Mathilde, Abbess of Essen
Mathilde was Abbess of Essen Abbey from 973 to her death. She was one of the most important abbesses in the history of Essen. She was responsible for the abbey, for its buildings, its precious relics, liturgical vessels and manuscripts, its political contacts, and for commissioning translations and overseeing education. In the unreliable list of Essen Abbesses from 1672, she is listed as the second Abbess Mathilde and as a result, she is sometimes called "Mathilde II" to distinguish her from the earlier abbess of the same name, who is meant to have governed Essen Abbey from 907 to 910 but whose existence is disputed.
Mathilde and her brother Otto on the donor portrait of the Cross of Otto and Mathilde
The Cross of Otto and Mathilde, one of Mathilde's donations
Reconstructed view of the westwerk of Essen Abbey
The Seven-armed candelabrum which Mathilde donated for the maintenance of her memory. This picture, taken in 2010, shows the candelabrum lit up in her memory on the 999th anniversary of her death.
Essen Abbey was a community of secular canonesses for women of high nobility that formed the nucleus of modern-day Essen, Germany.
Cloister of the abbey church with the graveyard of the cathedral canons.
Schloss Borbeck
Essen-Weihnachtsmarkt 2011
The cover of the gospels donated by Theophanu, with a small donor portrait of the abbess