جيربيرجا الثانية، رئيسة دير غانديرشيم

جيربيرجا الثانية ( حوالي 940 - 13 أو 14 نوفمبر 1001، وتُعرف أيضًا باسم جيربيرج أو جيربورج ) هي ابنة هنري الأول ملك بافاريا وزوجته جوديث، وابنة أخت الإمبراطور أوتو الأول . شغلت منصب رئيسة دير غاندرشايم من عام 956 إلى عام 1001، وقامت بتدريس الكاتب المسرحي والشاعر هروسفيت من غاندرشايم شخصيًا . ^{[ 1 ]} في عهد جيربيرجا، كان دير غاندرشايم مركزًا أوتونيًا للحياة الثقافية والروحية والفكرية.

لا يُعرف تاريخ ميلاد ووفاة جيربيرجا بدقة، إلا أنه تم استنتاج عام ميلادها التقريبي 940 من مصادر مختلفة. ^{[ 2 ]} كان والداها هنري الأول، دوق بافاريا وعضوًا في السلالة الأوتونية ، وجوديث . ويُعرف ثلاثة من أشقائها على الأقل: هنري الثاني ملك بافاريا ، وهادويغ من شوابيا، وبرونون، كونت برونزويك. أُرسلت جيربيرجا إلى دير غانديرشيم لتلقي تعليمها في سن مبكرة، وأصبحت رئيسة الدير عام 956. دعمت شقيقها هنري الثاني في سعيه لتعزيز نفوذ عائلتهم، وحافظت في الوقت نفسه على علاقة طيبة مع عمها الإمبراطور أوتو الأول وابن عمها الإمبراطور أوتو الثاني . ^{[ 1 ]}

سارت جيربيرجا على خطى تقليد عريق لرئيسات الأديرة الملكيات في غاندرشيم. أسس الدير أجدادها، النبيلان الساكسونيان ليودولف وأودا، في القرن التاسع. وشغلت ثلاث من بناتهما، هاثوموندا (852-874)، وجيربيرتا الأولى (874-896)، وكريستينا (896-918)، منصب رئيسات الدير المؤسسات الثلاث لغاندرشيم. ^{[ 3 ]} ويشير تولي جيربيرجا الثانية منصب رئيسة الدير عام 965 إلى أن الروابط الإمبراطورية الأوتونية بغاندرشيم ظلت قوية طوال القرن التالي. ^{[ 1 ]}

Gerberga II served as abbess of Gandersheim from approximately 965 to 1001. She was praised for her integrity, and her reign has been called the "golden age" of the abbey, and described as a time of peace, tranquility, and scholarship.^[3][4] Gandersheim became a center of Ottonian intellectual and spiritual activity, functioning as a hospital, library, a rest stop for refugees or travelers, and, most notably, a school.^[3][5] Many aristocratic families sent their daughters to the abbey to be educated. Among them was the Emperor Otto II and his wife Theophanu, who sent their five-year-old daughter Sophia I to live under Gerberga's care and eventually become her successor.^[6]

Gandersheim was given a great deal of independence by the Ottonian rulers. In 947, Gerberga's uncle Emperor Otto I freed the abbey from royal rule and granted the abbess the authority to hold courts of law, keep an army, and coin money.^[3] Resultantly, there seems to have been much good will between Gerberga and her uncle. During her reign, she commissioned a history of his life to be written and presented to him by her canoness Hrosvit.^[3][7]

Gandersheim was just one of many influential abbeys in the 10th century. Gerberga's grandmother Matilda of Ringelheim had founded Quedlinburg Abbey in 936, creating tension regarding the leadership of the abbeys. Another rivaling place was Essen Abbey which was also led by family members.

As a member of the imperial family, Gerberga was well-educated for her time. She was first instructed at St. Emmeram's Abbey in Bavaria, which is likely where she learned the works of many Roman and patristic writers. Like her sister Hadwig, she may have also been educated in Greek.^[3] The canoness Hrotsvit wrote of Gerberga's education, "She is younger in years than I, but as befits the Emperor's niece, more advanced in learning."^[3][7]

Scholars have suggested that Hrotsvit, the German canoness, dramatist, and poet, was the special protégé of Gerberga.^[8] Hrotsvit praised her abbess in the preface to her legends, writing, "It was she, who, other authors concerning, continued my instruction, offering me an introduction to the works of those writers whom she herself studied with learned men."^[3]

Hrotsvit wrote all her works, which include dramas, poems, legends, and histories, while a canoness at Gandersheim. Her Gesta Ottonis, a history of the Ottonian dynasty, was written at the specific request of Gerberga, who likely intended to honor her family lineage and her uncle Otto I. Gerberga encouraged her "effort and diligence in writing".^[7]