Hrotsvit /Hrosvith /Hroswitha/Roswitha
(d. aft. 973)Return to the index of "Other Women's Voices."
Updated: 09-30-08
Hrotsvit /Hrosvith /Hroswitha/Roswitha
(d. aft. 973)=========================================================================
"GOD HAS GIVEN ME A SHARP MIND."
=========================================================================We don't know when or where Hrotsvit was born; the fact that she was accepted at the royal abbey of Gandersheim in eastern Saxony means that she was of a noble family. In 947, as part of his consolidation of power, King Otto I (r. 936-973) gave the abbess of Gandersheim autonomous power, freeing the abbey of the control of prelates and secular lords (although not from the control of provosts appointed by the king); the abbess was the equivalent of a baron, with most of the rights and duties involved. In the 950s, Otto's niece was installed as Abbess Gerberga II, and it was under her that Hrotsvit served.
Because of her knowledge of worldly affairs, some have conjectured that Hrotsvit lived at Otto's court as a young woman, but she need not have done so. Gandersheim was an abbey of canonesses, women who lived under a rule but who did not take permanent vows. If the family of a canoness later decided she should marry, or if she were needed for some other reason, she was permitted to leave. In addition, many young noble girls were educated at the abbey (Hrotsvit herself may have been); some stayed there until they were to be married. As a result, courtiers came and went freely between court and abbey, and Hrotsvit could interact freely with them.
The 950s were the start of what has come to be called the "Ottonian Renaissance"; then, when in 962 Otto became emperor of Germany, Austria, Switzerland and northern Italy, writers and artists flocked to his court from all over Europe. The materials available to Hrotsvit in the Gandersheim library show that the abbey was very much a part of that courtly renaissance.
We know that Hrotsvit was writing from about 960 to shortly after 973. Of her later life, we know nothing. Around 973, Hrotsvit apparently organized her writing into three books. Scholars disagree on exact dates for the various works; most agree on the general order in which they were written:
Book 1 contains Hrotsvit's earliest work: five legends that may have been written before 959; and three legends, a preface and a letter of dedication to Gerberga, perhaps written after 962. (What modern editors call "legends," Hrotsvit called simple historia, stories.) Between Books 1 and 2 is a brief note on the sources of the legends.
Book 2 contains a preface, a letter to Hrotsvit's learned patrons, and six plays. One extant manuscript contains an additional short poem at the end of Book 2, "Apocalypsis Joannis" (The revelation of John).
Book 3, apparently completed by 973, contains two epic poems: Gesta Ottonis (The deeds of Otto, sometimes called Panagyric Oddonum), preceded by three letters of dedication --- to Gerberga, to Otto I, and to the future Otto II; and Primordia coenobii Gandershemensis (The beginnings of the Abbey of Gandersheim).
On this page you'll find:
Links to helpful sites online.
Excerpts from translations in print:
Book 1: Legends
Book 2: Plays
Book 3: Epics
Information about:
Collections
Secondary sources=========================================================================
Online 1. In English:
(a) A link to the text of the 1923 translation, The Plays of Roswitha, by Christabel Marshall, under the pseudonym Christopher St. John. The six plays (Gallicanus, Dulcitius,Callimachus, Abraham, Paphnutius, and Sapientia) are preceded not only by Hrotsvit's two prefaces from Book 2, but also by the "Preface to the poetical works," the preface to the legends of Book 1; "To Gerberg," the dedication of Gesta Ottonis in Book 3; and the "Preface to the complete works," the brief note that appears at the end of Book 1, on the legends' sources. (Also of interest are Marshall's "Translator's Preface" and the"Note on the Acting of the Plays," in which she comments on pre-1923 staging of the plays.) You can also download the whole work as a PDF file.
(b) An introduction and link to a colloquial version of Dulcitius (here called The Three Virgin Martyrs and a Chicken) by the Sydney Mediæval & Renaissance Group.
(c) At the bottom of this page from a collection of women's letters in translation and in the Latin original, links to six letters: the prefaces to Books 1 and 2, and the dedications of Gesta Ottonis to Gerberga and to the two Ottos; unless noted, the translations are by Joan Ferrante.
(d) A link to the text of Alice Kemp-Welch's 1913 book, Of Six Mediaeval Women...; there, near the start of the first section, on Hrotsvit, is a substantial excerpt from the opening of Primordia coenobii Gandershemensis, translated by Kemp-Welch. You can also download the whole work as a PDF file.
(e) This biography of Otto I's wife, Adelaide, based on a part of Hrotsvit's Gesta Ottonis, includes a brief quotation from that epic.2. Hrotsvithae Opera, Paul von Winterfeld's 1902 edition of the complete works in Latin. You can link to individual pages; linking first to "Inhaltsverzeichnis" will give you the table of contents and tell you the starting page for individual works.
3. Other sources for Latin originals:
(a) Links to some of Hrotsvit's works: From Book 1: the preface, the dedication, and the legend Ascensio Domini (Ascension of the Lord). From Book 2: the preface; the letter to "learned readers"; and the plays Dulcitius, Abraham, and Pafnutius.
(b) Again the preface to Book 2, but here accompanied by notes in English.
(c) Links to excerpts from Dulcitius, with grammatical notes and study questions.
