Woman under Monasticism

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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

the way in which the day was divided by the canonical hours. The purpose of the ordinary settlement, beyond observing the hours, was to educate girls, to train novices and to provide suitable occupation for the nuns of the convent. In all houses reading and copying books of devotion was included among

ation with the south and the east brought books, materials and other beautiful objects which the inmates of the religious settlement zealously copied and multiplied. During times of political and social unrest, while states were in their making, the goldsmith, the scribe, the illuminator, and the embroiderer, all found protection and leisure in the religious house. The so-called dark ages, the centuries betwee

sk as absorbing as it was laborious, for the difficulties in the way of learning to write can hardly be overestimated considering the awkwardness of writing materials and the labour involved in fabricating parchment, ink and pigment. But as the old writer with a

hen the Reformation destroyed convents. The early scribe usually omitted to add his name to the book he was copying. In the books which are preserved the names of men scribes are few, and the names of women scribes fewer still, though they do occasionally occur. Watten

men attained great proficiency in these arts. The amount of writing done in women's houses compared with that done by men was no doubt small, for it was no

iciency in the art of weaving and passes on to the art of embroidery. 'This art also,' he says, 'was chiefly cultivated in religious houses by pious nuns up to the 12th century. The inmates of women's establishments were especially devoted to working decorations for the altar. Their peac

emains of it, and we are obliged to take on trust the praise bestowed by early writers as so little exists by which we can judge for ourselves. But enough remains to bear out the

ed large hangings for decorating the basilica walls, and short hangings for the square altar; and when the Gothic style took the place of the

We hear a good deal of badges and standards worked by ladies at baronial courts during the age

n side by side with work produced with the needle. At two periods in history, the 8th and 13th centuries, E

writings on parchment in gold lettering, an art in which she excelled[604]. Among the gifts sent to Boniface by lady abbesses in England vestments and

flaed, abbess of Whitby, had sent[607]. Both were of linen, for early Christians, who were content to wear rough woollen clothes during their lifetime, thought it permissible to be buried in linen and silk. Thus we read that Aethelthrith the abbess of Ely sent to Cuth

as that she had appropriated part of an altar-cloth to make a robe for her niece. Caesarius of Arles in his rule for women forbade their working embroidery except for purposes of church decoration. Repeated complaints were made during the early ages in England against nuns for wearing embroidery and silks. The council of Cloveshoe of the year

every way. 'Towards the 10th century the art of making large hangings had so far progre

remarkable work. Among them were Alwid and Liwid who practised the air of embroidery and taught it[614]. Emma, otherwise Aelfgifu (? 1052), after her marriage to King Knut, made a gift of hangings and vestments to the abbey of Ely, some of which were embroidered with gol

hey were as distinguished in this branch of art as men were in others.' Unfortunately no specimens of the work done in religious settlements during this early period have been preserved, so far

land has been preserved, though the clue as to where and by whom it was done is generally wanting. While weaving and embro

as a present for Pope Hadrian IV (? 1159), who was of English origin, and perhaps known to her. Her work was carried to Rome by the abbot of St Albans, who h

its embroidery, and her products were much ad

oidered vestments now preserved in various places in Italy are the handiwork of English embroiderers between 1250 and 1300, though their authorship is not as a rule recognized by their present possessors. The embroidered min

ilk on a piece of material, generally linen; on this the silk was worked in close-lying chain stitches, which, following the contours of face and drapery, entirely covered the material just as the strokes of a brush in a miniature cover the parchment. The background to these figures was also covered with coloured floss silk, but this was not worked in chain stitch but in various styles of straight close-lying stitches in diaper pattern. Prof. Middleton, in the passage quoted above, says that the embroiderer copied the miniature painter; in composing scenes and arranging figures this would of course be the case

he English clergy who came to Rome in the year 1246, and asked where it was made. 'In England,' he was told. He replied, 'England is really a storehouse of delight; truly it is an inexhaustible fountain, and where there is so much, much can be ta

