According to the chronicles by
Thietmar of Merseburg, Sophia was born to Emperor Otto II and
Theophanu. She may have been the first surviving daughter, born in 975, though other sources indicate that her sister
Adelaide, born 977, was in fact the eldest. Sophia is first documented in a 979 deed of donation, when her father entrusted her education to his first cousin, Abbess
Gerberga II of Gandersheim. Sophia was raised and educated in
Gandersheim Abbey to become abbess from childhood. As an emperor's daughter, she insisted on receiving the veil from the hands of The contemporary chronicler
Thangmar, in his
Vita Bernwardi (
Life of Saint Bernward), records several incidents in which Sophia exercised her influence in the abbey to influence a dispute between the Bishops of Mainz and Hildesheim over their jurisdictions. Thangmar is often criticized as being an unreliable and biased source with authorship of portions of the
Vita Bernwardi being brought into question by some scholars. This was a significant dispute at the time as bishops exercised a considerable amount of political influence during the Ottonian Dynasty. Sophia insisted that she take the veil from Archbishop
Willigis of Mainz, the
archchancellor of the
Holy Roman Empire, affronting the local Bishop Osdag of
Hildesheim. Archbishop Willigis was very close to Otto III as he was one of the few members of clergy that supported Otto III during an attempted coup by Henry the Quarreler in 983. It is likely that Theophanu saw the veiling of Sophia as an opportunity for Willigis to show authority over Gandersheim as reward for his support during the coup attempt. This led to Osdag moving his episcopal throne from Hildesheim to the altar at Gandersheim. This led to a public argument between Osdag and Willigis before an assembly of canonesses as well as the Emperor Otto III and Theophanu. The two later agreed to veil Sophia together as long as Osdag retained the right to veil all other canonesses at the abbey. Thangmar claimed that on several occasions when Bishop Bernward visited Gandersheim, that Sophia had convinced the canonesses of the abbey to receive him coldly rather than to give him a proper welcome. On one instance when Bernward came to consecrate a new church in 1000, he was met with an angry mob and upon successfully making his way into the church to begin mass, the canonesses reportedly cursed him and threw their offerings on the ground in front of Bernward rather than to present them to him in a respectful manner. In another instance, according to Thangmar, after returning from a meeting with
Pope Sylvester II in which Bernward was granted authority over Gandersheim in 1001, the Bishop was kept from entering the church by a group of soldiers assembled by Sophia, who had taken defensive positions around the church. Bernward returned and consecrated the Abbey in 1007 with the support of Emperor Henry II, but in 1021 when Aribo became the new Archbishop of Mainz, Sophia asked of him to question Bernward's authority and again return Gandersheim to the jurisdiction of Mainz. Thangmar attributes these incidents to Sophia being prideful, irreverent, and falling to excess and vice. Though he is considered to be a very biased source, intending to show Bernward in good light, this may not actually reflect the attitude of Sophia. It is worth noting of Bernward's apparent dislike for Sophia, that Gandersheim was a rather wealthy Abbey, being granted rights to collect tolls at a local major crossroad, mint coins, and to have a market in 990 by Otto III, and if not accepted as having authority there, he would not be able to benefit off of the Abbey's revenues. When Otto III granted these rights to the abbey, he also granted authority to hold a court which would take precedence over other judicial forums. Sophia and her brother, Otto III, seemed to be on good terms with each other; she received several gifts and attended the 994
Imperial Diet, where Otto was declared to have reached majority. He vested his sister with the estates of Eschwege Abbey, at the explicit wish of their late mother Theophanu who had died in 991. Sophia also acted as an intercessor for her brother on many diplomas granted by his court. From 995 until 997, Sophia was absent from the convent, accompanying her brother on his first
Italian campaign. She acted as abbess of Eschwege from 997. Sophia's time in her brother's court allowed her to make many connections with politically powerful people and nobles across Saxony, allowing her to take on a much more active role in politics than the Abbesses which preceded her at Gandersheim. == Princess-Abbess ==