Hedwig, Abbess of Quedlinburg

Hedwig
Tombstone of Princess-Abbess Hedwig
Princess-Abbess of Quedlinburg
Reign	1458–1511
Predecessor	Anna I
Successor	Magdalene
Born	(1445-10-31)31 October 1445 Meissen
Died	13 June 1511(1511-06-13) (aged 65) Quedlinburg
House	House of Wettin
Father	Frederick II, Elector of Saxony
Mother	Margaret of Austria-Styria
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Hedwig of Saxony (31 October 1445 – 13 June 1511) was Princess-Abbess of Quedlinburg from 1458 until her death.

Accession

Born in Meissen, Hedwig was the youngest daughter of Frederick II, Elector of Saxony, and Margaret of Austria. In 1458, the chapter of the Quedlinburg Abbey elected the 12-year-old Hedwig as successor to Princess-Abbess Anna I, who had died aged 42. Pope Calixtus III confirmed the election but decreed that the Princess-Abbess should reign under the guardianship of her father and canonesses of Quedlinburg until the age of 20. In 1465, she was invested with regalia by her maternal uncle, Emperor Frederick III, and started governing the abbey-principality on her own.

Reign

Submission of the town of Quedlinburg to Princess-Abbess Hedwig

In 1460, the Princess-Abbess faced a rebellion when the city of Quedlinburg joined the Hanseatic League, attempting to gain independence from her and become a free imperial city. Gebhard von Hoym, Bishop of Halberstadt, aided the rebellion. The Bishop invaded the abbey-principality and tried to evict Hedwig. As a princess-abbess, Hedwig was subject only to the Pope and the Emperor; she forced the Bishop to renounce his claim with the help of her brothers, Elector Ernest and Duke Albert III of Saxony. Thus, for the next two centuries, the abbey-principality remained under the protection of the electors of Saxony, who would influence the election of its new rulers and often come into conflicts with them. Upon subduing the rebels, Hedwig forced the town to leave the Hanseatic League and decided to strengthen her authority within the town.

Her uncle, Emperor Frederick III, admitted her to the Order of the Vase and Stole. She died in Quedlinburg and was succeeded by Magdalene of Anhalt.

Ancestry

Family of Hedwig, Abbess of Quedlinburg

16. Frederick II, Margrave of Meissen 8. Frederick III, Landgrave of Thuringia 17. Matilda of Bavaria 4. Frederick I, Elector of Saxony 18. Henry IV of Henneberg-Schleusingen 9. Catherine of Henneberg-Schleusingen 19. Judith of Brandenburg-Salzwedel 2. Frederick II, Elector of Saxony 20. Magnus II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg 10. Henry the Mild, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg 21. Catherine of Anhalt-Bernburg 5. Catherine of Brunswick 22. Wartislaw VI, Duke of Pomerania 11. Sophia of Pomerania-Wolgast 23. Anna of Mecklenburg-Stargard 1. Hedwig, Abbess of Quedlinburg 24. Albert II, Duke of Austria 12. Leopold III, Duke of Austria 25. Joanna of Pfirt 6. Ernest, Duke of Austria 26. Bernabò Visconti, Lord of Milan 13. Viridis Visconti 27. Beatrice della Scala 3. Margaret of Austria 28. Siemowit III of Masovia 14. Siemowit IV, Duke of Masovia 29. Euphemia of Schlesien-Troppau 7. Cymburgis of Masovia 30. Algirdas, Grand Duke of Lithuania 15. Alexandra of Lithuania 31. Uliana Alexandrovna of Tver

Bibliography

• Vollmuth-Lindenthal, Michael: Äbtissin Hedwig von Quedlinburg. Reichsstift und Stadt Quedlinburg am Ende des 15. Jahrhunderts, in: Mitteldeutsche Lebensbilder. Menschen im späten Mittelalter, Werner Freitag, Böhlau, Cologne, 2002, pages 69–88.