Bemiddelen, besturen, beïnvloeden

Memoria als machtslegitimering in het beleid van Mathilde van Essen en Mathilde van Quedlinburg

Samenvatting

Ottonian noblewomen found themselves in a unique political climate in which they were able to hold important positions of power as regents or abbesses. This article examines how Mathilde of Essen exercised political and cultural power as abbess and makes a comparison with her aunt, abbess Mathilde of Quedlinburg. Mathilde of Essen found herself further from the dynastic centre but nonetheless managed to exert power through legal confirmations of her abbey’s rights and through patronage of art. The legal strategy is studied by analysing charters concerning matters that personally affected the abbesses, such as the transfer of properties or rights to the respective abbey. Her patronage is studied through an art historical analysis of processional crosses. This article shows that Mathilde of Essen emphasised her dynastic identity and that she incorporated this in her jurisdiction and art patronage to establish herself as the patroness of Essen and the centre of Ottonian memoria.