Cunigunde was one of eleven children born to Siegfried I of Luxembourg (922 – 15 August 998) and a woman called Hedwig.

If this is correct, then Cunigunde married her distant cousin, but Henry II was strongly against consanguineous marriage, so it can be assumed that this is not the case.

[9] The truth of this is debatable; while the couple were both certainly childless, it is supposed by some authors that later hagiographers mistakenly construed the fact to imply a virginal marriage.

[11] During their marriage, her husband, Henry II, then only Duke of Bavaria, was crowned king of Germany ("Rex Romanorum").

Cunigunde traveled with her husband to Rome for his coronation as Holy Roman Emperor ("Romanorum Imperator") as was the tradition for the King of Germany, and was crowned as Holy Roman Empress[16] with him on 14 February 1014 in St. Peter's Basilica, Rome, receiving together with Henry the Imperial Crown from the hands of Pope Benedict VIII.

During her reign she suffered from a grave illness and made a vow that if she were to regain her health, she would found a Benedictine monastery at Kassel.

This she did with her brother, and later handed over the Imperial insignia when Conrad II was elected to succeed her late husband on 8 September 1024.

As a widow, Cunigunde was left comparatively poor, owing to the enormous wealth given away by her and Henry in charitable works.

[17] In 1025, exactly one year after the death of her husband, Cunigunde retired to Kaufungen Abbey, in Hesse, Germany, where she entered the monastery of Benedictine nuns she had founded there.

At the dedication of the monastery, she offered a relic of the True Cross, removed her regalia, and donned the habit of the nun.

[12] Cunigunde was canonised by Pope Innocent III on 29 March 1200, 53 years after the canonization of her husband Henry II in July 1147.

[10] One of these relates how, when calumniators accused her of scandalous conduct, her innocence was signally vindicated by divine providence as she walked over pieces of flaming irons without injury, to the great joy of her husband, the Emperor.

The blaze awoke both of them and upon Cunigunde executing the Sign of the Cross, the fire immediately disappeared, saving them from burning.

The role of Cunigunde, who is represented in the same size as her husband, consists in the hand movement, pointing directly to Christ.

Again, the aspect of the ruler couple moves forward, she appears as a partner in the rule of Henry II.

On the left are Stephen, Cunigunde and Henry, on the right opposite side, Peter, Adam and Eve can be seen.

This scene is shown on the Tumba made of limestone at Bamberg Cathedral, created in the years 1499-1513 by Tilman Riemenschneider, the most important German sculptor of the time.

The fact, that Cunigunde was also assigned a lion, is a reference of posterity to the duchess, queen and empress, who exercises her own sovereign rights.