(d) Lines from near the opening of Maria, the first legend of Book I: Hrotsvit asks that Mary free her tongue and touch her heart so that she will not be like those who fail to praise as best they can; then she begins Mary's story. (For a translation of the lines that precede these, see below, under "In print.")4. Links to plot summaries of Hrotsvit's six plays, by Ann Marie Olson.
5. Essays (etc.) on Hrotsvit and on the whole body of her work:
(a) A 2001 biographical essay, by Kari-Anne Innes, includes passages from Hrotsvit's prefaces and dedications, translated by Gonsalva Weigand and by Anne Haight (for other excerpts from Weigand, see "In print").
(b) Carmela Vircillo Franklin's review of a 2001 Latin edition of Hrotsvit's works discusses the organization and the history of the manuscripts.
(c) At Lina Eckenstein's book, Woman Under Monasticism (1896), link to the chapter, "The Nun Hrotsvith and her Writings." Eckenstein gives a summary of all the works and translates passages (some substantial) from several. You can link to the "previous subsection" for a history of Gandersheim, some of it based on Primordia coenobii Gandershemensis.
(d) An even older but also still useful essay, "Roswitha, the Nun of Gandersheim" (1881) by Alice C. Osborne, describes in some detail each of the works; Osborne gives her own translation of passages (especially from the play Abraham). You can link to the text or to individual page images.
(e) "Violence to Women, Women's Rights, and Their Defenders in Medieval German Literature" (2002), by Albrecht Classen, discusses three writers whose works show strong women: one of these (in Section III) is Hrotsvit.
(f) An English-language review by Josefina Rodriguez Arribas of a 2005 Spanish translation of Hrotsvit's complete Opera.6. Essays (etc.) on the plays:
(a) "Comedy of Prayer: The Redemption of Terence Through Christian Appropriation" (2004), by Patricia McIntyre, includes a comparison of Hrotsvit's play Abraham with the prose tale of the 300s that was apparently used as a source.
(b) "Hrotsvit's Sapientia: Rhetorical Power and Women of Wisdom" (2003), by Colleen D. Richmond, discusses that play's illustration of women's spiritual and intellectual power, including the work's presentation of number theory.
(c)"Paphnutius: Terentian 'Imitation,' Conversion and Re-formation in Hroswitha's Play" (2001), by Innes, sees the play not as imitative but as an "anti-Terentian" redemption of the Latin playwright.
(d) Paphnutius is also discussed in Alecia Carole Dantico's 2004 essay "Desert Flower: Thais Through Time," which describes the treatment of the character Thais by Terence and by early medieval writers; Dantico quotes from the original Latin and from the Marshall (St. John) translation.
(e) "Impassive Bodies: Hrotsvit Stages Martyrdom" (1998), by Marla Carlson, discusses the treatment of violence in the plays, focusing on Sapientia and Dulcitius.
(f) A paper that presents Hrotsvit being interviewed by a modern reporter; it includes a passage from Sapientia and critics' comments on the other plays.7. Reviews (for information on the books' treatment of Hrotsvit, see "Secondary sources"):
(a) Kevin Teo Kia-Choong on Stephen L. Wailes' 2006 study, Spirituality and Politics in the Works of Hrotsvit of Gandersheim.
(b) Wailes on the 2004 essay collection, Hrotsvit of Gandersheim: Contexts, Identities, Affinities, and Performances.
(c) One-third down the page, Karina Marie Ash on the 2007 collection, Women and Medieval Epic: Gender, Genre, and the Limits of Epic Masculinity.
(d) Natalie Bennett on Jane Stevenson's 2005 study, Women Latin Poets: Language, Gender, and Authority, From Antiquity to the Eighteenth Century; elsewhere, another review, this by Brenda M. Hosington.
(e) Barbara Newman on Maud Burnett McInerney's 2003 study, Eloquent Virgins from Thecla to Joan of Arc.
(f) Catherine M. Mooney on Elizabeth Petroff's 1994 study, Body and Soul: Essays on Medieval Women and Mysticism.8. Albrecht Durer's frontispiece to the 1501 Opera Hrosvite Illustris Virginis, the first printed edition of the works: Hrotsvit presents her book to Otto, while Gerberga watches.
9. For historical background:
(a) An essay by Troy Southgate on Hrotsvit's emperor, "The Achievements of Otto the Great"; the end of the essay quotes a line from the dedication to Gesta Ottonis, translated by Mary Bernardine Bergman.
(b) A brief account by Norman Hugh Redington of the abbey of Gandersheim.=========================================================================
In print Book 1: Legends [In 1936 Gonsalva Wiegand made a prose translation of Book 1 (the eight verse legends and all the prefatory material), with Latin and English on facing pages. The book is not in all libraries, but it is available via interlibrary loan:]
The non-dramatic works of Hrosvitha; text, translation, and commentary.... Wiegand, Gonsalva, sister, ed. and tr. St. Louis, Mo., 1936. (xxiv, 273 p.)
LC#: PA8340 .A178----------------------------------------------------
"I declined to discard my subject matter."
----------------------------------------------------[From Hrotsvit's rhymed-prose preface to her eight legends. Two of the legends dealt with stories that had been defined as part of New Testament apocrypha; Hrotsvit apparently had been criticized for using these sources:]
This little volume, adorned with but slight charm of style, but nevertheless labored upon with no little effort, I offer for the criticism of those kindly and learned minds who take pleasure, not in exposing to ridicule a writer's faults but rather in correcting them....
