Hrotsvitha
Hrotsvitha (c. 935–973) was a secular
Hrotsvitha's six short dramas are considered to be her most important works.[3] She is one of the few women who wrote about her life during the early Middle Ages, making her one of the only people to record a history of women in that era from a woman's perspective.[4] She has been called "the most remarkable woman of her time",[5] and an important figure in the history of women.[1]
Little is known about Hrotsvitha's personal life.[1] All of her writing is in Medieval Latin.[6] Her works were rediscovered in 1501 by the humanist Conrad Celtes and translated into English in the 1600s.[4]
Hrotsvitha's name (
While many have questioned the authenticity of Hrotsvitha's work,[10] examinations and collections of her works, coupled with multiple historical and contemporary works that speak of her, demonstrate that Hrotsvitha's work is authentic.[11] Feminist scholars have argued that this questioning of the authenticity of Hrotsvitha's work reflects a sexist narrative rather than revealing a flaw in her work or that she did not exist, as individuals have been engaging with her work for hundreds of years, and with increased intensity since her rediscovery during the German Renaissance.[11]
Life and background
All the information about Hrotsvitha comes from the prefaces of her work, and later interpretations of her writings. It is generally accepted that Hrotsvitha was born in approximately 935 and died in 973.[1] Little is known of her lineage, or why she took the veil.
Gandersheim Abbey was a house of secular canonesses. There is some debate over when she entered. Hrotsvitha took vows of chastity and obedience but not poverty. She could live a relatively comfortable life and leave the monastery at any time, all while being protected, studying from a large library, and learning from many teachers. This speaks to her economic position as being from a noble family. Hrotsvitha began her studies under the nun Rikkardis, who was younger than she. She also studied under the Abbess Gerberga, granddaughter of King Henry the Fowler.[1] Abbess Gerberga became a friend and adviser of Hrotsvit.[2] She was a good student who read many works popular at the time with a particular focus on legends about saints and would have spent much of her time learning how to write verse.[9] Hrotsvitha herself became a teacher in her 20s.
As her writings demonstrate a rather mature perspective, they may have been written when she was older.[1] She had a good grasp of the legal system, the history of the Ottonian dynasty and their line of succession. Hrotsvitha was the first Northern European to write about Islam and the Islamic empire. She was both educated and well informed. Her use of myths indicates a specific perspective as she writes about the importance of Christianity—with a focus on virginity, martyrdom, and the strength of Christian values—in the face of the threat Islam posed.[8]
At first, Hrotsvitha wrote in secret until she was encouraged to read her works out loud and edit them. The Abbess encouraged her to continue writing.[9] Hrotsvitha primarily wrote legends, comedies, and plays. Her Books of Legends or Carmina liber primus was written in the 950s or 960s and was written in honor of Abbess Gerberga. It contains eight legends written in dactylic hexameter.[1] Her most popular work was The Book of Drama, or Liber Secundus, which offered a Christian alternative to the work of the Roman playwright Terence. In contrast to Terence, who told stories about women who were weak and morally corrupt, Hrothsvitha stories were about virtuous virgins with a strong connection to God and who persevered through adversity. Hrotsvitha's third book contains the Gesta Ottonis, which details the history of the Ottonians from 919 to 965;[12] and the Primordia coenobii Gandeshemensis, the history of Gandersheim Abbey.[1]
Works
Hrothsvitha's works fall under the categories of legends, comedies, and plays. Cardinal Gasquet said her works have "a claim to an eminent place in medieval literature, and do honor to her sex, to the age in which she lived, and to the vocation which she followed."[13] The works are organized chronologically and speak to how Hrotsvitha valued the Christian approach to life.[8]
Despite Hrothsvitha's importance as the first known female playwright, her work was not seen as important and translated into English until the 1600s.[4] She is often omitted in texts about the history of plays and literature.[14]
The most important
Liber Primus
The Book of Legends is a collection of eight legends: "Maria", "Ascensio", "Gongolfus", "Pelagius", "Theophilus", "Basilius", "Dionysius", and "Agnes". All are written in Leonine hexameter except "Gongolph", which is written in rhymed distichs. "Theophilus" and "Basilius", are based on Latin translations of the vitae of Greek saints, and are versions of the Faustian tradition, in which a sinner sells his soul to the Devil.[16][17][18] Hrotsvitha supplements the story with her description of Theophilus in The Seven Arts: De sophiae rivis septeno fonte manantis.