ntirely covered with embroidery in floss silk. The space is divided up into barbed interlacing quatrefoils, of which in the present state of the cope there are fifteen. These enclose pictures representing Michael overcoming Satan, the Crucifixion, the risen Christ, Christ crowned as King, Christ in the garden, the death of the Virgin, her burial, and single figures of the apostles which are placed in the quatrefoils along the lower edge of the cope. Among them are St Philip, St Bartholomew, St Peter and St Andrew. Other pictures of the apostles are wanting, for the lower edge in some places is cut away. The faces, hands and coloured draperies of these figures are worked in coloured floss silk in the way described above, and the ba

in small cross-stitch is carried right round it. This band is considered to be fifty years later in date than the cope, and is somewhat different in styl

ntury. Its inmates left England in a body and carried the cope away with them in their wanderings. They finally settled at Lisbon, where the house cont

oyed at the dissolution. In no European country was the heirloom of medi?val art so uniformly effaced and defaced. The old inventories give some idea of the

en the 8th and the 14th centuries. Influence from two sides gave a new direction to art-industry; on one side was the influ

gold and silver ornamented with jewels, crosses, candelabra and chalices. 'Also she made holy vestments,' says her biographer[626], 'and decked the altar with costly hangin

one of which the sisters Harlind and Reinhild did excellent work, which is highly praised. They were con

house for women at Valenciennes on the river Schelde, where, in the words of the 9th century writer, 'they were instructed in reading, in chanting (modulatione), in singing the psalms and also in what now-a-days is deemed wonderful, in writing and in painting (scribendo atque pingendo), a task labori

emselves to religion. Their parents agreed to found a settlement for them at Maaseyck, where at first they had twelve women with them. But many no

h a variety of designs[628]. These, in the words of their biographer, 'the holy women embroidered with God and his saints ornate with gold and jewels, and left them behind them in their house. The four gospels, which contain the words and actions of Jesus Christ our Lord, they transcribed with commen

the vestments they made were sent as a present to Boniface, and samples of their work, it

s are numerous; they became storehouses of wealth, partly through gifts bestowed on them by their abbesses and partly owing to the industry of the nuns. The marriage of Ot

Greek workmanship of great beauty which, as its inscription says, was the gift of the abbess Theofanu (1039-1054)[631]. This abbess was the granddaughter of Otto II and his Greek wife, and her appointment to the

ilde, abbess of Quedlinburg (? 999). Somewhat later we hear of another sumptuous cloak which the Empress Kunigund (? 1040) had made for her husband Heinrich II, and of the wonderful embroidery done in gold on purple by Heinrich's sister Gisela (? 1037), the wife of Stephen, king of Hungary, which seems to have been embroidered in imitation of a painting on s

36]. Among them was a white stole (stola) on which were worked in gold a series of pictures representing the 'Marriage of Philology to Mercury,' a subject taken from a story by

hat period. Agnes herself wrote an account of the property she bequeathed to the monastery, and in it she mentions a golden cup, several silken covers (dorsalia), and hangings[637]. Her chronicler credits her with writing and illuminating with her own hands books for divine service; and a copy of the gospels, said to have b

way superior to other pictorial representations of the time, and only here and there in details shows superior skill, other parts though retaining the peculiar style of Byzantine art, show a grace and dignity in the arrangement of the figures, and a p

igures hold scrolls on which their names are woven, but owing to the worn state of the hanging some of the names are gone and some are illegible. Three female figures are designated as 'Manticen,'-whom Mercury would have married had she not preferred Apollo; 'Sichem,'-a name sta

woman joining hands, who are designated as Mercury and Philology. Similar allegorical figures fill the other parts of the curtain. In Kugler's estimation the figur

Kugler however, apparently unacquainted with this statement, places these hangings at a somewhat earlier date, since they are of less finished workmanship, but he admits that

her figures of Christian and classical origin, where it was an object to unite the conceptions of religion and philosophy; then Christ, pictured under a rainbow arch, which is supported by angels. On Christ's further side come the other six apostles similarly arranged, and then follow scenes illustrating Old Testament history, such as Jacob's dream; Abraham visited by angels; the sacrifice of Isaac;-in these scenes the figures are comparatively small and of inferior design to the larger ones. Judging from Büsching's description, the s

that nuns belonging to houses of different religious order

s, 'ornatus integer,' worked by the nuns between 1275 and 1300 during the rule of 'abbatissa Chunegundis.' Bock describes

e, and show their industry and skill, and the readiness with which secular subjects were treated in the convent. On one which dates from