...[I]f the objection is made that, according to the judgment of some, portions of this work have been borrowed from apocryphal sources: to this I would answer that I have erred through ignorance and not through reprehensible presumption. For when I started to weave the thread of this collection, I was not aware that the authenticity of the material upon which I planned to work was questionable. When I discovered the real state of affairs, I declined to discard my subject matter, on the plea that what appears to be false, may eventually be proved to be true. [p.7]
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"With zeal ministering to my womanly muse..."
-----------------------------------------------------------[The opening of the first legend, Maria, one of the two from sources deemed apocryphal. The poem appears to have been the earliest to deal with Mary's birth:]
Hail! Sole Hope of the world, Illustrious Queen of the heavens, Holy Mother of the King, Resplendent Star of the Sea; who, O sweet Virgin, has by obedience restored to the world that life which the virgin of old forfeited.
Do thou graciously deign to assist the prayers and new little songs of thy handmaiden Hrostvitha, who with zeal ministering to my womanly muse, do now suppliantly sing in dactyl measures, desiring to touch, if ever so lightly, upon a tiny portion of the praise which is thine, and to celebrate the bright beginnings of thy blessed origin and also thy royal Child. [p15]
===================================================================
[Weigand's prose translations are certainly adequate, but if you want to see a verse translation of one of the legends, this anthology has a translation by Katharina Wilson of Pelagius. (A revised version is in Wilson, 1998; see "Collections" below):]
Medieval women's visionary literature / [edited by] Elizabeth Alvilda Petroff. New York: Oxford University Press, 1986. (xii, 402 p.)
LC#: BR53 .M4 1986; ISBN: 0195037111, 019503712X
Bibliography: p. 373-391.---------------------------------------------
"...without fear of any retribution."
---------------------------------------------[Pelagius is the story of a young Christian martyr in Muslim Spain; it is the only one of the legends based on a contemporary incident. In a note on her sources, Hrotsvit wrote: "The details of this were supplied to me by an inhabitant of the town where the Saint was put to death. This truthful stranger assured me that he had not only seen Pelagius... but had been a witness of his end" (St John, p.xxxvi). Perhaps because of information from her eyewitness, Hrotsvit's description of Islamic tolerance in al-Andalus is quite accurate --- although she seems unaware of the anti-idol nature of Islamic worship:]
[The Moslem ruler] issued a pronouncement....
That whoever so desired
to serve the eternal King
And desired to honor
the custom of his sires,
Might do so without fear
of any retribution.
Only a single condition
he set to be observed,
Namely that no dweller
of the aforesaid city
Should presume to blaspheme
the golden idol's name
Whom this prince adored.... [p.115]-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"No one, though, should credit this to the King's own merit...."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------[After describing the Moslem ruler of Cordoba's conquering the Christian Galacians and taking the leaders (including the young Pelagius) into captivity, Hrotsvit needed to explain how a non-Christian could possibly defeat Christians:]
No one, though, should credit
this to the King's own merit,
That he should have succeeded
in such a splendid way,
But rather the reason lies,
and with God the judge resides
Whose secret plan was either
that this tribe, so chastised,
Should beweep the sins
of which they all stood charged,
Or that Pelagius
be killed for faith in Christ,
And might so reach the spot,
where to die was his lot.... [p.118]=========================================================================
[This is another anthology with a translation by Wilson, here of the legend Basileus. (The same translation is in Wilson, 1998; see "Collections" below). (See the book's table of contents online.):]
Medieval women writers / edited by Katharina M. Wilson. Athens, Ga.: University of Georgia Press, c1984. (xxix, 366 p.)
LC#: PN667 .M43 1984; ISBN: 082030641X, 0820306401
Includes bibliographies.
[Also published: Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1984; ISBN: 0719010667, 0719010683]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Scorn he should not render at the writer's weaker gender."
------------------------------------------------------------------------[The opening of Basileus, one of the last legends; the hero is a Greek bishop of the 300s who saved a sinner that had made a pact with the devil:]
He who wants to learn and by sure proofs discern
God's mercy and the Lord's many and great rewards,
With humble heart and meek, these small verses should read.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
Who wants not that due pain sinners their punishment gain,
But eternal life He grants to the sinner who repents.This shall be proven here; thus, shall he rejoice in cheer
Whoever these verses reads and the present account heeds. [p.47]=========================================================================
Book 2: Plays [Katharina Wilson has translated Hrotsvit's second book: the six plays and preface in rhymed prose and the prose letter to patrons; Wilson also gives a thorough introduction and detailed notes:]
The plays of Hrotsvit of Gandersheim / translated by Katharina Wilson (Garland library of medieval literature; v. 62). New York: Garland Pub., 1989. (xlvi,158 p.: ill.)
LC#: PA8340 .A28 1989; ISBN: 082404388X
"Revised version of my translations of Hrotsvit's plays which were first published by Peregrina Press, Saskatoon, in 1986"--p. vii. Bibliography: p. xxxix-xlvi.
-------------------------------
"We are also guilty...."
-------------------------------[From Hrotsvit's preface to the plays:]
Many Catholics one may find and we are also guilty of charges of this kind, who for the beauty of their eloquent style, prefer the uselessness of pagan guile....
If my pious gift pleases anyone, I am glad; if, on the other hand, it pleases no one either because of my own worthlessness or the rusticity of my inelegant style, then it was still worth the effort to me because while I wrote down the trifling efforts of my other works [the legends] (revealing my lack of knowledge) in the heroic meter's norm, here I joined them in the dramatic form, always trying to avoid the perilous fetter and the dangerous allure of pagan subject matter. [pp.3-4]
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"...the more limited the female intellect is believed to be."
