Landgravine Anna Sophia of Hesse-Darmstadt (17 December 1638 – 13 December 1683) 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 ...

under the name Anna Sophia II.

Early life

Anna Sophia was the daughter of

George II, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt George II of Hesse-Darmstadt, german: Georg II von Hessen-Darmstadt (17 March 1605, in Darmstadt – 11 June 1661) was the Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt from 1626 to 1661. He was the son of Ludwig V and Magdalene of Brandenburg. He married Sop ...

, and Duchess

Sophia Eleonore of Saxony Sophia Eleonore of Saxony (23 November 1609 – 2 June 1671) was a duchess of Saxony by birth and the landgravine of Hesse-Darmstadt from 1627 to 1661 through her marriage to Landgrave George II. She was the eldest surviving child of John ...

. She was raised as

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

, received good education and grew up to be strictly religious.

As writer

In 1655, at the age of 17, Anna Sophia entered the

Quedlinburg Abbey Quedlinburg Abbey (german: Stift Quedlinburg or ) was a house of secular canonesses ''( Frauenstift)'' in Quedlinburg in what is now Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It was founded in 936 on the initiative of Saint Mathilda, the widow of the East Frankis ...

. In 1658, Anna Sophia published a book of spiritual meditations called ''Der treue Seelenfreund Christus Jesus''. At first, Lutheran theologians regarded her book as suspect. They argued that the book equalized women with men, but it was later approved. Anna Sophia justified her work as was standard in the 17th century, saying that it was God's order. Being an abbess and Lutheran at the same time, Anna Sophia defended her choice to remain unmarried in her book. Her hymn ''Rede, liebster Jesu, rede'' was translated as ''Speak, O Lord, Thy Servant Heareth''.It is #230 in ''

Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary The ''Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary'' (''ELH'') is a hymnal created by the Evangelical Lutheran Synod in 1996. The Norwegian heritage of the ELS is evident in this hymnal, although a broader ethnicity is clearly represented. From the indexes l ...

'', #589 in ''

Lutheran Service Book ''Lutheran Service Book'' (''LSB'') is the newest official hymnal of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS) and the Lutheran Church–Canada (LCC). It was prepared by the LCMS Commission on Worship and published by Concordia Publishing Hou ...

'', and #339 in ''

Lutheran Worship ''Lutheran Worship'' (''LW'') is one of the official hymnals of The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS). Published in 1982 by Concordia Publishing House in St. Louis, Missouri, it is the denomination's third English-language hymnal and ...

''. For the text of the translation, se
the entry on hymnary.org

As nun and abbess

Anna Sophia had a lapse of faith after her sister,

Landgravine Elisabeth Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt en, Elizabeth Amelia Magdalena of Hesse-Darmstadt , image= Elisabeth Amalia Magdalena im Jahr 1705.jpg , caption= Portrait by Jan Frans van Douven, c. 1705. , succession = Electress Palatine , consort=yes , reign=26 May 1685 - 2 September 1690 , ...

, converted to

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

. She thought of leaving Quedlinburg to follow her sister's example, but ultimately changed her mind. Despite suffering from "chronic cough", Anna Sophia was elected to succeed

Anna Sophia I, Princess-Abbess of Quedlinburg Countess Palatine Anna Sophia of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld (2 April 1619 - 1 September 1680) reigned as Princess-Abbess of Quedlinburg and, as such, she is referred to as Anna Sophia I. Anna Sophia was born in Birkenfeld to George William, Count ...

, in 1681. The new

princess-abbess A prince-abbot (german: Fürstabt) is a title for a clergy, cleric who is a Prince of the Church (like a Prince-bishop), in the sense of an ''ex officio'' temporal lord of a feudalism, feudal entity, usually a Imperial State, State of the Holy R ...

selected Duchess Anna Dorothea of Saxe-Weimar as her coadjutor in 1683. Anna Sophia II died the same year, after only two years of reign, and was succeeded by Anna Dorothea.

References

Ancestry

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anna Sophia, Abbess Of Quedlinburgii Abbesses of Quedlinburg Lutheran abbesses 17th-century German women writers House of Hesse-Darmstadt 1638 births 1683 deaths Landgravines of Hesse-Darmstadt Daughters of monarchs