Beatrice I, Abbess of Quedlinburg

Beatrice I, also known as Beatrice of Franconia (German: Beatrix von Franken; 1037 – 13 July 1061), was Abbess of Gandersheim Abbey from 1043 and Princess-Abbess of Quedlinburg Abbey from 1044 until her death.

Beatrice I
Princess-Abbess of Quedlinburg
Reign	24 June 1045 – 13 July 1061
Predecessor	Adelheid I
Successor	Adelheid II
Born	1037
Died	13 July 1061
Burial	Quedlinburg Abbey, Michaelstein Abbey (?)
House	Salian Dynasty (by birth)
Father	Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor
Mother	Gunhilda of Denmark
Religion	Roman Catholic

Beatrix was born in Italy towards the end of 1037 as the only child of the Holy Roman Emperor Henry III and his first wife, Gunhilda of Denmark, who died about six months after Beatrice's birth.

Reign as princess-abbess

Consecration

On 14 January 1044, after the death of her kinswoman, Abbess Adelaide I, Beatrice was installed as Abbess of Gandersheim Abbey by her father, overriding the right of the canonesses to elect their own head. She was additionally consecrated Abbess of Quedlinburg on 24 June 1044 in Merseburg Cathedral, also succeeding Adelaide I, and a little later was created abbess of Stift Vreden [de].

Conflicts

In Gandersheim, she was at the centre of a long-running conflict with the canonesses, who accused her of subinfeudating estates of the abbey that were intended for the direct support of the community, and thereby bringing them into financial hardship. Three popes were involved in this affair, which went on for years: Leo IX decided initially in favour of the canonesses; Victor II reversed the decision in favour of the abbess. Finally, Stephen IX set out a compromise, at the end of 1057, which was apparently that the prebendal estates of the community were to be reserved for its upkeep, but that the abbess had the right to manage freely the remaining estates and her own properties as she saw fit.

Even this solution held only until the death of Beatrice; under her successor, her half-sister Adelaide II, the conflict broke out all over again.

Death

Beatrice died on 13 July 1061. She was buried in the abbey church of Quedlinburg but her remains must have been removed elsewhere after the disastrous fire of 1070. A lead casket, which almost certainly contains the bones of Beatrice, has been preserved in Michaelstein Abbey since about 1161. In the crypt of the rebuilt church at Quedlinburg a tablet from the time of its rededication in 1129 serves as Beatrice's memorial.

References

• Black-Veldtrup, Mechthild, 1995: Kaiserin Agnes (1043-1077): Quellenkritische Studien. Cologne: Böhlau
• Boshof, Egon, 2000: Die Salier. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer Verlag
• Kronenberg, Kurt, 1981: Die Äbtissinen des Reichsstifts Gandersheim. Bad Gandersheim: Verlag Gandersheimer Tageblatt
• Vogtherr, Thomas, 2002: Die salischen Äbtissinnen des Reichsstifts Quedlinburg, in: Von sacerdotium und regnum, pp. 405–420. Cologne: Böhlau ISBN 3-412-16401-1

Ancestry

Ancestors of Beatrice I, Abbess of Quedlinburg

16. Otto I, Duke of Carinthia 8. Henry of Speyer 17. Judith of Bavaria 4. Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor 18. Gerard, Count of Nordgau and Alsace 9. Adelaide of Alsace 2. Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor 20. Conrad I, Duke of Swabia 10. Herman II, Duke of Swabia 21. Regelindis of Swabia 5. Gisela of Swabia 22. Conrad of Burgundy 11. Gerberga of Burgundy 23. Matilda of France 1. Beatrice I, Abbess of Quedlinburg 24. Harald I of Denmark 12. Sweyn Forkbeard 25. Gunhild ? 6. Cnut the Great 26. Mieszko I of Poland? 13. Sigrid the Haughty 27. Dubrawka of Bohemia? 3. Gunhilda of Denmark 28. William I, Duke of Normandy 14. Richard I, Duke of Normandy 29. Sprota 7. Emma of Normandy 15. Gunnor

External links / Sources

• genealogie-mittelalter.de: Beatrix I (in German)
• Image of Beatrice

Regnal titles
Preceded by Adelheid I	Princess-Abbess of Quedlinburg 24 June 1045 – 13 July 1061	Succeeded by Adelheid II
	Abbess of Gandersheim 14 January 1044 – 13 July 1061