Return to the index of "Other Women's Voices."
Updated 06-07-09
Ava /Frau Ava (-1127?)
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"NOW OPEN YOUR INNER EARS!"
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At the end of the 1100s an Austrian manuscript was produced that included, among other works, four religious poems by a woman who identified herself as "Ava"; a later manuscript added a fifth. The language of the five poems and their style suggest that they had originally been written in the early 1100s by someone familiar with the Christian scriptures, patristic writers, and the liturgy.
In 1127, the annals and the necrology of the Benedictine monastery of Melk, on the Danube River, announced the death of "Ava inclusa" (Ava the anchorite). The same announcement was made in the necrologies of several nearby monasteries.
These two facts have led scholars to assume that the two Avas were the same person, but we simply don't know. All we do know is what Ava tells us at the end of one of her works: that she was the mother of two sons with whom she had discussed the scriptures, and that one of these sons was dead when this poem was finished.
The poet Ava could certainly have been an anchorite. The laywomen of the period who chose to end their lives in that way were from families who could finance their retirement, and the women continued their active lives by teaching and counselling those who came to them, in addition to reading and copying manuscripts.
Whatever the conditions of her life, Ava's poems reveal her audience and her purpose. She wrote for aristocratic laymen and laywomen, for those who would read her poems and those who would listen to them read aloud by others. Her purpose was to present in German the history of Christian salvation --- from the coming of Jesus to the end of the world --- so that her readers /listeners could achieve their own salvation.
The five poems were not titled in the original manuscripts but scholars have assigned them names: the 446-line Johannes (or Johannes der Taufer, John the Baptist); the 2268-line Leben Jesu (Life of Jesus); the 150-line Sieben gaben des heiligen Geistes (Seven gifts of the Holy Spirit); the 118-line Der Antichrist (The Antichrist); and the 290-line Das Jungste Gericht (The last judgment). Taken together, the five form an epic narrative and reveal Ava's own moral and political beliefs.
On this page you'll find:
Links to helpful sites online.
Excerpts from translations in print.
Information about secondary sources.
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1. In English:
(a) Johannes, translated by Andrew L. Thornton; the poem is preceded by Thornton's detailed preface (which includes brief quoted passages in German and English) to his 2003 translation of the complete works, The Poems of Ava.
(b) One-fifth of the way down the page, with comments by Karl Steel, a brief passage from Leben Jesu, and a longer passage from Das Jungste Gericht, both translated by James A. Rushing.
(c) A poem of the 1100s, "I am yours," that has been attributed by some to Ava; the translation is by Willis Barnstone.
2. A link to the Middle German original
of Das Jungste Gericht; look at the use of long lines
and internal rhyme. At the end is the passage in which Ava names
herself (for a translation of the passage, see below, under "In
print").
3. Reviews (for excerpts from or information on the translations,
see "In print"; for information on Hintz' treatment
of Ava, see "Secondary sources"):
(a) Albrecht Classen on Rushing's 2003 edition /translation, Ava's New Testament Narratives: When the Old Law Passed Away; elsewhere, another review.
(b) Halfway down the page, Ruth R. Kath, et al. on Thornton's 2003 translation, The Poems of Ava.
(c) William Crossgrove on Ernst Ralf Hintz' 1997 study, Learning and Persuasion in the German Middle Ages
4. Near the bottom of the page, an abstract of a 2005 conference paper by Ulrike Wiehaus on Ava's Das Jungste Gericht, "Apocalypse Now: Mapping the End of Days in the Work of Frau Ava."
5. The entry on Ava, by Albert Freybe, in the 1908 New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, which praises the poet for showing "no trace... of feminine enthusiasm" (the information given here on Ava's sons is no longer generally accepted).
6. At a German-language site, a 2006 bibliography of editions and studies.
7. In a photo, two manuscript pages of Ava's work, shown at the Augustinian abbey in Vorau, Austria.
8. For historical background, comments by scholars on the legend of the Antichrist, with links to other relevant information. (It is interesting that in Ava's Der Antichrist, no connection is made between that figure and the Jews, nor is the period's conventional anti-semitism found in Leben Jesu.)
