Emma of Lesum

Saint Emma of Lesum
Saint Emma of Lesum (stained glass window in St. John's Church, Schnoor)
Born	11th century Duchy of Saxony
Died	3 December 1038 Lesum, now Bremen-Burglesum
Venerated in	Roman Catholicism
Major shrine	Werden Abbey; Bremen Cathedral
Feast	19 April or 3 December

Emma of Lesum or Emma of Stiepel (also known as Hemma and Imma) (ca. 975-980 – 3 December 1038) was a countess popularly venerated as a saint for her good works; she is also the first female inhabitant of Bremen to be known by name.

Emma was born into the Saxon noble family of the Immedinger, descendants of Widukind. She was the daughter of Count Immed (or Imad) from the diocese of Utrecht and also, according to Adam of Bremen, the sister of Meinwerk, Bishop of Paderborn. She married Liudger, a son of the Saxon duke Hermann Billung and brother of Bernard I, Duke of Saxony. Emperor Otto III made the couple a present in 1001 of the Pfalz or palatium in Stiepel (now Bochum-Stiepel), where in 1008 Emma had a church built dedicated to the Virgin Mary, which later became a popular place of pilgrimage. The only child of the marriage was Imad, consecrated Bishop of Paderborn in 1051.

After the early death of her husband by going to Russia and getting a rare sickness. in 1011, Emma withdrew to the estate of Lesum (now Bremen-Burglesum) and with her fortune generously supported Bremen Cathedral, where Unwan, Archbishop of Bremen, was another of her relatives, and granted the cathedral chapter her property at Stiepel with its church. She was portrayed as a great benefactress of the church, and indeed founded a number of churches in the Bremen area, although her greatest care was for the poor.

Emma was later venerated as a saint, although there is no evidence that she was formally ever either beatified or canonised. She was buried in Bremen Cathedral, where her tomb was still to be seen in the 16th century. Her tomb is one of the biggest in the cemetery.