A common theme throughout is the constant battle between good and evil. The Devil is a frequent presence in many of Hrosvitha's works, and she characterizes him according to the conventions of her time. In "Dionysius" and "St. Agnes" she recounts the martyrdoms of early Christians.[18] The Liber Primus reflects Hrotsvitha's interest in combining classical forms with Christian themes, and her desire to create literature that promotes Christian morality and virtue.[19]
Liber Secundus
The Book of Drama presents a
As the earliest known woman writer in the German lands, Hrotsvitha was keenly aware that her gender made her writings less likely to be taken seriously than that of her male contemporaries.[4] In the prologue to The Book of Legends, Hrotsvitha says: "Scorn he should not render at the writer's weaker gender/ Who these small lines had sung with a woman's untutored tongue/ But rather should he praise the Lord's celestial grace."[17]
In general, Hrosvitha's plays were works of
Her plays contrast the chastity and perseverance of Christian women with Roman women, who were portrayed as weak and emotional. Hrotsvitha wrote her plays in response those of Terence, a popular Roman playwright who she thought unfairly represented women as immoral.[4] She writes, "Wherefore I, the strong voice of Gandersheim, have not hesitated to imitate a poet (Terence) whose works are so widely read, my object being to glorify, within the limits of my poor talent, the laudable chastity of Christian virgins in that self-same form of composition which has been used to describe the shameless acts of licentious women."[24]
All these dramas serve a discreet purpose. "Gallicanus" and "Calimachus" focus on conversion, "Abraham" and "Pafnutius" tell stories of redemption and repentance, and "Dulcitius" and "Sapientia" tell stories of virgin martyrdom. Cumulatively they speak to the power of Christ and Christian values, which was Hrothsvitha's objective.[8] They are known to have been performed many times since her death, the earliest confirmation of which was in Paris in 1888.[13]
She writes in her preface that her writing will appeal to many who are attracted by the charm of style.[25] There are comedic elements, as in "Dulcitius", when the wicked blind governor stumbles among pots and pans, having attempted to molest three virgins. The women watch and laugh.[14] Although they go on to become martyrs for their faith, they do so on their own terms. "Dulcitius" is the only one of Hrotsvitha's comedies which aligns with the modern comedic genre.[13]
Liber Tertius
The third book is dedicated to Emperors
Legacy
Feminism
Hrothsvitha's work was largely ignored until Conrad Celtis rediscovered and edited her work in the 1500s.[4] In the 1970s,[14] feminists began their own rediscovery of her work under a gendered lens to re-contextualize it[27] to demonstrate that women of the past did have important roles in their societies, but their work was lost or not seen as important.[14] Feminists have done this re-contextualization to learn about women's history, while not claiming that these women were feminists,[4] to emphasize the importance of women throughout history even if they are forgotten.[4] Because of this, Hrotsvitha has continued to garner much attention in the field of feminism studies, helping to provide a better sense of historical acknowledgement, accomplishment, and significance to women through the Canoness' work.
Representation of women
Hrotsvitha's writing mimics Biblical texts.[28] As a 10th-century Christian, she accepted the idea that women are inferior to men both physically and intellectually due to the fall of Eve. According to A. Daniel Frankforter, Hrotsvitha seems to confirm the assumption that woman's work was inferior, by saying that any excellence in her work is the excellence of God, not her own,[4] although this may also merely be a standard literary convention of the time.
