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Author: Roswitha von Gandersheim

Pseudonyms:
Spouse/other names:Hrosvitha, Hrotswitha, Hrotsvith, starke Stimme oder der laute Ruf von Gandersheim
Gender:female
Year of birth:938
Year of death:973
About her personal situation:

Countries:Germany
Languages:German
Relations to other authors:

About her professional situation:Hroswitha was a Cannoness in the Abbey of Gandersheim. She is now considered Germany's first woman literary writer. Among philosophers she is known as a female 'lover of wisdom' during a time when few Europeans were engaged in the intellectual life. We are fairly certain of Hroswitha of Gandersheim's date of birth but know nothing of her early years. There appears to be no record of the date she entered the Benedictine monastery at Gandersheim . Since this monastery only accepted novices from noble families, Hroswitha of Gandersheim may have started her education at home or at the monastery where she was a Cannoness, and not a monastic nun. It should be noted that when Hroswitha entered this monastery, she entered as a Cannoness and not as a nun. The practical implication of this is that as a Cannoness, she would have taken vows of chastity and obedience but not poverty. As a Cannoness in the Abbey of Gandersheim, Hroswitha would have been "allowed to receive guests, to come and go with permission, to own books, to own property, and were [sic] permitted to have servants, although they lived a communal life and took part in the daily recitation of the Divine Office" [Source: Ann Lyon Haight. Hroswitha of Gandersheim: Her Life, Her Times, Her Works p. 11] It is clear that she enjoyed an outstanding education and read the Latin classics as well as Christian authors. The Abbess at Gandersheim during the time that Hroswitha of Gandersheim was there was named Gerberg, (or Gerberga). She was a neice of Otto I. Gerberg followed in the tradition of Benedictine scholars and she not only encouraged Hroswitha of Gandersheim but appears to have mentored her in her studies. We have a letter To Greberg which shows her admiration and gratitude to this Abbess. As typical in a monastery of that time, Hroswitha's works were composed at the request of her abbess. Gerberg was connected with the court and she asked Hroswitha to write a heroic poem in honor of the Emperor of Otho I. The cannoness complied. She also wrote a history of the Gandersheim monastery and a series of plays and a number of poems. It is clear from Hroswitha of Gandersheim's own words that she saw her writing as part of the activity of her religious commitment. jjapr10
Elements of bibliography:MENTIONED IN: - Talvj, German Women Writers, 1861 p.18-38 - Lerner, Creation of Feminist Consciousness, 1993, discussed p.48-9.
Websites: Bibliotheca Augustana
Ökumenisches Heiligenlexikon

Editors: Juliana Jovicic (create on 06 April 2010)
Suzan van Dijk (update on 19 August 2010)
Suzan van Dijk (update on 23 August 2010)
Suzan van Dijk (update on 23 August 2010)
Juliana Jovicic (update on 13 October 2010)
Juliana Jovicic (update on 14 October 2010)
Juliana Jovicic (update on 14 October 2010)
Juliana Jovicic (update on 14 October 2010)
Juliana Jovicic (update on 14 October 2010)
Juliana Jovicic (update on 15 October 2010)
Suzan van Dijk (update on 07 May 2011)

Works written by this author

E 1 Agnes (962)
E 2 Abraham (963)
E 3 Basilius (962)
E 4 Calimachus (963)
E 5 Dionysius (962)
E 6 Dulcitius (963)
E 7 Gallicanus (963)
E 8 Gesta Oddonis (960)
E 9 Gondolf (959)
E 10 Maria (959)
E 11 Pafnutius (963)
E 12 Pelagius (959)
E 13 Primordia coenobii Gandeshemensis (973)
E 14 Sapientia (963)
E 15 Theophilus (959)

Authors read by this author

No records found