Fürstäbtissinnen

In a previous publication (under the name Teresa Schröder), the author concentrated on the lives of the inhabitants of secular convents (Stift). In this present work, the published version of her dissertation at the University of Münster, she describes the role of the abbesses of the secular convents of Essen (Roman-Catholic), Herford (Calvinist) and Quedlinburg (Lutheran) between 1548 (the end of the Thirty-Years’ War) and 1802/03 (the beginning of French rule in Germany). The elected position of abbess of a secular convent provided women of the German aristocracy (The ‘Fürst’ in Fürstäbtissinnen) with one of the few opportunities of being a ruler albeit of a small domain. However, it also involved navigating the not always calm waters of governance with close and distant family, ruling monarchs, far-away emperors, nearby cities and the aspirations of the conventuals themselves. All three convents had acquired the status of imperial (reichsunmittelbar), a distinction that had been confirmed at the Treaty of Westphalia (1648), although the definition of what this entailed fluctuated throughout the three centuries, largely dependent on the interpretations of the parties involved.

Ancient history · Archaeology · Aristocracy (class) · Ethnology · Genealogy · German · Political science · Politics · Ruler · Treaty · Historical Influence and Diplomacy · History · Law