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[From Hrotsvit's letter to her learned patrons, which immediately follows the preface:].... I also know that God has given me a sharp mind, but my mind has remained neglected through my own inertia and untrained ever since the efforts of my teachers ceased to nurture it. Therefore, in order to prevent God's gift in me to die by my neglect, I have tried whenever I could probe, to rip small patches from Philosophy's robe and weave them into this little work of mine, so that the worthlessness of my own ignorance may be ennobled by the interweaving of this nobler material's shine, and that, thus, the Giver of my talent all the more be justly praised through me, the more limited the female intellect is believed to be. [p.5]
=========================================================================
[Although the Wilson translation of the plays has more aids for the reader, this translation by Larissa Bonfante is interesting in that Bonfante has added stage directions she believes to be prompted by the text:]
The plays of Hrotswitha of Gandersheim / translated by Larissa Bonfante, with the collaboration of Alexandra Bonfante-Warren (Monograph publishing: Imprint series) . New York: New York University Press, 1979. (182 p.: ill.)
LC#: PA8340 .A225; ISBN: 081471028X
Bibliography: p. 181-182.
[Reprinted 2000, Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers; ISBN: 086516178X]------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"This is not the time to show... on my face what is in my heart."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------[In this passage of the play Abraham, the aged holy man, after much searching, has found his adopted daughter, Maria, in a inn/brothel, some years after she has run away. He acts the part of a customer and hires Maria's services. Here Hrotsvit uses Roman comedy's caricature of a foolish old man:]
[Scene VI: Inside the inn. Abraham sits at a table, waiting. The innkeeper enters, leading Maria by the hand....]
Innkeeper: Come along, Maria, come along,
And show your loveliness to this our raw recruit.
Maria: Yes, I'm coming.
Abraham [overcome at the shock of seeing Maria dressed in the bright clothes of a prostitute]:
What trust, what strength of mind
Can ever be mine hereafter....
But this is not the time
To show straight out on my face
What is in my heart; my tears break forth
But I shall hold them back, bravely, like a man.
And with a feigned cheerfulness of face
Disguise the deep bitterness of my grief.
Innkeeper [ironically...]:
Lucky Maria, only young people your age
Have rushed in droves to love you;
Now even old men, feeble with age,
Come to seek you, all of them seeking your love.
Maria [eyes cast down,charmingly modest, exhibiting the sweet obedience that has made her such a successful courtesan.]:
Whoever cares for me always receives
My own equal affection in return.
Abraham [plays the part.]:
Well, come to me, Maria---give me a kiss.
Maria [warmly; comes up and puts her arms around his neck]:
I will cover you with sweet kisses,
And caress your old man's neck
With many embraces....[They sit down at the table in the main room of the inn. Abraham eats and drinks. Then, when they have finished, he calls the innkeeper over.]
Abraham: We have eaten well and hearty,
We are tipsy from the wine your gave us
In generous portions, good sir innkeeper--
Give us now leave to rise from supper,
That I may lay my weary body down in bed
And let the quiet night restore me....
Maria: Get up, my lord, get up--
I shall go up to your bedroom with you.
Abraham [smiling]:
I am delighted--
In fact, no one could have forced me to go
If you did not come with me. [pp.91-96]=========================================================================
[Volume 2 of this anthology includes Mark Damon's translation of Hrotsvit's Callimachus (which he has staged), as well as the Latin original. Damon's introductory essay analyzes Hrotsvit's use of classical Roman comedy (Plautus as well as Terence) and describes his own production to illustrate that Hrotsvit's plays are indeed stageworthy. (See online the tables of contents of all three volumes.):]
Women writing Latin: from Roman antiquity to early modern Europe / edited by Laurie J. Churchill, Phyllis R. Brown, and Jane E. Jeffrey (Women writers of the world). New York: Routledge, 2002. (3 v.)
LC#: PA8030.W65 W66 2002; ISBN: 0815332599, 0415942470
Includes bibliographical references. Contents: v. 1. Women writing in Latin in Roman antiquity, late antiquity, and early modern Christian era -- v. 2. Medieval women writing Latin -- v. 3. Early modern women writing Latin--------------------------------------------------------------------
"I will burn... if you keep stirring these words into me."
--------------------------------------------------------------------[From Scene 3, in which a non-Christian young man, Callimachus, tries to seduce a married Christian woman, Drusiana; the scene illustrates the Terentian device of rapid exchanges. The translator's stage directions are omitted here:]
Callimachus: First, let me say, Drusiana,
I speak from a heart, filled with love.
Drusiana: What has that to do with me, Callimachus?
What do you mean to say?
Is something wrong? You amaze me.
Callimachus: I amaze you?
Drusiana: Very much.
Callimachus: First then, about this love.
Drusiana: What, then, about this love?
Callimachus: This, to begin with, what you have before all of the others, mine.
My love. For you.
Drusiana: What right have you?
Are you a member of my family?
Is there in any law or stipulation of the constitution
Something that requires you to love me?
Callimachus: Yes, you're beautiful.
Drusiana: I'm beautiful?
Callimachus: You are.
Drusiana: Is that any of your business?
Callimachus: I'm sorry to say that it's not, not before now at least.
