Countess Anna of

Stolberg-Wernigerode The County of Stolberg-Wernigerode (german: Grafschaft Stolberg-Wernigerode) was a county of the Holy Roman Empire located in the Harz region around Wernigerode, now part of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It was ruled by a branch of the House of Stolberg. ...

(28 January 1504 – 4 March 1574) was a German noblewoman who reigned as

Princess-Abbess of Quedlinburg This is a list of princess-abbesses of Quedlinburg Abbey. {{DEFAULTSORT:Quedlinburg, Princess-abbesses Lists of monarchs Lists of female office-holders Lists of clerics Lists of European people ...

from 1516 until her death. She was elected princess-abbess under the name Anna II at the age of twelve, succeeding Magdalena of Anhalt.

Family

She was born in

Stolberg, Saxony-Anhalt is a town (sometimes itself called 'Harz' in historical references) and a former municipality in the district of Mansfeld-Südharz, in the German State of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated in the southern part of the Harz mountains, about ...

, the eldest daughter, and one of the twelve children of Bodo VIII, Count of Stolberg-Wernigerode and

Anna of Eppstein-Königstein Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th century) * Anna (Anisia) (fl. 1218 to 1221) ...

(1482 – 7 August 1538), daughter of Philip of Eppstein.

Princess-Abbess of Quedlinburg

She was the first

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

Abbess of Quedlinburg, having embraced

Lutheranism Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

in 1539. Anna did not dare to express her Evangelical confession during the reign of

George, Duke of Saxony George the Bearded ( Meissen, 27 August 1471 – Dresden, 17 April 1539) was Duke of Saxony from 1500 to 1539 known for his opposition to the Reformation. While the Ernestine line embraced Lutheranism, the Albertines (headed by George) were ...

. However, George died in 1539 and was succeeded by his Protestant brother, Henry IV, which left Anna II free to publicly express her Lutheran faith and introduce the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

to Quedlinburg. By doing so, Anna II lost some of the privileges and jurisdiction traditionally enjoyed by Catholic territorial abbesses. However, the reformation brought Anna and her community emancipation from seclusion and chance to break their vows. Anna II's decision allowed the women of Quedlinburg to quit the abbey and marry if they chose to do so. Anna, who governed over a sizeable territory, established Lutheranism in all the houses under her jurisdiction; the choir service in the Abbey Church was abandoned and the monastic offices reduced to four, although the ancient, official titles remained. This resulted in the abrogation of the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

religion at Quedlinburg Abbey. As princess-abbess, Anna II controlled nine churches, two male monasteries and a hospital. During her reign, she established a

consistory Consistory is the anglicized form of the consistorium, a council of the closest advisors of the Roman emperors. It can also refer to: *A papal consistory, a formal meeting of the Sacred College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church *Consistory ...

and set the salaries for school and church officials. She made all priests swear to the

Augsburg Confession The Augsburg Confession, also known as the Augustan Confession or the Augustana from its Latin name, ''Confessio Augustana'', is the primary confession of faith of the Lutheran Church and one of the most important documents of the Protestant Re ...

. She turned a Franciscan monastery into a school for both male and female children, although the order raised objections to her decision. Despite her clearly Protestant religious views, both the Pope and the

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...

gave her permission to choose a coadjutor abbess when she expressed a need for help in her later years. Anna died on 4 March 1574 at the age of seventy and was succeeded by Countess Elisabeth of Regenstein-Blankenburg (Elisabeth II) the following day.

References

* Catholic Encyclopedia {{DEFAULTSORT:Anna II, Abbess Of Quedlinburg 1504 births 1574 deaths People from Stolberg, Saxony-Anhalt Abbesses of Quedlinburg Converts to Lutheranism from Roman Catholicism German Lutherans House of Stolberg Lutheran abbesses

Family

Princess-Abbess of Quedlinburg

See also

References