Adelheid Langmann

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Adelheid Langmann (* 1306 in Nuremberg ; † November 22, 1375 in Engelthal ) was a nun and mystic in the Dominican convent Engelthal near Nuremberg .

Life

Adelheid Langmann was the daughter of the Nuremberg councilor Otto Langmann († 1327) and his wife Mechthild (who later became a nun in 1350). At the age of 13 Adelheid was engaged to Gottfried Teufel from a noble Nuremberg councilor who died soon after, shortly after their wedding. Before 1330, Adelheid entered the Engelthal Monastery against the will of her family and against initial resistance.

Even before she entered the monastery, Adelheid strived for an intensive religious life , also by means of tough ascetic exercises ; this she continued in the monastery. Her entry into the monastery apparently took place against the resistance of relatives and also after serious internal disputes. Later on, Adelheid repeatedly experienced extraordinary physical and mental states; the revelations tell of raptures and paralysis, prolonged illnesses and internal crises ("temptations"). In particular, according to her revelations , Adelheid soon experienced extraordinary divine graces.

At the suggestion of a high Dominican theologian (a reading master ), she began to write down her experiences of grace, which were continued beyond the period between 1330 and 1344, which can be fixed by dates, at least until after 1350.

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Adelheid's work, written in German and edited several times, edited in the 19th century under the misleading title “Revelations”, is only apparently laid out in the form of chronologically ordered records. Rather, it is to be understood in all its versions as a "grace life" in which mystical ideas are presented in the manner of a vita. Shaped by motifs of the mysticism of the bride, this " vitae of grace " shows how the new spiritual life begins with the promise of love of God and man and leads through the clothing of the beloved, bride and spiritual marriage to the most intimate encounter with God in the experience of the "Unio" and to inscribe them Names in the heart of the two lovers. The climax of the event is finally the union on the bed of Minne, with the assistance of the two allegorical virgins Spes and Karitas. In the following it will be shown how this experience of grace also bears fruit for all people, whom God now graciously comes to help in all needs and sufferings at the request of the gifted, Mary and all saints. An extensive prayer of Adelheid, in which Christ's work of redemption is meditated, is not an appendix, but an integral part of this vitae of grace, as is the final correspondence in which Ulrich III, who was abbot from 1340 to 1360 with a "prior" of the Cistercian monastery in Kaisheim . Niblung, thoughts of mystical spirituality are reflected.

In literary terms , this vitae of grace is in the tradition of Engelthaler literature and, in terms of form and content, it is inconceivable without the grace life of Friedrich Sunder and the influence of Adelheid's older sister Christine Ebner . There is also evidence of text adoptions from mystical poems and Dominican sermons. Individual passages could also point to influences from Mechthild von Magdeburg and the literature of the Helfta monastery . Adelheid herself, however, does not have the theological depth of her role models; with many of their “mystical” motifs it often seems that they are more likely to be taken from tradition and not so very personally reflected. However, she succeeds in bringing the new, “mystical” spirituality-appropriate image of God closer, in which God does not appear as the distant strict judge, but as the lover who overflows with mercy and gentleness. Adelheid sees her own task particularly in the work of grace for others, expressed by the topos of the "fruit of grace" characteristic of Engelthaler literature, in which graces are requested for sinners, souls in purgatory and good people; the often unimaginably large numbers regarding the pardoned are to be understood symbolically, as an expression of the immeasurable will of God for mercy. As in other Engelthal, the form of dialogue is stylistically characteristic, with topics relevant to Adelheid (or her monastery community) being discussed in conversations between the soul and God or individual saints. Some passages are of great literary charm.

In science, Adelheid's “revelations” have received relatively strong attention so far, as they are in an excellent edition and more important works of the grace literature have not yet been edited. Of special interest is the fact that the tradition of the work in three medieval manuscripts reveals three different editorial revisions. These three versions offer an insight into the development of the text, which is determined by the increasing focus on a reading public and on hagiographic stylization. With careful text-critical work, however, at least parts of the source text must still be determined.

Questions of text comprehension

Just like comparable texts of the life and revelation literature of that time, the revelations of Adelheid Langmann also contain numerous passages that raise questions about the understanding of the text and require scientific discussion.

The revelations report that a time after she entered the monastery, Jesus asked Adelheid to flagellate herself: “You should take three disciplines [= self-flagellation], each with three miserere and with a hackle that it bleeds, and [you ] Shall we cry sweet tears. ”The revelations also describe how the devil oppressed her, frightened her with noises, or sat on her bed in the guise of her aunt. Then Jesus will also be experienced, at different ages: the child of God is transformed into the host during the transformation of the mass and back into a child before communion. At the end of Mass, Jesus takes the form of a four-year-old and embraces and kisses her; in response to their doubts, he authenticates himself with the five wounds of his passion and blesses them. The revelations then also describe a scene in which Adelheid lies in bed at Christmas time, receives the baby Jesus from Mary and breastfeeds it: “And he was so beautiful that it was unspeakable, and he sucked her breast and was with her until that the mass was rung, and she had such great joy with him that it would take a long time to say about it ”.

There are interpretations in which these reports are understood as an obvious representation of real experiences and are understood from a psychological point of view as hallucinations, which can be explained, among other things, against the background of the suspected traumatic childhood experiences, which accordingly led to the mortification described.

In the literary research of the last few decades, however, considerable doubts have been asserted whether texts such as that of Adelheid Langmann are to be understood as an obvious representation of experiences. Ursula Peters takes the broadest position : “Works that are mystical to women are in any case ... literarily conceived and intentionally oriented texts that do not allow a distinction with regard to their proximity to a possible substrate of religious experience”. They are "spiritual instruction literature". In other ways of seeing, the possibility of a real experience is not excluded; However, this can only be scientifically proven in exceptional cases, namely with the aid of non-literary sources. In any case, the general belief is that a single passage can only be interpreted in accordance with the generic criteria and the intent of the text.

In the revelations of Adelheid Langmann, the analysis inherent in the text can already prove that the reported experiences are normally not sensual experiences: "She said that she hardly ever saw anything physically (in the sense of" corporaliter ")." The happening is almost always communicated linguistically (in the sense of "auditory"). Throughout, there is a clear editorial revision of the report, up to and including significantly different reproduction of one and the same event. The didactic intention is unmistakable: prayer instructions, theological explanations and the interpretation of images are aimed primarily at a monastic readership.

An analysis of the structure shows that the text is anything but an immediate record of the experience; "Artistically arranged" through to artistically designed ceremonial scenes are each dealt with specific topics. So the reports about asceticism, the devil and the baby Jesus are detached from the real time sequence in order to mark certain stages of development in the life of grace.

An analysis of the history of the motif can also question the “autobiographical” content of a text. So the motif of devilish temptations is often a “must” in vite literature. The child in the host is the standard motif when it comes to the dogma of transubstantiation (especially with "visions" during mass), just as the playing child Jesus is a standard motif in mystical texts about the birth of God (especially with "visions" during the Christmas season ). The sucking of the breasts varies the motif of Maria lactans , which has been reinterpreted in a mystical sense since Bernhard von Clairvaux . The form of asceticism practiced by Adelheid Langmann, which is shown to be exemplary, follows the example of the father of the order Dominic and the rules of the Dominican order in detail. