Wiborada

Oldest representation of Wiborada, in Codex Sangallensis 586, around 1430/1436

Wiborada ( Latinized from ahd. Wiberat ; † May 1, 926 in St. Gallen ) was a hermit , consecrated virgin and martyr of the Catholic Church . She lived as an inclusive in St. Gallen and was killed during an invasion of Hungary. Their final resting place, the exact location of which is no longer known today at the church of St. Mangen , was the destination of many pilgrims for centuries.

Wiborada was canonized by Pope Clement II in 1047 , making it the first woman to be canonized by a Pope . In the iconography handed down since the 15th century , Wiborada is shown in habit ; an ( anachronistic ) halberd as a reference to martyrdom and a book are attached to it as iconographic attributes of saints . She is considered the patron saint of parsonage keepers, cooks, libraries and book lovers. Her memorial day is celebrated on May 2nd as a celebration of the diocese of St. Gallen .

Depiction of the young Ulrich with the abbot Wiborada

swell

In the 10th century, a biography ( Vita ) was written down at the suggestion of Bishop Ulrich von Augsburg . About a hundred years later, on the basis of this, a second, expanded and adapted vita was written. These two vitae are the main sources of Wiborada's life. In addition, they offer general information on the cultural and everyday history of their time. However, only the phase of life after Wiborada's inclusion in the year 916 can be regarded as largely reliable. This is probably because the authors of the Vitae were better informed about this time than about Wiborada's youth. The historical analysis turns out to be difficult because the two Vitae served as typical saints legends of religious edification and instruction. They have schemes and narrative motifs that are common in hagiography and falsify the historical content.

Vita I

The older vita names the dean Ekkehard I as the author in its epilogue . The epilogue traces the emergence of Vita I back to a miracle: Ekkehard was cured of an illness through Wiborada's robe of repentance and had previously made the promise to write her life story should he be healed. Bishop Ulrich von Augsburg, who used to be a student in the convent in St. Gallen, asked him during a visit why he had not kept his promise so far. In this way Ekkehard was commissioned by Ulrich to write down the first vita. The author of the younger Vita, Herimannus von St. Gallen (for him see below), also refers to this epilogue in his detailed prologue. In order to avoid the reproach of disrespect for his important predecessor, as a homage to him, he added a quote (verse 51 , quoted in c. 34) from his youthful work, the Waltharius . The author of Vita I is not mentioned in other sources.

Vita I is preserved in three manuscripts. It is handed down on the one hand in the third volume of the Stuttgart Passionale (Bibl. Fol. 56–58), the main part of the manuscripts of the Zwiefalten monastery , which have been kept in the Württemberg State Library in Stuttgart since 1802 . The third volume of the Stuttgart Passionale is almost completely preserved and contains 45 other legends of saints in addition to the Vita Wiboradas, including those of the St. Gallen saints Gallus , Otmar and Magnus . The volume was written around 1144 and, as studies of the initials have shown, comes from the Hirsau Monastery , from where it came to the Zwiefalten Monastery and, after its secularization, to the Württemberg State Library. The vita consists of 46 chapters. The second manuscript, which dates from 1464, comes from the Imperial Abbey of Sankt Ulrich and Afra in Augsburg and is kept in the Augsburg State and City Library. Of two manuscripts of Vita I in the monasteries of Dillingen and Wiblingen , which served as the basis for an incorrect edition by the Bollandists from the 17th century and were considered lost, the one from Wiblingen has been rediscovered (London, Brit. Mus. Addit. 10933) and has been recognized in its value for text design.

Vita II

Title page of the prologue to Vita II sanctae Wiboradae by Herimann. Original around 1072–1076, Codex Sangallensis 560

The more recent Vita was written around 1075, about a hundred years after the first and 28 years after Wiborada's canonization. A monk named Herimannus, who is presumably identical to the writer of the oldest manuscript named in the dedication verse, is named as the author of Vita II, encoded in calligraphy. This is in the Corpus Sanktgallischer Heiligenleben (Codex 560) of the Abbey Library of St. Gallen and is therefore possibly the author's handwritten writing. The copies in Codices 564, 610 and 1034 of the St. Gallen Abbey Library are based on him. In addition, Codex 586, written around 1430/36, contains the oldest known Germanization of Vita II, along with other legends of the saints. It also contains the oldest representation of Wiborada, with a book and a halberd (which, however, was not developed until the 13th century). A translation with 53 miniatures was made before 1451/60, preserved in Codex 602 of the St. Gallen Abbey Library.