Hrotsvitha depicted women as having the power of self-determination and agency through taking the veil and abstaining from sexual relationships. This presents a very progressive view of women and their power in older societies, highlighted by various researchers that studied how Hrotsvitha's work often reflected the lives of women of her time.[29] While she writes of women as virtuous, courageous, witty, and close to God she only speaks about one man without contempt, finding that they are disproportionately susceptible to temptation. Hrotsvitha sees women being the weaker sex as allowing God to more easily work through them to find grace for their salvation and the salvation of those with whom they come in contact. This, therefore, suggests that women are not less than men in the eyes of God. Hrotsvitha believes that a virginal life dedicated to Jesus is best, but she can be empathetic towards mothers, and even prostitutes,[4] thus demonstrating a keen understanding of women's lives and options at the time.[14]
Hrotsvitha plays focus on the issues that affect women of her time such as marriage, rape, and being seen as an object.[14] "Dulcitius", deals with rape, a common issue and form of oppression that women experience.[14] It is even argued that Hrotsvitha's work of "Dulcitius" acted as a reflection to lives of women in her hometown of Gandersheim, living in a hostile environment targeted by an extrinsic threat that is male in nature, showing the possible focus she gives towards women and feminism as a whole. [30] In "Callimach", a woman, who has been the subject of an attempted rape, prays for death. God grants her prayer and she dies before the man can resume his attack.[14] Taken by her beauty the man goes to her grave and attempts intercourse with her corpse, but is killed by a venomous serpent.[14] Both of these plays show a key to Hrothsvitha's work: that religion can provide women with freedom and independence, allowing them to empower themselves.[14]
Impact on Theatre
Hrothsvitha contributes to the work of women in theatre by supporting the concept that "as long as there is theatre, as long as there are women, as long as there is an imperfect society, there will be women's theatre".[31] Hrothsvitha's plays served the purpose of speaking truth to power and counterbalancing male dominance of the field.[31]
The significance of her plays is often overlooked because their dramaturgy diverges from what Sue-Ellen Case and Jill Dolan theorize as to the male values of good playwriting, which excluded Hrotsvitha, rather placing focus upon alternative fields, such as religion, early life, and sexuality, to name a few.[32]
Translations
Hrotsvitha's work was largely ignored until re-discovered and edited by
Texts and translations
- Winterfeld, Paul von (ed.) (1902) Hrotsvithae opera. (Monumenta Germaniae Historica; SS. rer. Germanicarum) Available from Digital MGH online.
- Strecker, Karl (ed.) (1902) Hrotsvithae opera.
- Berschin, Walter (ed.). Hrotsvit: Opera Omnia. ISBN 3-598-71912-4
- Pelagius in Petroff, Elizabeth Alvilda, ed. (1986) Medieval Women's Visionary Literature, pp 114–24. ISBN 0-19-503712-X
- Abraham in Petroff, Elizabeth Alvilda, ed. (1986) Medieval Women's Visionary Literature, pp 124–35. ISBN 0-19-503712-X
- Hrotsvit von Gandersheim, Sämtliche Dichtungen; aus dem Mittellateinischen übertragen von Otto Baumhauer, Jacob Bendixen und Theodor Gottfried Pfund; mit einer Einführung von Berg Nagel. München: Winkler, 1966.
- Hrotsvitha von Gandersheim. Munich, 1973 (German translations by H. Hohmeyer).
- Hrotsvitha Gandeshemensis, Gesta Ottonis Imperatoris. Lotte, drammi e trionfi nel destino di un imperatore. A cura di Maria Pasqualina Pillolla, Firenze, SISMEL Edizioni del Galluzzo, 2003
- The Plays of Hrotswitha of Gandersheim: bilingual edition / translated by Larissa Bonfante; edited by Robert Chipok. Mundelein, IL: Bolchazy-Carducci, 2013. [Latin and English on facing pages.] ISBN 978-0-86516-783-4
- Roswitha of Gandersheim. ISBN 978-1296739898.
