Oda of Gandersheim (died 912/919) was a Saxon noblewoman who founded

Gandersheim Abbey Gandersheim Abbey () is a former house of secular canonesses ( Frauenstift) in the present town of Bad Gandersheim in Lower Saxony, Germany. It was founded in 852 by Count Liudolf of Saxony and his wife, Oda, progenitors of the Liudolfing or Ot ...

. She was an ancestor of the

Ottonian dynasty The Ottonian dynasty () was a Saxons, Saxon dynasty of German monarchs (919–1024), named after three of its kings and Holy Roman emperors, especially Otto the Great. It is also known as the Saxon dynasty after the family's origin in the German ...

. Oda's mother's name was Aeda and her father's probably Billung. She was married to Liudolf of Saxony, with whom she had 12–14 children, including three sons and a daughter who died young. Her children who survived to adulthood include: * Brun, duke of Saxony *

Otto Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants '' Audo'', '' Odo'', '' Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded fr ...

, duke of Saxony, father of King

Henry the Fowler Henry the Fowler ( or '; ; – 2 July 936) was the duke of Saxony from 912 and the king of East Francia from 919 until his death in 936. As the first non- Frankish king of East Francia, he established the Ottonian dynasty of kings and emper ...

Hathumoda Hathumoda (840 – November 874) was a Saxon noblewoman who became the first abbess of Gandersheim. Her family, the Liudolfings, founded the Gandersheim Abbey, and she was cloistered since childhood. After she died in an epidemic, there was an un ...

, fist abbess of Gandersheim * Gerberga, second abbess of Gandersheim *, third abbess of Gandersheim * Liutgard, queen of King

Louis the Younger Louis the Younger (830/835 – 20 January 882), sometimes called Louis the Saxon or Louis III, was the second eldest of the three sons of Louis the German and Hemma. He succeeded his father as the King of Eastern Francia on 28 August 876 and his ...

*Enda, married *1–3 daughters who became nuns at Gandersheim Oda and Liudolf "committed themselves to establishing a convent soon after their marriage." For this purpose, they travelled to Rome to acquire relics of the saints in 845–846. From

Pope Sergius II Pope Sergius II (; died 27 January 847) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from January 844 to his death in 847. Sergius II's pontificate saw the Arab raid against Rome as well as the city's redevelopment. Rise Born to a noble ...

they received not just relics of his predecessors,

Innocent I Pope Innocent I () was the bishop of Rome from 401 to his death on 12 March 417. From the beginning of his papacy, he was seen as the general arbitrator of ecclesiastical disputes in both the East and the West. He confirmed the prerogatives of t ...

and Anastasius I, but also papal protection for their foundation. A community of nuns was established at in 852 with their daughter Hathumoda as its designated abbess. Construction of a permanent home was begun at Gandersheim, but it was not consecrated until All Saints' Day 881, after Hathumoda's death in 874. Liudolf died in 866. Oda spent much of her widowhood at Gandersheim. Another daughter, Gerberga, succeeded Hathumoda and was succeeded by a third, Christina. Oda died at Gandersheim in 912 or 919.

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Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Oda of Gandersheim 9th-century births 910s deaths 9th-century women 10th-century German women Year of birth unknown Year of death uncertain Ottonian dynasty