Life dates

Since Wiborada's year of birth and the age of death are not mentioned in any source, the year of her birth is not known. The place of birth is also unknown. The various attempts to locate her parents' house, for example in Altenklingen or Konstanz , cannot be proven and therefore remain assumptions.

According to the report of the Annales Sangallenses maiores and the world chronicle by Hermann von Reichenau , Wiborada was included in the church of St. Mangen in St. Gallen in 916. The priesthood of the church, the establishment of which was confirmed on October 13, 898 by Emperor Arnulf of Carinthia , held Wiborada's brother Hitto at that time.

The date of the martyrdom that Wiborada suffered during the invasion of Hungary on May 1, 926, was entered in their profession book by the monks of St. Gallen Abbey . They wrote: KALENDIS MAIIS WIBERAT reclusa a paganis interempta (“On the calendars of May the rekluse Wiberat was killed by pagans”). This note was followed by three entries in Codex 915 of the St. Gallen Abbey Library, one of which incorrectly mentions the year 925. The Annales Sangallenses maiores note May 2nd as the day of Wiborada's death, which is said to have been a Monday. Although this date has been adopted in many sources, it can be assumed that Wiborada died on May 1, 926. The probably wrong dating is traced back to Vita I, whose statement that Wiborada was initially left lying badly injured by the Hungarians could have been interpreted as meaning that Wiborada only died on the following day, i.e. on May 2nd.

Legend of saints

Childhood and youth

Wiborada, who came from a noble Alemannic family, is described as a very pious and virtuous child. According to the Vitae, she saw her role models in Martha von Bethanien (as a representative of the Vita activa ) and Maria von Bethanien (as a representative of the Vita contemplativa ). A younger sister of Wiborada is mentioned in the Vitae, who died early because, instead of playing with her contemporaries, she prayed to God for redemption from earthly existence. Even in her youth, Wiborada led an extremely godly life. She went to church every day and constantly urged her parents to go to church. In Vita II her virtue is described in more detail, according to her, Wiborada often fasted for three days and castelated her body. On a feast day, Wiborada rode to church with her mother and her companions on horseback. She had a sudden vocation experience , then took off her jewelry and got off her horse. From then on she turned away from any excess.

Time before the publication in St. Gallen

After describing the two vitae, Wiborada decided to serve her brother Hitto, a priest in St. Gallen. She sent him clothes and other necessary items, and made covers for the holy books . Hitto began teaching her the psalms . However, after Psalm 49, he neglected teaching. After an apparition exhorted him to do his duty, he also taught Wiborada the 50th Psalm. Wiborada later learned the remaining 100 psalms through inspiration from the Holy Spirit . Since Hitto was missing singers for Holy Mass on the first Sunday of Lent , Wiborada supported him in singing the 90th Psalm. Their beautiful singing was perceived as a wonderful event. After the death of her father, Wiborada selflessly cared for her mother. She also cared for strangers who were sick whom her brother brought home. Vita I reports on a pilgrimage to Rome that Wiborada undertook with her brother. This chapter is missing in Vita II. Later, following advice from Wiborada, Hitto entered the monastery of St. Gallen as a monk . Wiborada lived in the world for another six years. However, the Vitae describe in detail that during this time she led an ascetic life with fasting , night watch, sleeping on the bare ground and self-flagellation.

In the description of Vita II, Wiborada the devil appeared in the form of a pig. Wiborada made the sign of the cross . The devil then got one of her servants to slander her, whereupon, on the order of the bishop , a divine judgment decided the correctness of the accusations. Wiborada was found innocent but did not punish the slanderer. Vita II reports that she left Wiborada's house and continued to defame her until she was struck mad by God and died in poverty. The bishop became aware of Wiborada and invited her to Constance. She refused his suggestion to enter the Lindau monastery , as the St. Gallen city patron Gallus appeared to her in a vision and advised against it. This section in Wiborada's life is missing in Vita I.

Life in St. Gallen

The current shape of the St. Mangen Church . For ten years Wiborada lived on this hill as an inkline, where exactly is unknown.

