{"title":"The Origins of Gandersheim","authors":"S. Greer","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780198850137.003.0003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198850137.003.0003","url":null,"abstract":"The establishment of the convent of Gandersheim c.852 is often seen as an origin point for its founding family as well, denoting the Liudolfings’ first use of a memorial centre to build up their power and political influence en route to securing the royal title. Consequently, studies of the origins of Gandersheim are often coloured by the later success of the Ottonian dynasty and the monastery’s role as a royal foundation. This chapter instead sets the early history of Gandersheim and its external relationships firmly in its late-Carolingian context. It uses the contemporary works written for the community of Gandersheim by Agius of Corvey to argue that there was considerable ambiguity around the monastery’s relationship to the Liudolfings after the death of the first abbess, Hathumoda.","PeriodicalId":231274,"journal":{"name":"Commemorating Power in Early Medieval Saxony","volume":"65 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-10-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116072289","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Conclusion","authors":"S. Greer","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780198850137.003.0007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198850137.003.0007","url":null,"abstract":"This concluding chapter elucidates the larger points which emerged over the preceding chapters. Memorial centres like Gandersheim and Quedlinburg were able to embody and articulate concepts of identity, dynasty, and legitimacy to a broad audience. In an environment where various members of a new dynasty were trying to assert their claim to royal power, the centres tied to the family of Henry I and Queen Mathilda were positioned at the heart of political conflicts amongst their descendants. The women of Gandersheim and Quedlinburg were not passive figures in these conflicts, but instead carefully deployed new historical texts to shape their relationships with Ottonian rulers and external patrons for their own benefit.","PeriodicalId":231274,"journal":{"name":"Commemorating Power in Early Medieval Saxony","volume":"2010 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-10-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"117053968","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}