by the sister of Henry the Wrangler and was a partisan of Henry II, so she assured Henry of political control over Essen Abbey and against the Rheinish opposition. Sophia preferred Gandersheim Abbey, which she had been Abbess of since 1002. As a result, the projects begun by Mathilde remained unfinished at this time. Sophia's successor, Theophanu, was the daughter of Ezzo and the Matilda who had been Mathilde's intended successor. She fulfilled Mathilde's plans. The so-called Cross of Mathilde in the Essen cathedral treasury depicts Mathilde in monastic costume, at the feet of the enthroned Mary, was a donation of Theophanu in memory of Mathilde. Theophanu's renovation of the crypt of the abbey church moved Mathilde's grave to the centre of the crypt and surrounded it with the relics of saints, which she had especially treasured. The erection of this memorial complex sought Mathilde's liturgical advancement. Mathilde's memory became celebrated especially in Essen, with four masses and the lighting of the grave with twelve candles. In the Liber Ordinarius, a manuscript of Essen created around 1300, Mathilde is called Mater ecclesiae nostrae (Mother of our church). Abbess Mathilde was depicted on the lost west windows of the Minster, which were donated by a member of the Essen order, Mechthild von Hardenburg, between 1275 and 1297. There she was called: Mechthildis abbatissa huius conventus olim mater pia Abbess Mechthildis, once pious mother of this convent. In 2011, the 1000th Anniversary of her death was commemorated in Germany. The exhibition VergESSEN? Prinzessin Mathilde – Äbtissin von Essen was organized in Essen. Notes Literature van Houts, Elisabeth. "Women and the Writing of History in the Early Middle Ages: The Case of Abbess Matilda of Essen and Aethelweard". Early Medieval Europe, 1 (1992): 53–68. Klaus Gereon Beuckers: Das Otto-Mathildenkreuz im Essener Münsterschatz. Überlegungen zu Charakter und Funktion des Stifterbildes. In: Herrschaft, Liturgie und Raum – Studien zur mittelalterlichen Geschichte des Frauenstifts Essen. Klartext Verlag, Essen 2002, , pp. 51–80. Birgitta Falk, Andrea von Hülsen-Esch (ed.): Mathilde - Glanzzeit des Essner Frauenstifts. Klartext Verlag, Essen 2011, . Lasko, Peter, Ars Sacra, 800-1200, Yale University Press, 1995 (2nd edn.) External links "Unvergessene Mathilde / Eine Frau macht Geschichte Essen Cathedral Treasury Ottonian dynasty Abbesses of Essen Ottonian art 949 births 1011 deaths