Saint Judith von Ringelheim

Judith of Ringelheim (died March 13, 1000) was the abbess of the Ringelheim collegiate foundation. She is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church. Judith’s parents were Dietrich of Saxony (died 995) and Friteruna; her brother was Bishop Bernward of Hildesheim. As abbess, she led the collegiate foundation in Ringelheim, now a district of Salzgitter, which had been founded in 941. She died on a March 13, likely still at the beginning of the 11th century. As a gift or memorial for her, Bernward commissioned the so-called Ringelheim Crucifix, a monumental wooden sculpture of the crucified Christ of the highest art-historical significance (now in the Hildesheim Cathedral Museum). The only record of her is an entry in the necrology of St. Michael's Abbey in Hildesheim for March 13, which notes the death of a Judith abbatissa in Ringelen, soror beati Bernwardi episcopi.