Page "Abbess" Paragraph 6

In Lutheran churches the title of abbess ( Äbtissin ) has in some cases ( e. g. Itzehoe ) survived to designate the heads of abbeys which since the Protestant Reformation have continued as Stifte.

These are collegiate foundations, which provide a home and an income for unmarried ladies, generally of noble birth, called canonesses ( Kanonissinen ) or more usually Stiftsdamen.

The office of abbess is of considerable social dignity, and in the past, was sometimes filled by princesses of the reigning houses.

Until the dissolution of Holy Roman Empire and mediatization of smaller imperial fiefs by Napoleon, the evangelical Abbess of Quedlinburg was also per officio the head of that reichsunmittelbar state.

The last such ruling abbess was Sofia Albertina, Princess of Sweden.