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[The edition and translation by James A. Rushing, Jr. gives the English and Middle German of Ava's poems on facing pages. Rushing's introduction discusses Ava's learning, her themes, and her place in the development of German narrative poetry. The book's notes are helpful and the bibliography includes the few English-language studies. Also included are 20 drawings based on the illustrations of a lost 1300s manuscript of the poems. (See the book's table of contents online.):]
Ava's New Testament narratives: when the old law passed away
/ introduction, translation, and notes by James A. Rushing, Jr.
(Medieval German texts in bilingual editions; 2). Kalamazoo,
Mich.: Medieval Institute Publications, Western Michigan University,
2003. (235 p. ill.)
LC#: PT1501.A9 D53 2003; ISBN: 1580440371
Includes bibliographical references (p. 231-235)
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"...in a clear and thoughtful way."
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[In the opening of Johannes, Ava announces the beginning of her story of the "new law" which started with the ministry of John the Baptist, the precursor of Jesus:]
Now we should---in a clear and thoughtful way---
tell about things,
how the time began
when the old Law passed away. [p.29]
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"My dear lords, you should pray to God."
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[It is in Das Leben Jesu that Ava makes her first substantial direct address to her readers. Describing the Magi being told not to return to Herod after honoring the infant Jesus:]
While they prayed there,
one night while they waited,
a beautiful angel appeared to them,
he showed them another way home,
so that they would not have to come again
to the unfaithful king...
who had marked himself
with the works of the devil
who confuses
and industriously leads astray everyone
who is going to God
and standing in his service.
My dear lords,
you should pray to God,
that we avoid that one,
as we hurry home.
Thus may we come
safely home
to paradise
out of this danger. [pp.67-69]
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"May God give us the intelligence to witness."
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[Preparing to speak of Jesus' gathering of his first followers, Ava prays for the skill to describe his public life:]
Now may God give us the intelligence
to witness
for our lord Christ
how he, after his baptism,
founded a new thing---Christianity---
which grew afterwards and is now widespread. [p.85]
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"...no greater love of a woman or of a man."
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[Throughout her poems, Ava speaks of both women and men even when using passages from Scripture or other sources which in the original had referred only to men. Giving Jesus' words on love at the Last Supper:]
The God spoke to them,
"There is no other commandment
than that you love each other
as I have loved you.
For there is no greater love
of a woman or of a man
than that one gives one's life to death
because of a friend's need.
This I have done for you:
you should not lose sight of this." [p.131]
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"It didn't help us much."
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[And on the necessity of Jesus' suffering redeeming humanity by bearing its sin:]
Whatever good people---men or women---
lived on earth
since the beginning of time,
it didn't help us much,
until God sent his son
to the suffering lands....
Whatever sins
had been done by anyone
from the first hour---
all those had to pass through him. [p.143]
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"Full powerful was the divine breath."
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[Ava uses only those Latin terms her lay readers would know from their exposure to the liturgy. For example, on the coming of the Holy Spirit (spiritus sanctus) after Jesus had ascended into heaven:]
On the tenth day
after he went from them,
his followers were sitting there,
a hundred and twenty men and women,
in the locked house---
not one of them came out.....
Then the spiritus sanctus came to them.
With fiery tongues
it inflamed the apostles,
With inner heat
it brought them fear, but also good conscience,
strength, advice, and wisdom.
Full powerful was the divine breath. [pp.185-87]
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"The spirit from on high mixes itself in our weakness."
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[In Die seben gaben des Heiligen Geistes Ava will speak of the five gifts of the Holy Spirit named in the last lines above and of two others, piety and wisdom. The poem's opening:]
Now we shall find
in the love of holy God,
how the spirit from on high
mixes itself in our weakness---
how it comes down to us,
how creation stands
in body and in soul---
that we want to teach you.
Now open your inner ears!
The outer ones shall hear it. [p.193]
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"Now we must listen so that no one may lead another astray."
