Ingegerd Sverkersdotter was a twelfth-century Swedish princess and the first prioress of Vreta Abbey.
[1] The abbey was founded in Linköping in 1162 by Ingegerd's brother, King Charles VII of Sweden.
[2] An entry in the register of Linköping Cathedral records that Ingegerd "ruled it in an extraordinary way" for 40 years from soon after its foundation until her death in 1204.
[3] The Swedish Church History Association gives this account of her activities: In the midst of all the unrest in the country, the abbess Ingegerd Sverkersdotter secured the monastery's financial position through her property policy.
[4]She presided over about thirty nuns following the Cistercian rule,[5] including Queen Helena, presumably her sister, the widow of Canute V of Denmark.