Gurk Abbey (german:

Stift The term (; nl, sticht) is derived from the verb (to donate) and originally meant 'a donation'. Such donations usually comprised earning assets, originally landed estates with serfs defraying dues (originally often in kind) or with vassal tenan ...

Gurk) was a short-lived nunnery in

Gurk, Carinthia Gurk ( sl, Krka) is an Austrian market town and former episcopal see in the District of Sankt Veit an der Glan, Carinthia. Geography The community of Gurk is surrounded by alpine meadows and vast high forests. It marks the center of the sparsel ...

(in present-day

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

), founded in 1043 by Saint

Hemma of Gurk Hemma of Gurk (german: Hemma von Gurk; 27 June 1045),29 June according t also called Emma of Gurk ( sl, Ema Krška), was a noblewoman and founder of several churches and monasteries in the Duchy of Carinthia. Buried at Gurk Cathedral since 1174 ...

. The monastery arose at the site of a former

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

temple, dedicated to the

Gallo-Roman Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, language, morals and way of life in a uniquely Gaulish context ...

goddess Epona. In 898 the Carolingian emperor Arnulf granted the

Gurk valley Gurk may refer to: * Gurk (river), in Austria * Gurk, Carinthia, a town in Austria * Eduard Gurk (1801–1841), Austrian painter * Krka (Sava), a river in Slovenia * Roman Catholic Diocese of Gurk The Roman Catholic Diocese of Gurk-Klagenfurt ...

to his son

Zwentibold Zwentibold (''Zventibold'', ''Zwentibald'', ''Swentiboldo'', ''Sventibaldo'', ''Sanderbald''; – 13 August 900), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was the illegitimate son of Emperor Arnulf.Collins 1999, p. 360 In 895, his father granted h ...

, one of Saint Hemma's ancestors. A widow since the killing of her husband William, margrave on the Sann in 1036, she founded a convent of noble ladies on the Gurk manor, apparently without implying a strict order rule. She had a church erected, dedicated to Saint Mary, which was consecrated on 15 August 1043. Her endowment comprised extended estates in the Duchy of Carinthia and its Styrian and Carniolan marches. She also ceded large properties in the Enns valley to the Salzburg archbishop, the basis for the foundation of

Admont Abbey Admont Abbey (german: Stift Admont) is a Benedictine monastery located on the Enns River in the town of Admont, Austria. The oldest remaining monastery in Styria, Admont Abbey contains the largest monastic library in the world as well as a lon ...

in 1074. Saint Hemma possibly joined the Gurk convent herself. She died about two years later and was buried in the monastery church. The nunnery was dissolved in 1070 by Archbishop

Gebhard of Salzburg Blessed Gebhard von Salzburg ( 101015 June 1088), also occasionally known as Gebhard of Sussex, was Archbishop of Salzburg from 1060 until his death. He was one of the fiercest opponents of King Henry IV of Germany during the Investiture Controver ...

, who used the assets so realised to establish the suffragan

Diocese of Gurk The Roman Catholic Diocese of Gurk-Klagenfurt (german: Diözese Gurk-Klagenfurt, sl, Krška škofija) is a Catholic diocese covering the Austrian state of Carinthia. It is part of the ecclesiastical province of Salzburg. Though named after Gur ...

centered at

Gurk Cathedral Gurk Cathedral (german: Dom zu Gurk, officially ''Pfarr- und ehemalige Domkirche Mariae Himmelfahrt'', sl, Bazilika v Krki) is a Romanesque pillar basilica in Gurk, in the Austrian state of Carinthia. The former cathedral and current co-cathed ...

. Hemma's mortal remains were transferred to the newly erected cathedral in 1174; the former abbey church decayed and was finally demolished in the 19th century.

References

{{Reflist Benedictine monasteries in Austria Monasteries in Carinthia (state) 1043 establishments in Europe Christian monasteries established in the 11th century 1072 disestablishments in Europe Benedictine nunneries in Austria 11th-century establishments in Austria Establishments in the Duchy of Carinthia de:Stift Gurk