Emma of Lesum

Emma of Lesum, also called Emma of Stiepel (or Hemma, Imma), was a Saxon countess who lived from about 975-980 until 3 December 1038 and was venerated by the people as a saint for her good works. She is the first woman of Bremen known by name. She was not formally canonized by any Church; her veneration was only popular. Her memory is kept on 3 December.

She was the daughter of Count Immed IV of the Immedinger family (died 983) and of Adela of Hamaland, of the Billung family. Her brother Meinwerk was bishop of Paderborn from 1009. She married Liudger (died 26 February 1011), Count of Lesum and of the Westphalian Gau, a son of the Saxon duke Hermann Billung. In 1001 King Otto III gave the couple the royal estate at Stiepel, today in Bochum, where in 1008 Emma built a church in honour of the Mother of God, which became a much-⁠visited place of pilgrimage.

After her husband's early death in 1011, Emma withdrew to Lesum and supported with her means the cathedral of Bremen, where her relative Unwan was archbishop. She gave the cathedral chapter her estate and the church at Stiepel. She cared especially for the poor. She reposed on 3 December 1038 at Lesum, now part of Bremen, and was later venerated as a saint. Her tomb was preserved in Bremen Cathedral until the sixteenth century.