Both vitae now describe how Wiborada traveled to St. Gallen together with the bishop, who was also abbot of St. Gallen. In St. Georgen (a registered my detes today village southwest of St. Gallen's Old Town) she lived for four years with her servants Kebeni and Bertherada in strengster asceticism. Wiborada's stay in St. Georgen complies with the rules of the Trullan Synod of 692, which stipulated a three-year preparation and probation period in the monastery before life as an inclusive. In Vita II it is reported how an angel appeared to Wiborada one night and sang the 21st Psalm three times.

In the meantime, by order of the bishop, a cell was built near the church of St. Mangen, in which Wiborada was locked by the bishop among the prayers of the people. The devil immediately tried to keep her from praying, but was driven away with the signs of the cross. The Vitae report several prophecies and miracles as an integral part of the time of life. So Wiborada appeared again to Gallus and predicted a maritime disaster for monasteries on Lake Constance, which actually happened. She announced the appointment as Bishop of Augsburg to a convent pupil named Ulrich, the Saint Ulrich of Augsburg - a meeting of Wiborada and Ulrich as convent pupil is chronologically impossible. In another vision, a deceased servant appeared to Wiborada and pointed out to her that the sacred vessels had not been properly cleaned by a servant who was supervising Wiborada.

martyrdom

Wiborada's martyrdom, depicted before 1451/60 in Codex Sangallensis 602

In June 925 Wiborada was revealed in a vision of the Hungarian invasion of the St. Gallen monastery and her own martyrdom in the next year. The date of May 1, 926 is mentioned in the Vitae. Against the insistence of Abbot Engilbert , Wiborada refused to leave her cell. According to Vita I advised them Engilbert but the treasures of the monastery, including precious manuscripts on a refuge , probably the Waldenburg in Sitterswald, to safety. When the arrival of the Hungarians was finally announced, the monks of the monastery fled to the castle. Wiborada's brother Hitto only managed to escape at the last moment.

The barbarians advanced to the church of St. Mangen and set it on fire. They also set fire to the hermitage , but it was miraculously smothered. Because they could not find an entrance to the hermitage, they climbed through the roof. They found Wiborada sunk in prayer in front of the altar, tore off her clothes except for the silicon and inflicted three head wounds with the ax. According to Vita II, Wiborada did not die until the following morning. Her brother Hitto found her and notified the abbot, who was returning from the castle after eight days. According to tradition, Wiborada's wounds had healed again. Vita II reports on the solemn burial of Wiborada by the abbot, accompanied by a large number of believers.

wonder

In Vita I, the miracles ( miracula ) immediately follow the description of death and burial. In contrast to this, in Vita II, according to the hagiographical requirements of that time, the Vita and the miracles are treated in separate books; some miracles are added to the first vita. The following miracles are listed in the list of chapters for the Historia Miraculorum of Vita II:

Healing of a sick person with Wiborada's comb relic, depicted before 1451/60 in Codex Sangallensis 602

• a lamp on Viborada's tomb is lit from heaven;
• a servant sees a light in the church that comes from Wiborada;
• a fennel at Wiborada's grave turns green in winter;
• Hitto finds Wiborada's crest floating over the grave;
• an eye sick person is cured by the comb relic ;
• Rachild is miraculously cured of an illness;
• a monastery student named Ulrich is healed at Wiborada's grave;
• Wiborada expresses her displeasure to Hitto at the new altar cloth in a vision;
• Pliddruda, Rachild's sister, is healed by Wiborada;
• After taking a vow , the priest Eggibert is healed of his eye disease;
• a woman named Reginsinda does not keep her vows after healing and is punished for it;
• two more sick people regain their health at Wiborada's grave;
• a piece of wood from Wiborada's vat heals a toothache;
• Wiborada's servant Kebeni is healed of the injuries that the devil inflicted on her by thrusting her into a hearth;
• While the relics are being transferred to the church, a bricklayer has an accident but is miraculously healed.

Afterlife

Worship as saints

The only source for the canonization of Wiborada: Casus sancti Galli , Codex 615 Sangallensis, oldest surviving copy from around 1200

According to the two Vitae, Wiborada's Anniversarium, the anniversary of death and burial, was regularly celebrated from 927, the year after Wiborada's death. Although the Anniversarium should properly be celebrated on May 1, it was at the canonization set to the May 2 Even after the latest reform of the liturgy of the diocese of St. Gallen, before which Wiborada's Anniversarium was temporarily moved to May 11, the saint is commemorated on May 2.

