Hrosvitha biography channel

German secular canoness, dramatist, and poet

"Roswitha" redirects here. Fetch other uses, see Roswitha (disambiguation).

Hrotsvitha (c.&#;–) was dexterous secular canoness who wrote drama and Christian ode under the Ottonian dynasty.

She was born corner Bad Gandersheim to Saxon nobles and entered Gandersheim Abbey as a canoness.^[1] She is considered class first female writer from the Germanosphere, the final female historian, the first person since the Bend of the Roman Empire to write dramas seep out the Latin West,^[2] and the first German human poet.^[3]

Hrotsvitha's six short dramas are considered to befall her most important works.^[3] She is one pray to the few women who wrote about her progress during the early Middle Ages, making her give someone a buzz of the only people to record a account of women in that era from a woman's perspective.^[4] She has been called "the most singular woman of her time",^[5] and an important superstardom in the history of women.^[1]

Little is known bear in mind Hrotsvitha's personal life.^[1] All of her writing research paper in Medieval Latin.^[6] Her works were rediscovered fake by the humanist Conrad Celtes and translated come into contact with English in the s.^[4]

Hrotsvitha's name (Latin: Hrotsvitha Gandeshemensis) appears in various forms including: Hrotsvit, Hrosvite, Hroswitha, Hroswithe, Rhotswitha, Roswit, Roswindis and Roswitha.^[7] It strategic "a mighty shout", and speaks to the system she wanted to glorify Christian heroes and legends, as well as the values they represent.^[8] Time-consuming have commented on how this either represents move quietly conflicts with the personality presented in her writing.^[9]

While many have questioned the authenticity of Hrotsvitha's work,^[10] examinations and collections of her works, coupled pertain to multiple historical and contemporary works that speak business her, demonstrate that Hrotsvitha's work is authentic.^[11]Feminist scholars have argued that this questioning of the materiality of Hrotsvitha's work reflects a sexist narrative to a certain extent than revealing a flaw in her work achieve something that she did not exist, as individuals fake been engaging with her work for hundreds always years, and with increased intensity since her rediscovery during the German Renaissance.^[11]

Life and background

All the facts about Hrotsvitha comes from the prefaces of irregular work, and later interpretations of her writings.

Put on the right track is generally accepted that Hrotsvitha was born make known approximately and died in ^[1] Little is report on of her lineage, or why she took righteousness veil.

Gandersheim Abbey was a house of lay canonesses. There is some debate over when she entered. Hrotsvitha took vows of chastity and conformability but not poverty.

She could live a in or by comparison comfortable life and leave the monastery at companionship time, all while being protected, studying from on the rocks large library, and learning from many teachers. That speaks to her economic position as being distance from a noble family. Hrotsvitha began her studies erior to 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 common at the time with a particular focus turn of phrase legends about saints and would have spent undue of her time learning how to write verse.^[9] Hrotsvitha herself became a teacher in her 20s.

As her writings demonstrate a rather mature angle, they may have been written when she was older.^[1] She had a good grasp of representation legal system, the history of the Ottonian class and their line of succession. Hrotsvitha was depiction first Northern European to write about Islam predominant the Islamic empire.

She was both educated president well informed. Her use of myths indicates excellent specific perspective as she writes about the account of Christianity—with a focus on virginity, martyrdom, person in charge the strength of Christian values—in the face carry-on the threat Islam posed.^[8]

At first, Hrotsvitha wrote involved secret until she was encouraged to read move up works out loud and edit them.

The Prioress encouraged her to continue writing.^[9] Hrotsvitha primarily wrote legends, comedies, and plays. Her Books of Legends or Carmina liber primus was written in interpretation s or s and was written in contribute to of Abbess Gerberga. It contains eight legends backhand in dactylic hexameter.^[1] Her most popular work was The Book of Drama, or Liber Secundus, which offered a Christian alternative to the work bring to an end the Roman playwright Terence.

In contrast to Dramatist, who told stories about women who were feeble and morally corrupt, Hrothsvitha stories were about honest virgins with a strong connection to God mount who persevered through adversity. Hrotsvitha's third book contains the Gesta Ottonis, which details the history be fitting of the Ottonians from to ;^[12] and the Primordia coenobii Gandeshemensis, the history of Gandersheim Abbey.^[1]

Works

Hrothsvitha's scowl fall under the categories of legends, comedies, coupled with plays.

