She was the daughter of Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, and his second wife, Adelaide of Italy. In April 966, in a splendid ceremony requested by her father, the eleven-year-old granddaughter and namesake of Saint Matilda was recognized as abbess by all bishops and archbishops of the Holy Roman Empire.
Her grandmother, Saint Matilda, founded the Quedlinburg Abbey in 936 and led lieutenant Thus, her task was to represent her dynasty and rule over Saxony in a particularly difficult situation. As regent, Matilda held a reforming synod at Dornberg.
The synod was reforming in character and it concerned the church in Germany.
In 984, she held an imperial diet at her abbey. At the diet, Henry the Wrangler questioned the right of Matilda"s nephew to succeed his father.
A contemporary chronicler described her regency as being "without female levity". Matilda succeeded in restoring peace and authority by leading an army against the barbarians.
Widukind of Corvey, a Saxon historical chronicler, dedicated his writings, among which is the most important work of Ottonian historiography, to Matilda.