Only one contemporary source reports on the canonization of Wiborada in January 1047, the anonymous continuation of the monastery chronicle Casus sancti Galli by Ekkehard IV , the oldest surviving copy of which is Codex 615 in the monastery library. On page 336 she states that Wiborada was owned by Pope Clement II at the suggestion of Emperor Heinrich III. and his second wife Agnes von Poitou was canonized in the presence of the Bishop of Constance Theodericus . The canonization of Wiborada had previously been decided by two popes, but not carried out. A papal bull has not been preserved. The sponsorship by Heinrich III. at that time can be seen against the background of anti-Christian upheavals in Hungary.

Wiborada Office

A Wiborada office is documented as early as the 11th century , but only in fragments: A double sheet from an antiphonary with offices on holy women, including Wiborada, can be found in the St. Gallen city archive (volume 508, box "Fragments, Books") . The last antiphons of the first nocturn and the following four responsories can be found as a coherent piece of text .

In a manuscript from the 14th century (St. Gallen, Stiftsbibliothek 503 ^k , fol. 235v – 236r) there is a short version of the Wiborada Office, consisting of the Magnificat antiphon, five antiphons for Laudes , Evangelica antiphona and the antiphon for Benedictus . There are no text matches with the 11th century manuscript. In contrast, the Magnificat antiphon was subsequently entered in other manuscripts in the monastery library, which suggests that it was the entrance antiphon of the old Wiborada office.

In the Supplementum Breviarii by the St. Gallen monk Gallus Wagner from 1574 (St. Gallen Abbey Library 1787, pp. 221–230) there is the complete Wiborada Office as it was in use in the 16th century. Due to textual similarities with the manuscript from the 11th century, Walter Berschin assumes that what is missing or illegible in the old manuscript can be added to the version from the 16th century. He presents a reconstruction of the Wiborada office based on the various sources.

Wiborada wine

Wiborada's veneration of saints includes a custom that has persisted to the present day: the dispensing of the blessed Wiborada wine on the day of the saint's remembrance. As with the Gallus wine, which served as a model for the custom, the blessed wine is dispensed from a shell-shaped bowl with a spoon that is said to have belonged to Wiborada. The spoon is made of wood and was set in silver in the 17th century, the silver bowl bears the year 1698 and was made especially for this custom. Both items belonged to the Wiborada monastery in St. Georgen and are now kept in the Benedictine Abbey of St. Gallenberg .

Imitation of Viborada

Wiborada's role model found imitators throughout the Middle Ages who lived as virgins and inclusives both in St. Georgen and near St. Mangen. The last known inclusiv at St. Mangen was Barbara Hornbogin, who died there in 1509. In the 16th century the monastery of St. Wiborada was founded by the Benedictine nuns in St. Georgen , and on September 8, 1696, Abbot Leodegar Bürgisser made it a priory . The monastery was abolished on June 3, 1834 by a resolution of the Grand Council; his archive is now in the St. Gallen Abbey Archives .

literature

• Gereon Becht-Jördens: Recentiores non deteriores. On the transmission history and text history of the Vita S. Wiboradae Ekkeharts I of St. Gallen , in: Dorothea Walz (ed.): Scripturus vitam. Latin biography from ancient times to the present. Festival ceremony for Walter Berschin on his 65th birthday . Mattes, Heidelberg 2002, pp. 807-816.
• Walter Berschin : Vitae Sanctae Wiboradae. The oldest descriptions of the life of St. Wiborada. Communications on patriotic history Volume 51, Historical Association of the Canton of St. Gallen, St. Gallen 1983.
• Peter Erhart: Wiborada. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
• Adolf Fäh : St. Wiborada. Virgin and martyr. Letterpress Jos. Zehnder, St. Fiden 1926.
• Eva Irblich: The Vitae sanctae Wiboradae. A life of saints in the 10th century in a time image. In: Writings of the Association for the History of Lake Constance and its Surroundings , 88th year 1970, pp. 1–208.
• Friedrich Lauchert :  Wiborada . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 42, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1897, pp. 304-306.
• Gabriele Lautenschläger :  Wiborada. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 15, Bautz, Herzberg 1999, ISBN 3-88309-077-8 , Sp. 1472-1473. (partly outdated information)
• Anna Sartory : Wiborada. Commemorative game in five pictures for the millennium of her death (926). St. Gallen 1926.
• Karsten Uhl : “The mob that doesn't know how to speak in educated expressions”. Differences between the culture of the people and the culture of the elites in the Vites of Saint Wiborada. In: Medium Aevum Quotidianum , Vol. 36, 1997, pp. 103-118.
• Schifferli, Dagmar: Wiborada, the healer . Historical novel, Pendo Verlag AG, Zurich 1998. Knaur, Munich 1999. ISBN 3-426-61127-9 .