Contemporary references
- The asteroid 615 Roswitha discovered in 1906 is named in her honor.
- The book collectors founded in New York City in 1944. Members included co-founder Sarah Gildersleeve Fife and Frances Hooper.[36] The club published Hroswitha of Gandersheim: Her life, times, and works in 1965.[37]
- Since 1973 Bad Gandersheim has annually awarded the Roswitha Prize, named for Hrosvitha, to female writers; since 1974 the Roswitha Ring has been awarded at the close of each summer season of the Gandersheimer Domfestspiele to the outstanding actress.
- Hrotsvitha is frequently referred to in John Kennedy Toole's 1980 comic novel A Confederacy of Dunces, in which she is called Hroswitha.[38]
- In 2006, American feminist drama group Guerrilla Girls On Tour issued the "First Annual Hrosvitha Challenge" on their website, announcing that they would bestow the First Annual Hrosvitha Award on whichever professional theater decides "to scrap their plans of producing yet another production of a Greek tragedy and instead produce a play by Hrosvitha, the first female playwright".[39]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Sack, Harald (6 February 2019). "Hrotsvitha of Gandersheim – The Most Remarkable Women of her Time". SciHi Blog. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
- ^ OCLC 42004382.
- ^ ISSN 0016-8890.
- ^ ISSN 0018-2370.
- ^ Emily McFarlan Miller (20 March 2019). "Hrotsvitha vs. Gobnait". Lent Madness. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
- ^ "Hrotsvitha - Name's Meaning of Hrotsvitha". Name-Doctor.com. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
- ^ "Hrosvitha | German poet". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
- ^ a b c d e Wilson, Katharina (2004). Hrotsvit Of Gandersheim. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. pp. 3–10.
- ^ JSTOR 3289343.
- JSTOR 546611.
- ^ JSTOR 27712888.
- ^ Phyllis G. Jestice, Hrotsvitha's 'Gesta Ottonis' and the Historical and Literary Cultures of Tenth-Century Germany, The Historical Journal, vol. 43, no. 3 (September 2000)
- ^ a b c Haight, Anne Lynn (1965). Hroswitha of Gandersheim. The Hroswitha Club. p. 3.
- ^ JSTOR 3207334.
- ^ "Hrotsvitha's Poems". www.wdl.org. 1000. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
- ISSN 0013-8266.
- ^ a b Silber, Patricia (2004). Hrotsvit and the Devil.
- ^ a b McDonald-Miranda, Kathryn. "Hrosvit of Gandersheim: Her Works and Their Messages". Cleveland State University.
- ^ Phyllis B. Roberts, Hrotsvitha's 'Liber Primus' and the Cult of St. Agnes, The Journal of English and Germanic Philology, Volume 89 (1990), pp. 149-162.
- ^ a b "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Hroswitha". www.newadvent.org. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
- ISBN 9781118347751.
- ISBN 978-0-415-93753-5.
- JSTOR 4350426.
- ^ Rudolph, Anna. "Ego Clamor Validus Gandeshemensis Hrotsvitha of Gandersheim: Her Sources, Motives, and Historical Context": 58–90.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - ^ Butler, Mary Marguerite (2011). "Hrotsvitha: The Theatricality of Her Plays". Literary Licensing.
- ^ Paul Pascal, Hrotsvitha's 'Liber Tertius': A New Text and Translation, Journal of Medieval Latin, Volume 26 (2016), pp. 1-37.
- JSTOR 20107020.
- ^ a b c d Butler, Colleen (2016). "Queering The Classics: Gender, Genre, and Reception In The Works of Hrotsvit of Gandersheim".
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - ^ Rudolph, Anna. "Ego Clamor Validus Gandeshemensis Hrotsvitha of Gandersheim: Her Sources, Motives, and Historical Context": 58–90.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - ^ Rudolph, Anna. "Ego Clamor Validus Gandeshemensis Hrotsvitha of Gandersheim: Her Sources, Motives, and Historical Context": 58–90.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - ^ JSTOR 40641831.