e made which are still preserved, and show the ability of the nuns who worked at the loom between the 13th and 15th centuries[645]. We are indebted to Bock for a comprehensive treatise on church decoration and vestme

e done by several men.' She had become a professed nun at an early age and 'was most skilful in the art of writing; for while she is not known to have composed any work of her own, yet she wrote with her own hand many volumes in a most beautiful and legible character both for divine service and for the library of the monastery, which volumes are enumerated in a list written by herself in a certain plenarius.' This list which is extant includes works to the number of forty-five, which were highly prized during the nun's lifetime and had a considerable market value. We find in the list 'a Missal with Gradual and Sequences' given to the bishop of Trier, and a 'book of Offices with the Baptismal Service,' given to the bishop of Augsburg. A 'bibliotheca,' that is, a Bible, in two volumes, written by Diemud, was given by the monastery of Wessobrun

said to have been of Scottish origin and she knew Scotch (or Irish?), Greek, Latin, and German, and did so much

, and Wattenbach comments on the neat and elegant way in which they mended

and a homily for every day in the year[650]. We hear of Emo, abbot of Wittewierum (1204-34), a Premonstrant house which contained men and women, that 'not only did he zealously encourage his canons (clericis) to write, acting as their instruct

ed decline. The reason of this, as a later chapter will show, lies chiefly in the changed conditions of life outside the convent, which made it easier for artisans in the townships to practise those arts and crafts which had hitherto been practised in religious settlements. Writing, decorating, and book-binding[652], as well as weaving and embroidering[653], were taken up by secular workers and were practised by them on a far larger scale; the spread of education in lay circles and the greater luxury in home surroundings having created a new taste and a new market for artistic productions. The taste of this wider public nat

nd the 'Garde

ction and for the illustration of their own books. 'Few illuminated manuscripts had acquired a fame so well deserved as the "Garden of Delights," the Hortus Deliciarum, of Herrad,' says the editor of the great collection of reproductions of the pictures which illustrated her work[654]. For the work itself is no more. The MS. was destroyed in the fire which broke out in the library of Strasburg when that city was bombarded by the Germans in 1870, and with it perished a complete copy of the text. Our knowledge of the work is therefore limited to the remarks of those who had studied it and to those portions of it which had been copied or transcribed previous to its destruction. The 'Society for the Preservation of the Mon

sites in close proximity to the castles or strongholds of the landed gentry. At one time there were as many as sixty religious settlements in the Rhine valley between Basel and Mainz and over a hundred castles or burgs. The nunnery of Hohenburg was of high rank among these religious settlements owing to its extensive property and to its commanding situation. The summit of the hill was surrounded by

Regensburg-who are unknown to history; she was carried down the river in a chest and educated at the convent of Beaume or Palma; and she has been given as a relative to St Leodgar bishop of Autun (? 678) and as a daughter to Eticho duke of the Allemanni. Besides these stories we find the name Odilia locally associated with a cave, a well, three linden-trees and a stone of peculiar shape which are obviously heathen survivals, and encourage the view that Odilia is the representative of some pre-Christian divinity. Roth has shown that the name Odilia is nowhere on record in these districts before the 10th century, and it occurs in connection with Hohenburg only in the 11th century, that is three or four hundred years after the saint's reput

e applied to these women with a reservation; some writers speak of them as Austin canonesses on account of the liberties they enjoyed. In Herrad's 'Garden' the picture of her nuns represents them wearing clothes that differ little from those worn by women in other walks of life. Their dresses are of different colours, their cloaks are generally brown, and their veils are alwa

in 1167, and in 1181 she founded a settlement of Austin canons at Truttenhausen, and later another at St Gorgon, both of which are situated not far below the summit of the hill. The canon

of the abbess Edelind (1195-1200), who according to Gérard was also of the family of Landsperg[660]. The claim of this abbess to the attention of posterity rests on her having been the possessor of a still extant chased case several feet high, which she had made to hold

xperts declare to be 13th century work, and which gives a clue to the association of St Odilia with Leodgar, to whom the church at Niedermünster was dedicated. Three sides of this monument are covered with figures. On one stands St Leodgar; on the next St Odilia with long tresses, and

nsisted of 324 parchment leaves of folio size, which contained an account of the history of the world founded on the Biblical narrative, with