But I hope to have your business in the future.
Drusiana: Leave me. Leave me. Lecherous outlaw!
I will burn, I know, if you keep stirring these words into me.
I see you completely, and the devil in your treachery. [pp.68-70]===================================================================
[This is a print version of the 1923 translation by "Christopher St. John," which can be found online:]
The plays of Roswitha. Translated by Christopher St. John [Christabel Marshall], with an introd. by Cardinal Gasquet and a critical pref. by the translator (The Medieval library). New York: Cooper Square Publishers, 1966. (xxxv, 160 p. front.)
LC#: PA8340 .A25 1966b
Bibliography: p. [ii] Note on the acting of the plays.
[Originally published: London, Chatto & Windus, 1923]=========================================================================
Book 3: Epics [In 1943, Mary Bernardine Bergman made a prose translation of Book 3. It includes the prefatory material, the extant part of Gesta Ottonis (about half is lost) and Primordia coenobii Gandershemensis; the original Latin verse is also given. The book is not in all libraries, but it is available via interlibrary loan:]
Hrosvithae Liber tertius, a text with translation. Bergman, Mary Bernardine, sister, ed. and tr. [Covington, Ky., The Sisters of Saint Benedict, 1943] (2 p.l., iv, 178 (i.e. 180) p.)
LC#: PA8340.A6 B4Gesta Ottonis
------------------------------------------------------------
"That the account, as I have written it, is true...."
------------------------------------------------------------[The prose letter to Gerberga that you can see online is followed by a verse dedication to Gesta Ottonis' subject, Emperor Otto I:]
Otto, mighty sovereign of the empire of the Caesars, who, renowned because thou wieldest a sceptre of imperial majesty by the indulgent kindliness of the Eternal King, surpassest in integrity all foregoing emperors, many nations dwelling far and wide reverence thee; the Roman Empire, too, bestows upon thee manifold honors!...
Many, perchance, have written and many hereafter will produce masterful memorials of thy achievements. But none of these has provided a model for me, nor have monographs hitherto written taught me what I should set down....
Yet I am fearful that by verse I may be heedlessly tracing spurious deeds of thine and not disclosing authentic ones. But no baneful presumption of mind has urged me in this matter, nor have I voluntarily played falsely by a disdain for the truth as a whole. But that the account, as I have written it, is true, those who furnished the material for me themselves declared. [pp. 41-43]
-------------------------------------------------
"After the King of Kings... decreed...."
-------------------------------------------------[The opening of the Gesta. For Hrotsvit, it was God's will that the Carolingian dynasty be replaced by the Ottonian, with the crowning of Henry the Fowler (Otto I's father) in 919:]
After the King of Kings, Who alone rules forever, by His own power changing the fortunes of all kings, decreed that the distinguished realm of the Franks be transferred to the famous race of the Saxons, a race which because of its steadfast rigor of spirit fittingly derived its name from rock, the son of the great and revered Duke Otto, namely Henry, was the first to receive the kingly authority to be administered with moderation in behalf of a righteous nation. [ll.1-8, p.45]
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Nor did his army give way to any assault unless...."
-----------------------------------------------------------------[When Otto became king at his father's death in 936, God continued to support him; if there was any difficulty, it was, of course, the fault of someone else:]
Not only did he maintain his power by the bonds of kindliness over the tribes who had previously surrendered to his father, but on his own part he reduced many more to his authority, subduing the pagan nations into the service of Christ, so that a firm peace might be established for Holy Church.
As often as he set out for war, there was not a people, though haughty because of its strength, that could harm or conquer him, supported as he was by the consolation of the heavenly King. Nor did his army give way to any assault unless, perchance, in scorning his kingly commands it fought where the king had forbidden it to fight. [ll.141-152, pp. 51-53]
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"...alluring persuasions of those who by... hypocritical speeches had seduced him."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[For 25 years, Otto had to deal with civil wars within his kingdom. One of the rebels was his brother Henry, father of the Abbess Gerberga for whom Hrotsvit was writing this epic. Tactfully, Hrotsvit assures us that the chief fault for the rebellion lay not with Henry, but with the devil and "certain men":]
The enemy is said to have entered the breasts of certain men with with such frenzy of destructive poison that they desired to inflict death upon the faithful king and to appoint his brother as ruler over the nation....
[The plot was discovered, and the other culprits were executed or exiled:]
After these events, Henry, the noble brother of the king... reflected with great sorrow upon what wrong he had ever committed in the face of justice. And he wept frequently with excessive tears over this fact also, that he had wickedly yielded to the alluring persuasions of those who by their hypocritical speeches had seduced him.
[Otto pardoned Henry. Despite Hrotsvit's description of harmony, Henry continued his intrigues against his brother, though never quite as openly:]
And now that their hearts were united in brotherly concord, there was thereafter no further disharmony between them. [ll.321-25, 336-42, 375-76; pp.61-63]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I have... chanted in verse the achievements of the far-famed Otto."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------[After lacunae covering about half the original text, Hrotsvit concludes her Gesta, leaving the account of of Otto's years as emperor to others:]
Although but a poor Muse, I have up to now chanted in verse the achievements of the far-famed Otto. Now there remains to be recorded further deeds of this same monarch, who retains his throne in the zenith of his power.... These matters... require for themselves a far more eloquent account. Hence I, hindered by the weightiness of these great themes, proceed no further, but prudently make an end, lest hereafter I be shamefully overcome and fail in my attempt.
Now that my recital has been completed and its story cursorily recounted, I must invoke the great goodness of the Eternal King that He in His kindliness may grant our sovereigns to prolong happily the whole span of life still remaining, and that He may protect the custodians of Holy Church for many years, supported always in all matters favorable to their prayers, thereby granting us a most merciful consolation. Amen. [ll.1483-86,1506-17; p.85]
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Primordia coenobii Gandershemensis
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"It may be free from the yoke of mighty rulers of this world."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------[This epic tells the history of Gandersheim Abbey from 840 to 919, from its first conception in the mind of Oda, Otto I's great-grandmother, until just after her death sixty years later. The poem's central figure is Oda. Hrotsvit begins by describing what was involved in getting the foundation started in the 840s; this is of interest because many of the women's monasteries of the period were begun in a similar way. First, Oda appealed to her husband Liudulf, count of Saxony:]
For she frequently in loving and persuasive speech urged her lawful husband to erect a monastery suitable for divine praises of God from the wealth of their own treasures, so that in it chaste maidens consecrated to the Lord by the holy veil could dwell and be free for the service of their Divine Spouse....
They held possession of a small church situated on top of a mountain across the banks of the Ganda.... There... they united many maidens in community life, and they destined their own dear daughter, Hathemoda, to become like unto these in mode of living and their lifelong companion. And in order that she could be the first superioress of the convent of young maidens, they first reverently consigned her for instruction to a certain holy abbess.... With such effort did Liudulf and his eminent wife plan their service to God.
[From the king, the abbey needed legal rights that would protect its property; from the pope, it needed to be made free from intervention by bishops or lay lords; by 846 Liudulf and Oda had received the approval of both king and pope:]
After this, upon receiving the written approvals of their superior, namely, the benign and saintly King Louis, with his permission and a considerable retinue, they proceeded to Rome and approached the throne of the Holy Father....
"Esteemed Father, do not be austere to us, thy guests from afar, who have come from the remote corners of the earth to pay homage to thee with the gifts of our fealty. With all the energy of zealous hearts, we are striving to found a monastery devoted to the service of God.... And that it may be free from the yoke of mighty rulers of this world and may not suffer the violence of earthly lords, we consign it to the authority of the Apostolic Ruler alone for protection and likewise for government." [ll. 92-98, 103-22, 134-38, 152-55, pp.91-93]
-------------------------------------------------------------------
"...an authoritarian mistress... an affectionate mother."
-------------------------------------------------------------------[In 852, Oda's daughter Hathemonda became the first abbess of Gandersheim at the age of 12. After her early death, two of her sisters became, in turn, abbess. After Liudulf's death in 866 , Oda herself moved into the abbey to supervise her daughters and the canonesses, her "foster children":]
...[T]he esteemed Lady Oda, dwelling within the enclosure of the monastery, scrutinized with watchful solicitude the actions, zeal, customs, and the mode of life of the united sisters, lest any one of them should disdain the rule of her predecessors and presume to live wickedly by following a law of her own....
As the fond love of a wise mother now restrains her daughters by fear from wrong-doing and now even draws them by kindly exhortations to the desire of virtue, so this saintly women instructed her foster children, now by the impelling law of an authoritarian mistress and now in the soothing manner of an affectionate mother. [ll. 408-414, 417-422, p.105]
----------------[Oda outlived two of her abbess daughters; with the death of the third in 919, the epic comes to an end:]
Now that they are all united with their mother in Heaven, do Thou kindly Father, grant that they may with Thee rejoice throughout eternity.... [ll.587-89, p.113]
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[Bergman's translation of Primordia coenobii Gandershemensis can also be found in this anthology, under the title "The Establishment of the Monastery of Gandersheim." The translation has been "modernized, corrected, and annotated" (p.240) by Thomas Head; the changes from Bergman's version are minor. Head's introduction to the translation is useful on historical background and secondary sources. (See the book's table of contents online.):]
Medieval hagiography: an anthology / edited by Thomas Head (Garland reference library of the humanities; v.1942). New York Garland Pub., 2000. (xlix, 834 p.; 27 cm.)
LC#:BR1710 .M39; ISBN: 0815321236
Includes bibliographical references
=========================================================================Katharina Wilson's translation of Hrotsvit's Book 2 is easy to find; Gonsalva Weigand's of Book 1 and Mary Bernardine Bergman's of Book 3 are not, although they are worth looking for, especially because they give the Latin originals. There are, however, other sources with substantial excerpts:
Collections [In this selection of Hrotsvit's works, Katharina Wilson gives from Gesta Ottonis, 229 lines of the opening of the epic and 18 lines from the end; from Primordia coenobii Gandershemensis, 72 lines of the beginning of the poem. Oddly, though, no line numbers are given for the excerpts, and, at least for the Gesta, the reader is given the impression that what is being presented is the whole poem. The book also contains Wilson's translations from earlier anthologies (one a revised version). The new book's introduction is thorough; an interpretive essay discusses the plays' purpose and humor:]
Hrotsvit of Gandersheim: a florilegium of her works / translated with introduction, interpretative essay and notes, Katharina Wilson (Library of medieval women, 1369-9652). Rochester, NY: D.S. Brewer, 1998. (130p.)
LC#: PA8340 .A28 1998; ISBN: 0859914895
Includes bibliographical references and index.
