Editing Essen (section)

=== Eighth–twelfth centuries ===
[[File:Essen 2011 66-2.jpg|thumb|left|[[Essen Minster]]]]
Around 845, Saint [[Altfrid]] (around 800–874), the later [[Bishopric of Hildesheim|Bishop of Hildesheim]], founded an abbey for women ({{lang|la|coenobium Astnide}}) in the centre of present-day Essen. The first abbess was Altfrid's relative Gerswit (see also: [[Essen Abbey]]). In 799, [[Liudger|Saint Liudger]] had already founded [[Benedictine Order|Benedictine]] [[Werden Abbey]] on its own grounds a few kilometres south. The region was sparsely populated with only a few [[smallholding]]s and an old and probably abandoned castle. Whereas Werden Abbey sought to support Liudger's missionary work in the [[Harz]] region ([[Helmstedt]]/[[Halberstadt]]), Essen Abbey was meant to care for women of the higher [[Saxons|Saxon]] nobility. This abbey was not an abbey in the ordinary sense, but rather intended as a residence and educational institution for the daughters and widows of the higher nobility; led by an abbess, the members other than the abbess herself were not obliged to take vows of [[chastity]].

Around 852, construction of the collegiate church of the abbey began, to be completed in 870. A major fire in 946 heavily damaged both the church and the settlement. The church was rebuilt, expanded considerably, and is the foundation of the present Essen Cathedral.

The first documented mention of Essen dates back to 898, when [[Zwentibold]], King of [[Lotharingia]], willed territory on the western bank of the [[Rhine|River Rhine]] to the abbey. Another document, describing the foundation of the abbey and allegedly dating back to 870, is now considered an 11th-century forgery.

In 971, [[Mathilde, Abbess of Essen|Mathilde II]], granddaughter of Emperor [[Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto I]], took charge of the abbey. She was to become the most important of all abbesses in the history of Essen. She reigned for over 40 years, and endowed the abbey's treasury with invaluable objects such as the oldest preserved seven branched candelabrum, and the [[Golden Madonna of Essen]], the oldest known [[Madonna (art)|sculpture of the Virgin Mary]] in the western world. Mathilde was succeeded by other women related to the [[Ottonian]] emperors: Sophia, daughter of [[Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto II]] and sister of [[Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto III]], and Teophanu, granddaughter of Otto II. It was under the reign of Teophanu that Essen, which had been called a city since 1003, received the right to hold markets in 1041. Ten years later, Teophanu had the eastern part of Essen Abbey constructed. Its [[crypt]] contains the tombs of St. Altfrid, Mathilde II, and Teophanu herself.