ections by lines across, so that the pictures stood one above the other. The figures in each picture were about four inches high. There were, however, a certain number of fu

iginal miniature paintings. Only the silver, he says, was tarnished; the gold was undimmed and all the colours preserved their full brilliancy, when he had the work before him in the early part of this century. According to

ole author. Students are generally agreed that the outline drawing and the writing were entirely her work, but the colours may or may not have been laid on by her. For

iblical history are represented by her in a manner familiar to the student of early Christian art. A grave and serious dignity which recalls the wall mosaics at Ravenna characterizes the figures of God, Christ, Mary, and the angels; Engelhardt has pointed out the close similarity of Herrad's picture of the Annunciation to that contained in a Greek MS. of the 9th century[665]. But in other cases Herrad either composed herself or else drew from models which were nearer to her in time and place. Thus the picture of the sun-god Apollo represents him in a heavy mediaeval cart drawn by four horses, and the men and women in many pictures are dressed in the fashion of the time. The

Friedrich adopted, but the scene of their struggle had shifted to the cities of northern Italy. We shall see later on that political changes were watched with much interest in some nunneries, and that the conduct of the Emperor, the Pope, and the bishops was keenly criticised among nuns. It is difficult to tell how far events affected Herrad. The prose narrative which her work contained, as far as we know, has peri

implements with their names forms a valuable addition to our knowledge of terms as applied in early mediaeval times. The book also originally contained a continuous history in Latin for more advanced students, but unfortunately that is lost. Engelhardt says that it described the history of the world from the Creation to the coming of Antichrist, with many extracts from various writers. He enumerates twenty writers from whose works Herrad quotes. Among them are Eusebius P

aring a crown with three heads. These heads are designated as 'ethica, logica, phisica'; by means of these three branches of learning philosophy adds to her powers of insight. Socrates and Plato, who are designated as 'philosophers,' sit below, and from the figure of Philosophy 'seven streams of wisdom flow which are turned into liberal arts' as the text explains. These arts are personified as female figures in 12th century dress, and are so arranged that each figure stands in a separate division forming a circle round Philosophy and the philosophers. The Liberal Arts are robed in different colours, and each holds an emblem of her power. 'Grammar,' dressed in dark red, has a book and a birch rod; 'Geometry,' in ligh

nct appreciation. The idea conveyed by means of the pictures to the young women students was by no means superficial or derogatory to learning. On th

cending further up the ladder. Among these the hermit (heremita) stands highest, but he is held back by the charms of his garden. Below him stands the recluse (inclusus), whose temptation is slothfulness, which is represented by a bed. Then comes the monk (monachus), who leans towards a mass of gold; 'he is typical of all false monks,' says Herrad, 'whose heart is drawn from duties by the sight of money, and who cannot rise above greed.' The nun (sanctimonialis) and the cleric (clericus) have reached the same rung on the ladder. She is the representative of false nuns who yield to the temptati

in church on festal days. In company with laymen and loose women they eat and drink, and indulge in jokes and games which invariably end in uproariousness. 'How worthy of prai

of imagery and a wealth of design. We cannot but admire the ready brush of the abbess and the courage with which she grappled with

e for determining the festal days of the year. The desire to fix the date of incidents of Old and New Testament history absorbed much attention at this period, and Herrad's table of computation was looked upon as so important that it was recently used by Piper as the start

slowly across a wave of the waters. In another picture He is depicted in a simpler manner seated and fashioning the small figure of Adam, which He holds between His knees. Again He is seen breathing life into Adam's nostrils, and then holding in His hand a rib out of which projects the head of Eve, while Adam is lying asleep on the ground. There is a seri

ion are here introduced. The poems are preserved, the music is appa

ails of which are presumably drawn from real life. Here we see wooden vats and buckets, the various implements used in th

diers are clad in chain-mail and march with standards borne aloft. Soldiers similarly accoutred are drawn in one picture fighting under the leadership of Joshua; in another picture they are seen attacking a city, a scene taken from the story of the assault of Dan. The adoration of the golden calf gave occasion for a picture which a

g nose, pointed ears and green-coloured body, a figure grotesque rather than terrible. When the moment of death is represented he invariably puts in an appearance and claims the soul, which in one case escapes from the dying person's mouth in the shape of a small black demon. In another picture the soul is