--------------[Marcelle Thiebaux' s anthology has prose translations by Thiebaux of 120 lines of Gesta Ottonis (a passage not in Wilson, 1998) and 200 lines of Primordia coenobii Gandershemensis (some of which is not in Wilson, 1998), as well as the legend Pelagius, and the play Dulcitius. (See the book's table of contents online.):]
The Writings of medieval women: an anthology / translations and introductions by Marcelle Thiebaux (Garland library of medieval literature ; v. 100). 2nd ed. New York : Garland Pub., 1994. (xxvi, 536 p.)
LC#: PN667 .W75 1994; ISBN: 0815313926, 0815304099
Includes bibliographical references and index.
--------------[Anne Haight's biography includes Gonsalva Weigand's translations of the preface and dedication of Book 1, and Haight's own translations of the three letters of dedication of Book 3:]
Haight, Anne (Lyon), ed. Hroswitha of Gandersheim; her life, times, and works, and a comprehensive bibliography. New York, Hroswitha club, 1965. (xiv, 129 p. illus., facsims., geneal. table, port.)
LC#: PA8340 .H3
=========================================================================Secondary sources
[Stephen L. Wailes' study of Hrotsvit's treatment of public responsibilty and spiritual struggle is a good place to start. Wailes provides a close reading of each of the eight stories and six plays, and then discusses the themes of Gesta Ottonis and Primordia coenobii Gandershemensis. The study illustrates Hrotsvit's story-telling ability with even unpromising material. Wailes' introduction and notes constitute a review of critical studies over the centuries, and so will lead you to earlier sources. (See the book's table of contents online.):]
Wailes, Stephen L. Spirituality and politics in the works of Hrotsvit of Gandersheim. Selinsgrove: Susquehanna University Press, c2006. (290 p.)
LC#: PA8340 .W35 2006; ISBN:1575911000
Includes bibliographical references (p. 277-283) and index.
--------------------
[The 15 essays in this collection are all of interest, but two are perhaps of most value to the general reader: (1) Jay T. Lees' "Hrotsvit of Gandersheim and the Problem of Royal Succession in the East Frankish Kingdom" provides useful background and discusses the purpose and method of Gesta Ottonis. (2) Ulrike Wiethaus' "Pulchrum Signum?: Sexuality and the Politics of Religion in the Works of Hrotsvit of Gandersheim Composed Between 963 and 973" looks at the later legends, the plays, and the epics to illustrate Hrotsvit's support of her period's patriarchal and aristocratic attitudes to gender and class. (See the book's table of contents online.):]Hrotsvit of Gandersheim: contexts, identities, affinities, and performances / edited by Phyllis R. Brown, Linda A. McMillin, and Katharina M. Wilson. Toronto; Buffalo: University of Toronto Press, c2004. (vii, 313 p.)
LC#: PA8340 .H76 2004; ISBN: 0802089623
Includes bibliographical references (p. [283]-302) and index
--------------------[This collection includes an earlier essay by Lees, "Political and Dramatic Irony in the Portrayal of Women in the Beginning of Hrotsvit of Gandersheim's Gesta Ottonis," focuses on the opening of Gesta, analysing Hrotsvit's treatment of a half dozen women mentioned in the first 159 lines. Lees sees not a generic panegyric of the Ottonian rulers, but rather a subtly ironic defense of their claim to rule by primogeniture and a political statement about the primacy of her own house, Gandersheim. (See the book's table of contents online.):]
Scripturus vitam: Lateinische Biographie von der Antike bis in die Gegenwart: Festgabe für Walter Berschin zum 65. Geburtstag / herausgegeben von Dorothea Walz. Heidelberg: Mattes, 2002. (xvii, 1287 p.: ill.)
LC#: PA6093 .S37 2002; ISBN: 3930978156
German, English, French, Italian, and Spanish. Includes bibliographical references and index
--------------------[Katharina Wilson's study discusses all of the works. Translations are not provided for Latin quotations from Hrotsvit or from commentators, but Wilson's discussion makes the meaning clear:]
Wilson, Katharina M. Hrotsvit of Gandersheim: the ethics of authorial stance (Davis medieval texts and studies, 0169-7994; v. 7). Leiden, the Netherlands; New York: E.J. Brill, 1988. (ix, 176 p.)
LC Call No.: PA8340 .W55 1988; ISBN: 9004084428.
-----------------------[Helene Scheck's study of the role of women in England and the Germanic world before 1100 includes two chapters on Hrotsvit which discuss the two epics as well as some of the stories and plays. The Latin originals of all quoted passages are given in the notes. (See the book's table of contents online.):]
Scheck, Helene. Reform and resistance: formations of female subjectivity in early medieval ecclesiastical culture (SUNY series in medieval studies). Albany: SUNY Press, c2008. (xii, 238 p.: ill.)
LC#: PR166 .S34 2008; ISBN: 9780791474839
Includes bibliographical references (p. 207-228) and index
-----------------------
[This collection includes an essay by Kate Olson, "What Hrotsvit Did to Virgil: Expanding the Boundaries of the Classical Epic in Tenth-century Ottonian Saxony," which looks at Gesta Ottonis and Primordia coenobii Gandershemensis to see Hrotsvit's use of and variation from the Aeneid. (See the book's table of contents online.):]
Women and medieval epic: gender, genre, and the limits of epic masculinity / edited by Sara S. Poor and Jana K. Schulman (The new Middle Ages). New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. (xii, 299 p)
LC#: PN690.W66 W66 2007; ISBN: 9781403966025
Includes bibliographical references (p. [273]-292) and index
----------------------
[Jane Chance's study of women who created their authority as writers by contesting the literary conventions of their times includes the chapter "St. Agnes and the Emperor's Daughter in Hrotsvit of Gandersheim: Feminizing the Founding of the Early Roman Church," which compares the roles of women in the legend Agnes and the two parts of the play Gallicanus with a contemporary account written by Aelfric of Eynsham. (See the book's table of contents online.):]Chance, Jane. The literary subversions of medieval women (New Middle Ages). New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. (xiii, 215 p.)
LC#: PN682.W6 C53 2007; ISBN: 9781403969101
Includes bibliographical references (p. [179]-198) and index
----------------------[Maud Burnett McInerney's study contains a chapter, "From the Sublime to the Ridiculous in the Works of Hrostvitha," which provides a close reading of the legend Agnes and of the plays Dulcitius and Sapientia, contrasting Hrostsvit's articulate and witty women with the passive heroines of earlier accounts of female martyrs. Another chapter includes an analysis (pp.146-52) of the legend Pelagius. Quoted passages are given in McInerney's own translation. (See the book's table of contents online.):]
McInerney, Maud Burnett. Eloquent virgins from Thecla to Joan of Arc (The New Middle Ages). New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003. (250 p.: ill.)
LC#: PN682.V56 M38 2003; ISBN: 0312223501
Includes bibliographical references (p. [213]-246) and index
----------------------[This article by David Wiles defends the hypothesis that Hrotsvit's plays were performed, at court or at Gandersheim. Wiles looks at the structure and language of the plays and discusses in some detail how four of them may have been staged and what the purpose of that staging may have been:]
Wiles, David. Hrosvitha of Gandersheim: The performance of her plays in the tenth century. Theatre History Studies, 19 (June 1999), 133-50.
LC#: PN2100 .T54; ISSN: 0733-2033
----------------------
[This collection contains an essay by Barbara K. Gold, "Hrotswitha Writes Herself: Clamor Validus Gandershemensis." The essay analyses the prefaces and the plays, and gives the Latin original of most quoted passages. (See the book's table of contents online.):]Sex and gender in medieval and Renaissance texts: the Latin tradition / edited by Barbara K. Gold, Paul Allen Miller, and Charles Platter (SUNY series in medieval studies). Albany: State University of New York Press, c1997. (viii, 330 p.)
LC#:PA8030.F45 S48 1997; ISBN: 0791432459, 0791432467
Includes bibliographical references (p. 287-319) and index.
----------------------[Elizabeth Petroff 's study includes a chapter on Hrotsvit that give a valuable analysis of the legends. (See the book's table of contents online.):]
Petroff, Elizabeth. Body and soul: essays on medieval women and mysticism. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994. (xii, 235 p.)
LC#: BV5077.E85 P48 1994; ISBN: 0195084543, 0195084551
Includes bibliographical references and index.
-----------------------[Peter Dronke's chapter on Hrotsvit discusses her life and looks at all the genres she used. (See the book's table of contents online.):]
Dronke, Peter. Women writers of the Middle Ages: a critical study of texts from Perpetua (d. 203) to Marguerite Porete (d.1310). Cambridge [Cambridgeshire]; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1984. (xi, 338 p.)
LC#: PN671 .D7 1984; ISBN: 0521255805, 0521275733
Includes indexes. Bibliography: p. 320-332.
-----------------------[Jane Stevenson's detailed survey includes a brief but useful section on Hrotsvit (pp.96-100), of interest for its discussion of the purpose and structure of Gesta Ottonis. Also valuable is an appendix, "Checklist of women Latin poets and their works," which identifies all of the editions and translations of each work. (See the book's table of contents online.):]
Stevenson, Jane. Women Latin poets: language, gender, and authority, from antiquity to the eighteenth century. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. (xiv, 659 p.)
LC#: PA8050.S74 2005; ISBN:0198185022
Includes bibliographical references (p. [596]-616) and index
------------------------[Janet Nelson's study includes a chapter "Gender and Genre in Women Historians of the Early Middle Ages." which briefly discusses Hrotsvit's Gesta Ottonis (pp.187-89) and then uses its characteristics to evaluate the likelihood of some anonymous works having been written by women. (See the book's table of contents online.):]
Nelson, Janet (Janet L.). The Frankish world, 750-900. London; Rio Grande: Hambledon Press, 1996. (xxxi, 256 p.: ill. )
LC#: DC70 .N455 1996; ISBN:1852851058
Includes bibliographical references and index
-------------------------
[This collection includes an essay by Johanna Maria van Winter, "The Education of the Daughters of the Nobility in the Ottonian Empire," which describes the teaching and the life provided at Gandersheim and other royal abbeys. Other essays in the book will tell you more about the life of the Ottonian court during Hrotsvit's lifetime. (See the book's table of contents online.):]The empress Theophano: Byzantium and the West at the turn of the first millennium / edited by Adelbert Davids. Cambridge [UK]; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995. (xvi, 344 p.: ill., map, geneal. table)
LC#: DD140.T47 E48 1995; ISBN: 0521452961
Papers presented at a symposium held at the Castle of Hernen in the Netherlands in May 1991. Includes bibliographical references and index.=========================================================================
Updated: 09-30-08
