen, we would see a more than splendid ensemble: The stonebuilding rebuilt after Aix-la-Chapelle, filled with golden shining jewelries and shrines, the full of fine-sounding names of saints, illuminated by huge candlesticks, filled with the scent of incense and the sound of the singing sanctimoniales. This was more than a place of God, but a place for emperors, that would be equal to great cathedrals of its time in every aspect. Missing a capital like Byzantium, the Ottonians used their religious communities to display their royal and imperial power and wealth (example: Otto III. in Quedlinburg).

Therefore it seems important to ask, if this imperial performance was initiated by the royal family or by the convent itself. So we have to look at the real contacts between Essen and the Ottonian family. But there are no more than a handful visits of sovereigns recorded for the 10^th and 11^th century, none of them at an important feast day. In contrast to Quedlinburg as example Essen never got the status of an "Easter-Palatium".

Although the picture might be distorted by the missing sources, everything seems to indicate that the arrangement of Essen was initiated by the abbesses themselves rather than beeing ordered by the Ottonian rulers. Mathilda, Sophia and Theophanu arranged Essen as they thought a royal convent should look and they got the confirmation of their status as royal convent without problems. They supported the Ottonian family by prayer, but what they were not able to force was the attention of the king. And maybe the lack of interest in Essen is also the reason for the missing historic texts.

The death of Theophanu - on the 5^th of March in the year 1058 - robbed Essen of the last princess as abbess and by that of the last connection to kingship (see gravestone of Theophanu, from: Herrschaft, Bildung und Gebet, p.66). For a convent like Essen so concentrated in outer form, liturgy and inner organisation to kingship, that must have caused an existential crisis. Theophanus successor Svanhild was not able to keep the Ottonian status alive although she gave a lot of donations to Essen. Nothing will illustrate the complete crash better than the fact that she was not able to get a confirmation of her donation from king Henry IV (HStA Düsseldorf, Essen, Urk. Nr.14, April-Mai 1085; DH IV 372; Rhein UB II, Nr.177). Essen became insignificant and sunk into silence. It took Essen around hundred years to recover from the shock: a totally new community arose with changed liturgy and a new form of community life. only the "silent" witnesses were preserved: the church and the treasure. And they tell us still today: Here should have been the Ottonians, here should have been kings and emperors.