of scenes from the books of Kings, of Job, and of Tobit; none of these have as yet been reproduced. A picture of the prophets has, however, been published, in which a number of figures of different ages are depicted in

mystic family of Christ. At the bottom is Abraham, who holds the mystic vine which grows upwards and divides into beautiful twisted ramifications forming circles, and in these are arranged the heads of patriarchs, kings, and groups of other members of Christ's

hich have come down to us; the music which accompanied them is apparently lost. Among the most realistic pictures preserved is that of the 'Murd

e the abbess many occasions for depicting scenes taken from real life, many of which in their simplicity are truly delightful. Biblical stories were supplemented by incidents taken from legendary history, which were likewise accompanied by pictures, few of which seem to have been preserved. The story of the healing p

as women. Thus Pride, 'Superbia,' seated on horseback on a lion's skin and brandishing a spear, is leading a band of women, who are clad in chain-mail with robes flowing about their feet and carrying spears, against a band of Virtues similarly attired but carrying swords. A most interesting picture is that of Luxury, 'Luxuria,' who is seen with fourteen attendant Vices riding in a sumptuous four-wheeled car; Luxury is in front throwing violets. She is confronted by a band of Virtues led by Temperance, 'Te

nces of the Church, the position of her members from Pope to cleric, the means of repentance, and the coming of Antichrist, all roused the enthusiasm of those who saw them; none of these have till now been reproduced. Gérard, who was probably the last to see and handle the work of Herrad, was especially struck by the pictures of the Last Judgment and of Heaven

e Jews, in the other soldiers (the text says 'milites vel armati'). Demons stood by holding men of either kind ready to add them to those already in the caldrons; other demons were stirring the caldrons with forks. In front of the Jews' caldron a demon was depicted holding a naked sinner to whom he administered punishment by beating him. In the division above this a usurer had hot gold poured into his hand; a slanderer was made to lick a toad; an eaves-dropper had his ears pinched; a vain woman was assisted at her toilet by demons (they seemed to be lacing her); the woman who had murdered her child was forced to

and served as a means of teaching the lesson of reward and punishment in the world to come. Later on in treating

ilia are seen standing on the other side of Christ. A green hill is represented below roughly studded with bushes or brambles,-this is the hill of the Hohenburg. On one slope of it Duke Eticho is seated, and he hands the golden key of the convent to St Odilia, who advances towards him followed by a band of women. Relind, Herrad's teacher and predecessor, also stands on the hill with her hand resting on a cross on which are inscribed verses addressed to the nuns. The fact that she restored the church and the discipline at Hohenburg, which had fallen entirely into decay, is commemorated in a sentenc

d in all things, and how she strove to make their studies delightful to them. The tone which she took towards her congregation is apparent from the words in which she directly addressed them. For besides occasional admonitory words, two long poems, one at the beginning, the other at the end of the work, are devoted to the admonition of the nuns. Herrad's poems are composed in different metres; some have the dignity of the hexameter, some the easier flow of sho

greets the young maidens (virgunculas) of the Hohenburg and inv

ound you noble circlets (?) and make your faces to shine fair, freed from mental strife. Christ hates spot or stain, He abhors time-worn lines (of vice); He desires beauteous virgins and drives forth women who are unchaste. With a dove-like faith call upon that your Bridegroom, that your beauty may become an unbroken glory. Living without guile, be admonished by praisegiving, so that you may complete your best works of ascent. Do not hesitate amidst the doubtful currents of the world, the truthful God holds out rewards after danger. Suffer hardships now, despising the world's prosperity, be now fellow of the cross, hereafter sharer of the kingdom. Steer across the ocean freighted with holiness, till you leave the bark and land in Sion. May Sion's heavenly castle with its beauteous halls be your home when the term

piring God I drew from many flowers of sacred and philosophic writing this book called the 'Garden of Delights'; and I have put it together to the praise of Christ and the Church, and to your enjoyment, as though into a sweet honeycomb. Therefore you must diligently seek your salvation in it and strengthen your weary spirit with its sweet ho

parts of the work, and is peculiar to some of her poems also. Two short verses which occur in the work seem to reflect her mental state. The one urges great liberality of mind. It discusses the basis of purity, and comes to the conclusion that purity depends less on actions than on the