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[On the gift of counsel:]
Now we must listen,
so that no one may lead another astray.
Whoever follows God
has fulfilled himself there.
If he comes another way
it does not bring anyone any truth. [p.199]
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"And so arise in war the kingdoms, all alike."
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[The notion that a "time of trouble" would come just before the end of the world was widespread in Ava's time; the evil was frequently personified in a single human figure, the "Antichrist," who would attempt (unsuccessfully) to defeat Christianity. Each writer saw the "trouble" in the light of his own fears; for Ava, it was the breakup of the Holy Roman Empire and the chaos that would follow. She had reason to fear: the emperors of the 1100s were repeatedly opposed by rebellious princes, leading to the excommunications and banishments Ava describes here. The opening of Der Antichrist:]
At the end of time,
then the Antichrist's kingdom will near us....
the suffering spreads over everything;
what becomes of mankind is a great disaster.
And so arise in war
the kingdoms, all alike.
No land is too small
that it does not have to be divided.
March and bishopric,
county and duchy---
all are divided up into small parts:
two or three arise from one.
afterward there is all the more
rage and misery.
And so we will hear then
banishment upon banishment;
at every moment we hear
excommunications.
The empire will get so full of them
that the good will flee to caves in the forest....
So raise your heads and your hands
for the true resurrection draws near us. [p.203]
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"Then the lady will not be true to her maidservant."
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[The "true resurrection" would end the evil, but in the days before that resurrection, the social order would disintegrate:]
Then the lady will not be true
to her maidservant,
nor the man to the woman:
they will all suffer from jealousy.
And then she hates him,
and so does the lord the man,
and so does the man the lord,
however good the fief may be for him.
Then error will grow
and all Christianity will grieve.
Then Christianity will suffer
much trouble and sorrow.
A suffering spirit
will dry up the good;
the masses will be oppressed. [p.205]
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"...a reward to those who fight well."
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[Finally, however, the Antichrist will be defeated and the Last Judgment will begin. The opening of Das jungste Gericht:]
Now I shall speak
fearfully
of the last day
as I have heard of it,
and of the eternal crown
that God will give as a reward
to those who fight well
at the end of time. [p.211]
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"We should be glad of this."
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[Ava describes the 15 days leading up to the Judgment. At times her words suggest (and try to suppress) a wistful nostalgia for those castles and "other wondrous things" that must be destroyed by a levelling God:]
On the tenth day---
we should lament this very little---
then the castles fall
that were made for fame.
Walls and fortresses---
all these must burst.
Thus God is truly
a real leveller.
On the eleventh day---
we should be glad of this---
everything is quickly destroyed
with which the world is adorned:
gold and silver
and many other wondrous things,
clasps and bracelets,
the metal jewelry of the ladies,
gold vessels and silver vessels,
chalices and treasures of the church.
Then all must come to its end
which is made by human arts.
Now know that this is true:
all this decays and turns to ashes. [pp.215-17]
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"...those... who never forgot God when they sat at feasts."
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[She describes the beginning of the judgment, and she gives directions on how her noble readers should live in order to avoid finding that "remorse is too late":]
Then God appears in the sky
in his majesty.
Then he judges rightly
the lord and the servant,
the lady and the maid.
Then the remorse is too late,
which we should have had
if we wanted to be saved....
And so things go very well for those
who withdrew from the world,
who never forgot God
when they sat at feasts.
But I will tell you, by the way,
how their lives should be lived.
They should love God
with all their minds,
with all their hearts,
in all their works.
The should cultivate truth,
give alms well,
dress with moderation,
keep chaste in their marriages,
protect the orphans,
free the imprisoned.
They should forgive their enemies,
hold court without accepting bribes,
show mercy to the poor
and take in the suffering.
They should go to church gladly,
and perform confession and penance. [p.221]
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"We would gladly die and must live."
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[A few lines from Ava's lengthy description of hell:]
There neither gold nor treasure helps.
If only we had thought better of it sooner!
