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WOMAN UNDER MONASTICISM.
WOMAN UNDER MONASTICISM.
London: C. J. CLAY AND SONS, CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS WAREHOUSE AVE MARIA LANE. Glasgow: 263, ARGYLE STREET. Leipzig: F. A. BROCKHAUS. New York: MACMILLAN AND CO. WOMAN UNDER MONASTICISM CHAPTERS ON SAINT-LORE AND CONVENT LIFE BETWEEN A.D. 500 AND A.D. 1500 BY LINA ECKENSTEIN. CAMBRIDGE: AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS. 1896 [ All Rights reserved. ] Cambridge: PRINTED BY J. & C. F. CLAY, AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS. TO MY FRIENDS KARL AND MARIA SHARPE PEARSON....
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PREFACE.
PREFACE.
The restlessness, peculiar to periods of transition, is a characteristic of the present age. Long-accepted standards are being questioned and hitherto unchallenged rules of conduct submitted to searching criticism. History shows us that our present social system is only a phase in human development, and we turn to a study of the past, confident that a clearer insight into the social standards and habits of life prevalent in past ages will aid us in a better estimation of the relative importance
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ERRATA.
ERRATA.
INTRODUCTORY. ‘Die mit dem goldenen Schuh und dem Geiger ist auch eine Muttergottes.’ Bavarian Saying....
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§ 1. The Borderland of Heathendom and Christianity.
§ 1. The Borderland of Heathendom and Christianity.
In order to gain an insight into the causes of the rapid development of monasticism among the German races, it is necessary to enquire into the social arrangements of the period which witnessed the introduction of Christianity, and into those survivals of the previous period of social development which German Christianity absorbed. Among peoples of German race monastic life generally, and especially monastic life which gave scope for independent activity among women, had a development of its own
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§ 2. The Tribal Goddess as a Christian Saint.
§ 2. The Tribal Goddess as a Christian Saint.
Before considering the beginnings of convent life as the work of women whose existence rests on a firm historic basis, we must enquire into the nature of women-saints. From the earliest times of established Christianity the lives of men and women who were credited with special holiness have formed a favourite theme of religious narratives, which were intended to keep their memory green and to impress the devout with thoughts of their saintliness. The Acts of the Saints, the comprehensive collect
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§ 3. Further Peculiarities of this Type of Saint.
§ 3. Further Peculiarities of this Type of Saint.
The Church, as mentioned above, had put every facility in the way of transforming heathen festivals into its own festal days. The heathen festival in many ways carried on the traditions of the tribal festival; the tribal festival was connected with the cult of tribal goddesses. If we bear in mind the many points mother-goddess, witch, and woman pseudo-saint have in common, the association of the pseudo-saint with practices of a profane character no longer appears wonderful. Both in the turn sain
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§ 1. At the Frankish Invasion[140].
§ 1. At the Frankish Invasion[140].
The great interest of early monastic life among the Franks lies in the conversion of this hardy and ferocious people to Christianity just at the moment of their emergence from a state of barbarism. Fierce, warlike and progressive, the Franks were brought face to face with cultured Latinity. The clerical student who claimed direct descent from the Gallo-Roman rhetorician, and the bishop who was in possession of the municipal government of the town, found themselves confronted by shaggy-haired, im
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§ 2. St Radegund and the Nunnery at Poitiers.
§ 2. St Radegund and the Nunnery at Poitiers.
Certain settlements for women in northern France claim to have existed from a very early period, chiefly on the ground of their association with Geneviève, patron saint of Paris, and with Chrothild (Clothilde, † 545), wife of the first Christian king of the Franks. The legend of St Geneviève must be received with caution [145] ; while bands of women certainly dwelt at Paris and elsewhere previously to the Frankish invasion, under the protection of the Church, it is doubtful whether they owed the
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§ 3. The Revolt of the Nuns at Poitiers[201]. Convent Life in the North.
§ 3. The Revolt of the Nuns at Poitiers[201]. Convent Life in the North.
The revolt of the nuns at Poitiers, which happened within a few years of the death of Radegund, shows more than anything else the imperious and the unbridled passions that were to be found at this period in a nunnery. Evidently the adoption of the religious profession did not deter women from openly rebelling against the authority of the ministers of the Church, and from carrying out their purpose by force of arms. The outbreak at Poitiers, of which Gregory has given a description, shows what pr
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§ 1. Early Houses in Kent.
