Kaufungen Abbey

Kaufungen Abbey was a Benedictine nunnery founded in 1017 by the Empress Cunigunde of Luxembourg, wife of Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor, located in Kaufungen in Hessen, Germany.HistoryIn May 1017 Cunigunde was staying on the imperial estate of Kaufungen, when, according to Thietmar of Merseburg, she became seriously ill and vowed to found a monastery if she recovered. She did so and her husband Henry endowed the new foundation in 1019. After the death of Henry in 1024, Cunigunde, who was later canonized as well as her husband, became a nun in the new Benedictine monastery, where she died in 1033.The abbey church was consecrated on 13 July 1025. In 1089, the nunnery became an Imperial abbey, territorially and judicially independent, subject only to the Holy Roman Emperor.The "Vögte" (advocates, or lords protectors) of Kaufungen Abbey were the Counts of Maden.During the 12th century, the abbey was transformed to house a community of secular canonesses, becoming a home for unmarried female members of the nobility (Frauenstift). It continued in this form until 1509, when, at the instigation of William II, Landgrave of Hesse, the abbey was returned to the Benedictine Order, under the authority of the Bursfeld Congregation. The canonesses were formed into Benedictines by nuns from Gehrden Abbey.