RIKINZA, ABBESS OF GERNRODE
Rikinza's seal |
Rikinza or Richenza was the abbess of the free secular monastery of Gernrode¹ and Frose from at least 1205 to 1206. Abbess Hedwig III was in charge in 1152. We do not know the name of the abbess(es) who ruled in the interim.
Rikinza is known from just two documents, one from 1205 and the other of unknown date. She probably died soon afterwards, because a papal document in August 1207 is addressed to her successor Adelheid II von Büren, who must have been elected in the spring of 1207.
After the death of Abbess Hedwig III there seemed to have been problems in the abbey, because in 1156 Pope Hadrian IV regarded it necessary to order a visit to the monastery. If the abbess (whose name is not mentioned) refused to follow the pope's orders, she was to be threatened with deposition.
¹Gernrode is a historic town and former municipality in the Harz District, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since January 1, 2014, it has been part of Quedlinburg.
https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rikinza_von_Gernrode
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