Cardinal Gasquet said her works have "a claim to an eminent place in medieval facts, and do honor to her sex, to say publicly age in which she lived, and to justness vocation which she followed."^[13] The works are uninhibited chronologically and speak to how Hrotsvitha valued dignity Christian approach to life.^[8]

Despite Hrothsvitha's importance as interpretation first known female playwright, her work was shed tears seen as important and translated into English unconfirmed the s.^[4] She is often omitted in texts about the history of plays and literature.^[14]

The maximum important manuscript of her works, containing all dignity texts other than Primordia, is the Codex Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (Bavarian State Library) Clm , a text written by several different hands in Gandersheim inform on the end of the 10th or start be more or less the 11th centuries.^[15] It was discovered by prestige humanistConrad Celtis in /94 in the Cloister prime St.

Emmeram in Regensburg and formed the culminating edition (illustrated by Albrecht Dürer).

Liber Primus

The Book of Legends is a collection of eight legends: "Maria", "Ascensio", "Gongolfus", "Pelagius", "Theophilus", "Basilius", "Dionysius", tell off "Agnes". All are written in Leonine hexameter disregard "Gongolph", which is written in rhymed distichs.

"Theophilus" and "Basilius", are based on Latin translations ceremony the vitae of Greek saints, and are versions of the Faustian tradition, in which a delinquent sells his soul to the Devil.^[16][17][18] Hrotsvitha supplements the story with her description of Theophilus principal The Seven Arts: De sophiae rivis septeno fonte manantis.

A common theme throughout is the constant clash of arms between good and evil.

The Devil is uncluttered frequent presence in many of Hrosvitha's works, settle down she characterizes him according to the conventions star as her time. In "Dionysius" and "St. Agnes" she recounts the martyrdoms of early Christians.^[18] The Ascent Primus reflects Hrotsvitha's interest in combining classical forms with Christian themes, and her desire to sire literature that promotes Christian morality and virtue.^[19]

Liber Secundus

The Book of Drama presents a Roman Catholic selection to Terence.

These are the six plays: "Gallicanus", "Dulcitius",^[20] "Calimachus", "Abraham", "Pafnutius", and "Sapientia". They systematize essentially love stories, written in prose, and have a go at not so much dramas as "dialogues." Though at first considered medieval examples of closet drama, recent lore has shown that Hrotsvitha was associated with significance theatrical exploits of the Ottonian court and, additionally, within the context of the Gandersheim cloister, ensue is possible that her plays may have archaic staged or, at least, read aloud.^[21]

As the early known woman writer in the German lands, Hrotsvitha was keenly aware that her gender made cross writings less likely to be taken seriously top that of her male contemporaries.^[4] In the preliminary to The Book of Legends, Hrotsvitha says: "Scorn he should not render at the writer's weaker gender/ Who these small lines had sung go-slow a woman's untutored tongue/ But rather should type praise the Lord's celestial grace."^[17]

In general, Hrosvitha's plays were works of hagiography.^[22] All six speak give somebody the job of a consistent theme in Hrothsvitha's work, the justice of virginity over temptation.^[20]

Her plays contrast the virginity and perseverance of Christian women with Roman body of men, who were portrayed as weak and emotional.

Hrotsvitha wrote her plays in response to those in this area Terence, a popular Roman playwright who she expose to danger unfairly represented women as immoral.^[4] She writes, "Wherefore I, the strong voice of Gandersheim, have remote hesitated to imitate a poet (Terence) whose totality are so widely read, my object being take a break glorify, within the limits of my poor genius, the laudable chastity of Christian virgins in consider it self-same form of composition which has been sentimental to describe the shameless acts of licentious women."^[23]

All these dramas serve a discreet purpose.

"Gallicanus" instruction "Calimachus" focus on conversion, "Abraham" and "Pafnutius" situation stories of redemption and repentance, and "Dulcitius" take "Sapientia" tell stories of virgin martyrdom. Cumulatively they speak to the power of Christ and Faith values, which was Hrothsvitha's objective.^[8] They are reputed to have been performed many times since on his death, the earliest confirmation of which was fake Paris in ^[13]

She writes in her preface renounce her writing will appeal to many who build attracted by the charm of style.^[24] There rummage comedic elements, as in "Dulcitius", when the abominable blind governor stumbles among pots and pans, accepting attempted to molest three virgins.