§ 1. Early Houses in Kent.
The early history of the convent life of women in Anglo-Saxon England is chiefly an account of foundations. Information on the establishment of religious settlements founded and presided over by women is plentiful, but well-nigh a century went by before women who had adopted religion as a profession gave any insight into their lives and characters through writings of their own. The women who founded monasteries in Anglo-Saxon England have generally been raised to the rank of saint. ‘In the large
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§ 2. The Monastery at Whitby[258].
§ 2. The Monastery at Whitby[258].
A temporary collapse of the Christian faith had followed the death of King Eadwin of Northumbria, but the restoration of King Oswald, who was not so strong as his predecessor in administrative power but whose religious fervour was greater, had given it a new impulse and a new direction. Oswald had passed some time of his life in Iona or Hii, the great Scottish religious settlement and the stronghold of British Christianity in the Hebrides. Here he had made friends with the ecclesiastic Aidan, wh
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§ 3. Ely and the influence of Bishop Wilfrith.
§ 3. Ely and the influence of Bishop Wilfrith.
The further history of the monastery of Whitby and the history of the foundation of Ely are closely connected with the prelate Wilfrith, and for this reason his actions and attitude claim our attention. In him we recognise a direct advocate of the principle that a queen could if she chose leave her husband and retire to a religious settlement, and that such a course would secure her the favour of the Church. It has been said of him that he was the most important man in Northumbria for forty year
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§ 4. Houses in Mercia and in the South.
§ 4. Houses in Mercia and in the South.
From the north we turn to Mercia and Wessex, the central and south-western provinces of England. Mercia had clung longest to her heathen beliefs, for Christianity was not accepted there till after the defeat of Penda in 655 when Northumbria gained supremacy. Penda, king of Mercia, remained faithful to his gods to the end himself, but his children adopted the new faith. His son Peada had already been baptized in Northumbria by Finnan who sent four ecclesiastics back with him to evangelise the Mid
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§ 1. The Women corresponding with Boniface.
§ 1. The Women corresponding with Boniface.
In the course of the 6th and 7th centuries a number of men left England and settled abroad among the heathen Germans, partly from a wish to gain new converts to the faith, partly because a change of affairs at home made them long for a different field of labour. Through the influx of the heathen Anglo-Saxons, the British Christians had been deprived of their influence, and when Christianity was restored it was under the auspices of princes who were favourably inclined towards Rome. Men who objec
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§ 2. Anglo-Saxon Nuns abroad.
§ 2. Anglo-Saxon Nuns abroad.
Among the women who came to Germany and settled there at the request of Boniface was Lioba, otherwise Leobgith, who had been educated at Wimbourne in Dorset, at no very great distance from Nutshalling where Boniface dwelt, and who left England between 739 and 748. She was related to him through her mother Aebbe, and a simple and modest little letter is extant in which she writes to Boniface and refers to her father’s death six years ago; she is her parents’ only child, she says, and would recall
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§ 1. Women’s Convents in Saxony.
§ 1. Women’s Convents in Saxony.
Some account has been given in the preceding chapters of the form which monastic settlements of women took among the Franks and the Anglo-Saxons during the first centuries after the acceptance of Christianity. Features similar to those which appear in France and England characterised the first period of monastic development among the continental Saxons, the last branch of the German race to accept Christianity as a nation. Here also we find highborn and influential women as abbesses at the head
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§ 2. Early History of Gandersheim[463].
§ 2. Early History of Gandersheim[463].
From these general remarks we turn to the foundation and early history of Gandersheim, one of the earliest and wealthiest of Saxon houses, which claims our attention as the home of the nun Hrotsvith. It was situated on low-lying ground near the river Ganda in Eastphalia and was surrounded by the wooded heights of the Harz mountains. It owed its foundation to Liudolf himself, the great Saxon duke and the progenitor of the royal house of Saxony. At the close of a successful political career, Liudo
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§ 3. The Nun Hrotsvith and her Writings[476].
§ 3. The Nun Hrotsvith and her Writings[476].
The nun Hrotsvith occupies a unique position in monastic life and among unmarried women generally. ‘This fruitful poetic talent,’ says the writer Ebert, ‘which lacks not the inspiration and the courage of genius to enter upon new ground, evinces how the Saxon element was chosen to guide the German nation in the domain of art.’ The literary work of Hrotsvith can be grouped under three headings. To the first belongs the writing of metrical legends which were intended for the perusal and the edific
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§ 1. The new Monastic Orders.
§ 1. The new Monastic Orders.
In this chapter I intend to give a description of the different monastic orders which were founded between the 10th and the 12th centuries, and to enter at some length into the reasons for their progress. A mass of heterogeneous information must be passed in rapid review with occasional digressions on outside matters, for it is only possible to understand the rapid progress of monasticism by recalling the relation in which it stood to other social developments. As we cross the borderland which d
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§ 2. Benedictine Convents in the Twelfth Century.
§ 2. Benedictine Convents in the Twelfth Century.
From this general review of the different orders we pass on to the state of nunneries in England during the 12th century, and to those incidents in their history which give some insight into their constitution. Attention is first claimed by the old Benedictine settlements which still continued in prosperity and independence. Of these houses only those which were in connection with the royal house of Wessex remained at the close of the 10th century; those of the northern and midland districts had
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§ 3. The Order of St Gilbert of Sempringham[590].
§ 3. The Order of St Gilbert of Sempringham[590].
The study of the order of St Gilbert, which is of English origin, shows how in this country also sympathy with convent life was spreading during the 12th century, and how, owing to the protection afforded to peaceful and domestic pursuits by the religious houses, many girls and women of the middle classes became nuns. From an intellectual point of view the order of St Gilbert has little to recommend it, for we know of no men or women belonging to the order who distinguished themselves in learnin
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§ 1. Art Industries generally.
§ 1. Art Industries generally.
From consideration of the nuns of different orders we turn to enquire more closely into the general occupations and productive capacities of nuns during early Christian times and the Middle Ages. It seems worth while collecting the information scattered here and there on the work done by these women, since the grouping together of various notices gives some, though necessarily an incomplete, idea of the pursuits to which nuns were devoted when not engaged in religious service. The work done, as
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§ 2. Herrad and the ‘Garden of Delights.’
§ 2. Herrad and the ‘Garden of Delights.’
A work produced at Hohenburg, a nunnery in Elsass, in the 12th century confirms the belief that given favourable conditions it is possible for women to produce good work and to help to accumulate knowledge. Herrad, the abbess of this house, conceived the idea of compiling for the use of her nuns an encyclopædic work which should embody, in pictures and in words, the knowledge of her age. The importance of this work has long survived the attainment of its original purpose, for with its hundreds o
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§ 1. St Hildegard of Bingen[672] and St Elisabeth of Schönau[673].
§ 1. St Hildegard of Bingen[672] and St Elisabeth of Schönau[673].
From the peaceful pursuits of mediaeval nuns we turn to some of the women who were interested in the problems of the day, and whose minds were agitated by current difficulties which they sought to solve in their own way. In Germany in the early Middle Ages the struggle between Pope and Emperor, and the interference in temporal matters of prelates in their character as dependents of the Pope, gave rise to a prolonged struggle. Much criticism, reflection and speculative energy were brought to bear
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§ 2. Women-Saints connected with Charity and Philanthropy.
§ 2. Women-Saints connected with Charity and Philanthropy.
The last section showed how earnestly the religious teachers of the 12th century advocated a stricter practice of the precepts of religion. The practical outcome of this advocacy was an increased consciousness among those of the upper and authoritative classes of society of the needs and sufferings of humbler folk, and an extraordinary development of pity and tenderness for suffering generally. It can be noticed that everywhere there sprang into life the desire to help those who were in distress
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§ 1. Mystic writings for women in England.
§ 1. Mystic writings for women in England.
The last chapter, in dealing with some of the women who distinguished themselves in the cause of charity and philanthropy, has suggested in what direction the determining feature of the religious life of women in the 13th century must be sought. Outward events, stirring political changes, and awakening confidence in national strength, had largely increased human sympathies and widened the mental horizon. In regard to women, who sought their vocation outside the circle of home, this had led on th
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§ 2. The Convent of Helfta and its Literary Nuns[809].
§ 2. The Convent of Helfta and its Literary Nuns[809].
The mystic writings with which the present chapter has hitherto dealt are works written for nuns, not by them, for of all the English mystic writings of the 13th century, womanly though they often are in tone, none can claim to be the production of a woman. It is different on the Continent, where the mystic literature of the 13th century is largely the production of nuns, some of whom have secured wide literary fame. Their writings, which were looked upon by their contemporaries as divinely insp
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§ 1. The External Relations of the Convent.
§ 1. The External Relations of the Convent.
From consideration of affairs on the Continent we return once more to England, to consider the external relations of the convent and the purposes these institutions fulfilled during the later Middle Ages. Speaking generally the monasteries maintained their standing unimpaired till the beginning of the 14th century; then their character began to change and for quite a century they ceased to be attractive to progressive and original minds. The range of occupations cultivated by their inmates was r
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§ 2. The Internal Arrangements of the Convent.
§ 2. The Internal Arrangements of the Convent.
At this point of our enquiry it seems well to pause for a while to describe the inner arrangements of a nunnery as they present themselves during the later Middle Ages, the offices which fell to the several members of the convent, and the daily life of the nun. The material at the disposal of the student lies scattered in the convent registers, in the accounts of visitations, and in contemporary literature, and is supplemented by the study of ruins. The inventories of monasteries made during the
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§ 3. The Foundation and Internal Arrangements of Sion[951].
§ 3. The Foundation and Internal Arrangements of Sion[951].
Before leaving the subject of women’s convent life in England in the later Middle Ages, it will be interesting to devote some attention to the foundation and interior arrangements of Sion, a convent founded under peculiar circumstances at a time when it was no longer usual to found or endow religious settlements. The information relating to Sion has been characterised as the most valuable record we possess of monastic life in the 15th century. It refers to one short period only and bears out wha
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§ 1. Visitations of Nunneries in England.
§ 1. Visitations of Nunneries in England.
The changes which came over convent life towards the close of the Middle Ages and modified its tenor can be studied in the efforts made to reform monastic life in the centuries preceding the Reformation. Both in England and abroad the heads of many houses were zealous in removing abuses which their predecessors had suffered to creep in, and in checking tendencies the deteriorating effect of which now first came to be realized. The bull promulgated by Pope Benedict XII in 1336 with a view to refo
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§ 2. Reforms in Germany.
§ 2. Reforms in Germany.
The history of monastic reform on the Continent previous to the Reformation supplies us with many interesting particulars both of the position of monasteries generally and of the convent life of women. Though religious settlements had been little interfered with before the Church Council at Constance, extensive reforms were undertaken subsequent to it in order to secure a return of discipline. The movement was inaugurated from within the religious orders, and led to the union of different houses
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§ 1. The Dissolution in England.
§ 1. The Dissolution in England.
The movement of the 16th century commonly spoken of as the Reformation was the forcible manifestation of a revolution in thought which had long been preparing. This period may fitly be likened to a watershed between the socialistic tendencies of the Middle Ages and the individualistic tendencies which have mainly prevailed since. It forms the height which limits average modern conceptions, but which can be made the standpoint from which a more comprehensive view of things past and present become
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§ 2. The Memoir of Charitas Pirckheimer.
§ 2. The Memoir of Charitas Pirckheimer.
A memoir is extant from the pen of the abbess of a convent at Nürnberg. It was written (1524-28) during the stormy period following upon the outbreak of the Lutheran agitation, and it helps us to realize the effect which the rupture with Rome had on a convent of nuns. Charitas Pirckheimer, the author of this memoir, was the sister of Wilibald Pirckheimer († 1530), a well-known humanist, and through him she was in touch with some of the leading representatives of learning and art of her day. She
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CONCLUSION.
CONCLUSION.
My task has drawn to its close. In a series of chapters, incompletely no doubt but I trust not superficially, the position of woman under monasticism has been brought before the reader, and some account has been given of the various aspects of convent life. In conclusion it seems well to pause and look back over the ground traversed, to take in at a glance what Catholic tradition, convent-life and saint-lore have done for women in the past. The area over which the reader has been taken is a wide
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APPENDIX
APPENDIX
(to accompany p. 253 ). Rhythmus Herradis Abatissae per quem Hohenburgenses virgunculas amabiliter salutat et ad veri sponsi fidem dilectionemque salubriter invitat. Salve cohors virginum Hohenburgiensium, Albens quasi lilium Amans dei filium. Herrat devotissima, Tua fidelissima, Mater et ancillula, Cantat tibi cantica. Te salutat millies Et exoptat indies, Ut laeta victoria Vincas transitoria. O multorum speculum, Sperne, sperne seculum, Virtutes accumula, Veri sponsi turmula. Insistas luctamin
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