There is fire and sulpher.
we would gladly die and must live. [p.225]
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"Then we are seven times more beautiful that the sun."
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[And a description of some of the joys of heaven --- among them, physical beauty and strength:]
Then we have great joy,
then we are seven times more beautiful that the sun.
With the same beauty,
then, God gives us as reward
eternal youth
and many magnificent virtues.
We shall become strong.
If we wanted to break the mountains
like glass---
I tell you this truly---
that power the children of God will have there,
who are diligently good here....
There their belief becomes a truth,
their promise a certainty,
their love becomes heartfelt;
they are like the angels.
This they have without end.
Now may you all be unimpaired
in that same peace,
where you must also arrive. Amen. [pp.227-29]
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"I ask you all, great and small, who read this book...."
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[After the above line, the conclusion of the entire sequence of poems:]
This book was written
by the mother of two children.
They told her this meaning.
There was much blessed joy among them.
The children were dear to their mother.
One of them left this world.
Now I ask you all
great and small,
who read this book,
to wish mercy for his soul.
And for the other, who still live,
and toils in earthly woes,
for him also wish grace,
and for his mother, who is Ava. [p.229]
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[A translation of Ava's poems by Andrew L. Thornton (but without the German originals). Thornton's introduction discusses each of the five poems. An appendix illustrates Ava's integration of Gospel sources in one scene of Leben Jesu, and there are helpful indices of both terms and scriptural references. The book also includes 12 drawings by Iain MacLellan. (See the book's table of contents online.):]
The poems of Ava / translation, introduction, and notes by
Andrew L. Thornton; illustrated by Iain MacLellan. Collegeville,
Minn.: Liturgical Press, c2003. (168 p.: ill.)
LC#: PT1501.A9 D5313 2003; ISBN: 0814651542
Includes bibliographical references (p. 161-162) and indexes
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[One chapter of Ernst Ralf Hintz's study is "Persuasion and Pedagogy in the Works of Frau Ava," which sees the whole sequence of poems as a single work of persuasion. Hintz analyzes each poem to show what the reader /listener may learn by identifying with the characters, both virtuous and sinful. He also provides a useful summary of German-language criticism and gives his own translation of excerpted passages of the poems. (See the book's table of contents online.):]
Hintz, Ernst Ralf. Learning and persuasion in the German Middle
Ages (Garland studies in medieval literature; v. 15). New York:
Garland Pub., 1997. (206 p.: ill.)
LC#: BV1517.G3 H56 1997; ISBN: 0815321821
Includes bibliographical references (p. [185]-197) and index
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[This collection contains a later essay by Hintz, "Differing
Voices and the Call to Judgment in the Poems of Frau Ava";
here Hintz elaborates on his earlier theme of reader /listener
identification, not only with the poems' characters, but also
with Ava herself as narrator/mentor and with whoever may be reading
the poem aloud to others. Quoted passages are not translated,
but the discussion usually makes their meaning clear. (See
the book's table of contents online.):]
Medieval German voices in the 21st century: the paradigmatic
function of medieval German studies for German studies; a collection
of essays / edited by Albrecht Classen (Internationale Forschungen
zur allgemeinen und vergleichenden Literaturwissenschaft; 46).
Amsterdam; Atlanta, GA: Rodopi, 2000. (252 p.)
LC#: PT55 .M435 2000; ISBN: 9042009810
Includes bibliographical references
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[In greater detail than in his 2003 book, Andrew Thornton's earlier article analyzes stanzas of Leben Jesu to show that Ava's vernacular "re-telling" of the scriptural story of Jesus' life and death is neither a mere translation nor a work of the imagination, but rather a skillful union of scriptural passages, traditional interpretation, and her own reaction to these. Thornton sees Ava's writing as the result of her "lectio divina," her meditative scriptural reading. (See the volume's table of contents online.):]
Thornton, Andrew. Ava's Life of Jesus an example of vernacular "Lectio divina." Studia Monastica, 29 (1987), 273-89.
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Updated 06-07-09