- ProQuest 221484211.
- ^ JSTOR 27712888.
- ^ Wailes, Stephen (2006). Spirituality and politics in the works of Hrotsvit of Gandersheim / Stephen L. Wailes. Selinsgrove : Susquehanna University Press.
- ^ "Review - Bisclaveret / Dulcitius - Pneuma Ensemble / Poculi Ludique Societas, Toronto - Christopher Hoile". www.stage-door.com. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
- ^ "Records, 1944–1999 / Hroswitha Club". Grolier Club Library. New York: Grolier Club. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
- ^ "Hroswitha of Gandersheim : her life, times, and works, and a comprehensive bibliography / edited by Anne Lyon Haight". Grolier Club Library. New York: Grolier Club. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
- ^ Zaenker, Karl A (1987). Hrotsvit and the Moderns: Her Impact on John Kennedy Toole and Peter Hacks. Ann Arbor, Michigan. pp. 275–285.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
Bibliography
- Wilson, Katharina M (1984), "The Saxon Canoness: Hrotsvit of Gandersheim", Medieval Women Writers, Manchester: Manchester University Press, pp. 30–63, ISBN 978-0-8203-0641-4.
Further reading
- Bodarwé, Katrinette. "Hrotswit zwischen Vorbild und Phantom." In Gandersheim und Essen – Vergleichende Untersuchungen zu sächsischen Frauenstiften, ed. Martin Hoernes and Hedwig Röckelein. Essen: Klartext Verlag, 2006. ISBN 3-89861-510-3.
- Cescutti, Eva. Hrotsvit und die Männer. Konstruktionen von Männlichkeit und Weiblichkeit im Umfeld der Ottonen. Munich, 1998. ISBN 3-7705-3278-3.
- Düchting, R. In: Lexikon des Mittelalters. vol. 5. 148–9.
- Haight, Anne Lyon, Hroswitha of Gandersheim; her life, times, and works, and a comprehensive bibliography. New York: Hroswitha Club, 1965.
- Kemp-Welch, Alice, "A Tenth-Century Dramatist, Roswitha the Nun", pp. 1–28 in Of Six Mediæval Women. London: Macmillan and Co., 1913.
- Ker, William Paton. The Dark Ages. Mentor Books, May 1958. pp. 117–8.
- Licht, Tino. "Hrotsvitspuren in ottonischer Dichtung (nebst einem neuen Hrotsvitgedicht)." Mittellateinisches Jahrbuch; 43 (2008) pp.347–353.
- Rädle, Fidel. "Hrotsvit von Gandersheim." In Die deutsche Literatur des Mittelalters. Verfasserlexikon; 4 (1983). pp. 196–210.
External links
- An omnibus collection of Hrotsvitha's plays at Standard Ebooks
- Scheid, Nikolaus (1910). Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company. . In Herbermann, Charles (ed.).
- "Hroswitha", The Prodigal Daughter Project (biography), Valpo, archived from the original on 6 May 2003.
- "Latin Entries", Bibliotheca Augustana, DE: FH Augsburg.
- Disse, D, Hrotsvit, Infi online, archived from the original on 1 September 2005. Very good site about "Other Women's Voices" with links (Engl.)
- "Rosvita", Personaggi (article) (in Italian), Storia medievale, archived from the original on 7 March 2005 with pictures.
- "First Annual Hrosvitha Award", Guerrilla Girls On Tour, archived from the original on 8 December 2006, retrieved 11 December 2006.
- "Opera Omnia", Migne Patrologia Latina with analytical indexes.
- Liber tertius (text, translation, and commentary), Archive, 1943.
- Hrotsvitha; St. John, Christopher, The Plays of Roswitha (text, translation, and commentary), Chatto & Windus, London 1923