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Saint Mathilda (or Matilda, – 14 March 968) was the wife of King Henry I of Germany, the first ruler of the Saxon Ottonian (or Liudolfing) dynasty, thereby Duchess (consort) of Saxony from 912 and Queen (consort) of Germany (East Francia) from 919 until her husband's death in 936. Their eldest son Otto succeeded his father as King of Germany (East Francia) and years later was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 962, thus ending the vacancy of this office begun in 924 with the death of Holy Roman Emperor Berengar I of Italy. Matilda lived to see the imperial crown restored under her son. Matilda's surname refers to Ringelheim, where her comital (of or relating to a count or earl) Immedinger relatives established a convent about 940. ==Biography== The details of St. Matilda's life come primarily from brief mentions in the ''Res gestae saxonicae'' by the monastic historian Widukind of Corvey (c. 925 – 973), and from two sacred biographies: the ''Vita antiquior'', circa 974, and ''Vita posterior''), circa 1003. Matilda was born circa 895 in the region of Engern (Angria or Angaria), Westphalia, Duchy of Saxony, East Francia, then divided between the states of Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. She was the daughter of Dietrich, Count in Westphalia, and his wife Reinhild.〔("Saint Matilda of Saxony", Saints.SQPN.com, 17 February 2014 )〕 Her biographers traced her ancestry back to the legendary Saxon leader Widukind (c. 730–807). Her sister Frederuna married Count Wichmann the Elder, a member of the House of Billung. As a young girl she was sent to Herford Abbey,〔''Sanctity and Power: The Dual Pursuit of Early Medieval Women'', Suzanne F. Wemple, ''Becoming Visible: Women in European History'', ed. Renate Bridenthal, Claudia Koonz and Susan Stuard, (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1987), 139.〕 where her grandmother Matilda was abbess and where her reputation for beauty and virtue (and possibly also her Westphalian dowry) is said to have attracted the attention of Duke Otto I of Saxony, who betrothed her to his son and heir, Henry. Henry's previous marriage was annulled.〔("Saint Matilda of Saxony", Saints.SQPN.com, 17 February 2014 )〕 They were married at Wallhausen, Saxony-Anhalt, in present day Germany in 909 or 913.〔("Saint Matilda of Saxony", Saints.SQPN.com, 17 February 2014 )〕 As the eldest surviving son, Henry succeeded his father as Duke of Saxony in 912 and upon the death of King Conrad I was elected King of East Francia (later Germany) in 919. He and Matilda had three sons and two daughters: # Hedwig (910 – 965), wife of the West Frankish duke Hugh the Great, mother of King Hugh Capet of France # Otto (912 – 973), Duke of Saxony, King of Germany from 936, and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 # Gerberga (913 – 984), wife of (1) Duke Giselbert of Lorraine and (2) King Louis IV of France # Henry (919/21 – 955), Duke of Bavaria from 948 # St. Bruno the Great (925 – 965), Archbishop of Cologne and Duke of Lorraine After her husband died in 936 at Memleben, Matilda and her son, now King Otto of East Francia, established Quedlinburg Abbey〔 in Quedlinburg, Saxony, East Francia, in present day Quedlinburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, in Henry's memory. Quedlinburg Abbey was a convent of noble canonesses, where her granddaughter, also named Matilda, became the first abbess in 966. At first the Queen Mother remained at the court of her son. During quarrels between the young king and his rivaling brother, Henry a cabal of royal advisors is reported to have accused her of decreasing the royal treasury in order to pay for her charitable activities. After a brief exile at her Westphalian manors in Enger, where she established a college of canons in 947, Matilda was brought back to court at the urging of King Otto's first wife, the Anglo-Saxon princess Edith of Wessex. Matilda died on 14 March 968 in Quedlinburg Abbey, Quedlinburg, Saxony, East Francia, Holy Roman Empire, in present day Quedlinburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany,〔("St. Matilda", Catholic Online )〕 outliving her husband by 32 years, and having seen the restoration of the Holy Roman Empire. Her and Henry's mortal remains are buried in the crypt of St. Servatius Church within Quedlinburg Abbey. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Matilda of Ringelheim」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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