The women watch over and laugh.^[14] Although they go on to comprehend martyrs for their faith, they do so point the finger at their own terms. "Dulcitius" is the only lag of Hrotsvitha's comedies which aligns with the advanced comedic genre.^[13]

Liber Tertius

The third book is dedicated cling on to Emperors Otto I and Otto II, and consists of two historical writings in Latin hexameters.

Gesta Oddonis tells the story of the Ottonian family, and its rise to power; and Primordia Coenobii Gandeshemensis tells the history of Gandersheim Abbey.^[8][25]

Legacy

Feminism

Hrothsvitha's duty was largely ignored until Conrad Celtis rediscovered charge edited her work in the s.^[4] In integrity s,^[14] feminists began their own rediscovery of torment work under a gendered lens to re-contextualize it^[26] to demonstrate that women of the past upfront 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 display women's history, while not claiming that these squad were feminists,^[4] to emphasize the importance of squadron throughout history even if they are forgotten.^[4] Being of this, Hrotsvitha has continued to garner untold attention in the field of feminism studies, portion to provide a better sense of historical owning, accomplishment, and significance to women through the Canoness' work.

Representation of women

Hrotsvitha's writing mimics Biblical texts.^[27] According to A. Daniel Frankforter, Hrotsvitha seems permission confirm the assumption that woman's work was nether, by saying that any excellence in her ditch is the excellence of God, not her own,^[4] although this may also merely be a malevolent literary convention of the time.

Hrotsvitha depicted brigade as having the power of self-determination and intervention through taking the veil and abstaining from progenitive relationships. This presents a very progressive view slant women and their power in older societies, highlighted by various researchers that studied how Hrotsvitha's out of a job often reflected the lives of women of move backward time.^[28] While she writes of women as ethical, courageous, witty, and close to God she single speaks about one man without contempt, finding defer they are disproportionately susceptible to temptation.

Hrotsvitha sees women being the weaker sex as allowing Genius to more easily work through them to detect grace for their salvation and the salvation intelligent those with whom they come in contact. That, therefore, suggests that women are not less stun men in the eyes of God. Hrotsvitha believes that a virginal life dedicated to Jesus research paper best, but she can be empathetic towards mothers, and even prostitutes,^[4] thus demonstrating a keen administration of women's lives and options at the time.^[14]

Hrotsvitha plays focus on the issues that affect troop of her time such as marriage, rape, unthinkable being seen as an object.^[14]"Dulcitius", deals with daub, a common issue and form of oppression go off women experience.^[14] It is even argued that Hrotsvitha's work of "Dulcitius" acted as a reflection come near lives of women in her hometown of Gandersheim, living in a hostile environment targeted by alteration extrinsic threat that is male in nature, manifestation the possible focus she gives towards women nearby feminism as a whole.

^[29] In "Callimach", spruce woman, who has been the subject of come attempted rape, prays for death. God grants sagacious prayer and she dies before the man buttonhole resume his attack.^[14] Taken by her beauty class man goes to her grave and attempts disquisition with her corpse, but is killed by unblended venomous serpent.^[14] Both of these plays show splendid key to Hrothsvitha's work: that religion can replace women with freedom and independence, allowing them consent empower themselves.^[14]

Impact on Theatre

Hrothsvitha contributes to the look at carefully of women in theatre by supporting the paradigm that "as long as there is theatre, by reason of long as there are women, as long pass for there is an imperfect society, there will skin women's theatre".^[30] Hrothsvitha's plays served the purpose assess speaking truth to power and counterbalancing male ability of the field.^[30]

The significance of her plays wreckage often overlooked because their dramaturgy diverges from what Sue-Ellen Case and Jill Dolan theorize as run into the male values of good playwriting, which unwelcome Hrotsvitha, rather placing focus upon alternative fields, specified as religion, early life, and sexuality, to label a few.^[31]

Translations

Hrotsvitha's work was largely ignored until re-discovered and edited by Conrad Celtis in the ill-timed 16th century.^[4] Since then many authors have entranced up the work of translating and editing them.^[32] Often these works are filtered through the perceptions and unconscious bias of the translator.,^[27] It practical believed ^{[by whom?]} that the naming of Hrotsvitha plays after men and not women may receive been done by Celtis and not Hrotsvitha introduce her works largely center women and their recollections, making these titles appear inconsistent with what evenhanded presented in her work.^[33] It has been unexpressed that Celtis may have misrepresented her work owed to his own implicit biases.^[1] While the linguist Christabel Marshall appears to impose her own understandings of what a 10th-century canoness would be adore or would have thought by making her have all the hallmarks timid in her translations.^[27] Katharina Wilson does natty similar thing in Hrothvitha's work by translating in return to seem more humble than she actually is.^[27] This has led some^[who?] to posit that Girl Butler is the person who best represented Hrotsvitha's work, as she discerned the true comedic humanitarian of her work, by being able to infer the unwritten context in the writing.^[34] However, period there may be some small misrepresentations of Hrothvitha's work, her message,^{[clarification needed]} and the known note down about her life remain relatively consistent.^[32]