Web links

Commons : Wiborada  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Walter Berschin: Vitae Sanctae Wiboradae , pp. 54–57.
2. ↑ Eva Irblich: The Vitae sanctae Wiboradae , literary-historical analysis pp 33-122.
3. ↑ Gereon Becht-Jördens: Linguistic in the Vitae S. Wiboradae (II). Thereby: a quote from Waltharius in the younger vita . In: Mittellateinisches Jahrbuch 24/25, 1989/1990, pp. 1–9, here pp. 7–9.
4. ^ Walter Berschin: Vitae Sanctae Wiboradae , p. 10.
5. ^ Albert Boeckler: Das Stuttgarter Passionale. Augsburg 1923.
6. ↑ Gereon Becht-Jördens: Recentiores, non deteriores (see literature)
7. ↑ Johannes Duft: Sankt Wiborada in the literature of a century. (Brochure) p. N., P. L. 1984, p. 4.
8. ^ Walter Berschin: Vitae Sanctae Wiboradae , p. 23.
9. ↑ Eva Irblich: Die Vitae sanctae Wiboradae , pp. 114–115.
10. ↑ Wiberat reclusa est . In: Georg Heinrich Pertz u. a. (Ed.): Scriptores (in Folio) 1: Annales et chronica aevi Carolini. Hannover 1826, p. 78 ( Monumenta Germaniae Historica , digitized version )
11. ↑ Apud Sanctum Gallum beata virgo Wiborada arcius inclusa est . In: Georg Heinrich Pertz u. a. (Ed.): Scriptores (in Folio) 5: Annales et chronica aevi Salici. Hanover 1844, p. 112 ( Monumenta Germaniae Historica , digitized version )
12. ↑ Quoted from: Walter Berschin: Vitae Sanctae Wiboradae, p. 1.
13. ^ Walter Berschin: Vitae Sanctae Wiboradae , p. 2.
14. ↑ Eva Irblich: The Vitae sanctae Wiboradae , The dating of Wiboradas Tod, pp. 148-150.
15. ↑ Eva Irblich: The Vitae sanctae Wiboradae , p 130ff.
16. ↑ Monks and knights seek protection from sitters. St. Galler Tagblatt, Noemi Heule, 2018, accessed on May 16, 2020 . 
17. ↑ Eva Irblich: The Vitae sanctae Wiboradae. P. 154.
18. ↑ Eva Irblich: The Vitae sanctae Wiboradae. P. 162f.
19. ↑ On the whole, compare Walter Berschin: The Sanktgallic Wiborada Office of the XI. Century. In: Terence Bailey, László Dobszay: Studies in Medieval Chant and Liturgy in Honor of David Hiley. Musicological Studies 87. Institute of Musicology, Budapest 2007. pp. 79-85.
20. ↑ On the whole, compare Johannes fragrance : Holy wine - healing wine. The wine blessing on the feast days of St. Gallus and St. Wiborada. Sheet-fed prints from the house "Zur Grünen Thür". Savings Agency of the City of St. Gallen, 1999, ISBN 3-9520021-8-6 .
21. ↑ Eva Irblich: The Vitae sanctae Wiboradae. P. 169.
22. ^ Josef Reck: St. Wiborada in St. Gallen. In: Helvetia Sacra. Dept. III: The orders with Benedictine rule. Volume 1: Early Monasteries, the Benedictines in Switzerland. Francke Verlag, Berlin 1986, pp. 1934ff.

This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on August 27, 2009 .