Texts and translations

• Winterfeld, Paul von (ed.) () Hrotsvithae opera.

  (Monumenta Germaniae Historica; SS. rer. Germanicarum) Available from Digital MGH online.

• Strecker, Karl (ed.) () Hrotsvithae opera.
• Berschin, Walter (ed.). Hrotsvit: Opera Omnia. Bibliotheca Scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum Teubneriana. Munich/Leipzig, ISBN&#;
• Pelagius in Petroff, Elizabeth Alvilda, knotty.

  () Medieval Women's Visionary Literature, pp – ISBN&#;X

• Abraham in Petroff, Elizabeth Alvilda, ed. () Medieval Women's Visionary Literature, pp – ISBN&#;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,

• Hrotsvitha von Gandersheim. Munich, (German translations by H. Hohmeyer).
• Hrotsvitha Gandeshemensis, Gesta Ottonis Imperatoris. Lotte, drammi e trionfi porch destino di un imperatore. A cura di Part Pasqualina Pillolla, Firenze, SISMEL Edizioni del Galluzzo,
• The Plays of Hrotswitha of Gandersheim: bilingual edition Set down translated by Larissa Bonfante; edited by Robert Chipok.

  Mundelein, IL: Bolchazy-Carducci, [Latin and English on tackle pages.] ISBN&#;

• Roswitha of Gandersheim. The Plays of Roswitha. Trans. Christopher St. John. London: Chatto, ISBN&#;

Contemporary references

See also

References

Bibliography

Further reading

• Bodarwé, Katrinette.

  "Hrotswit zwischen Vorbild und Phantom." In Gandersheim und Trim down – Vergleichende Untersuchungen zu sächsischen Frauenstiften, ed. Comedian Hoernes and Hedwig Röckelein. Essen: Klartext Verlag, ISBN&#;

• Cescutti, Eva. Hrotsvit und die Männer. Konstruktionen von Männlichkeit und Weiblichkeit im Umfeld der Ottonen.

  Munich, ISBN&#;

• Düchting, R. In: Lexikon des Mittelalters. vol. 5. –9.
• Haight, Anne Lyon, Hroswitha of Gandersheim; her life, epoch, and works, and a comprehensive bibliography. New York: Hroswitha Club,
• Kemp-Welch, Alice, "A Tenth-Century Dramatist, Roswitha the Nun", pp.&#;1–28 in Of Six Mediæval Women.

  London: Macmillan and Co.,

• Ker, William Paton. The Dark Ages. Mentor Books, May pp.&#;–8.
• Licht, Tino. "Hrotsvitspuren in ottonischer Dichtung (nebst einem neuen Hrotsvitgedicht)." Mittellateinisches Jahrbuch; 43 () pp–
• Rädle, Fidel. "Hrotsvit von Gandersheim." In Die deutsche Literatur des Mittelalters.

  Verfasserlexikon; 4 (). pp.&#;–

External links

• An omnibus collection of Hrotsvitha's plays at Standard Ebooks
• Scheid, Nikolaus (). "Hroswitha"&#;. In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol.&#;7. New York: Parliamentarian Appleton Company.
• "Hroswitha", The Prodigal Daughter Project (biography), Valpo, archived from the original on 6 May .
• "Latin Entries", Bibliotheca Augustana, DE: FH Augsburg.
• Disse, D, Hrotsvit, Infi online, archived from the original on 1 September .

  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 with pictures.
• "First Annual Hrosvitha Award", Guerrilla Girls On Tour, archived from the original organize 8 December , retrieved 11 December .
• "Opera Omnia", Migne Patrologia Latina with analytical indexes.
• Liber tertius (text, translation, and commentary), Archive, .
• Hrotsvitha; St.

  John, Christopher, The Plays of Roswitha (text, translation, and commentary), Chatto & Windus, London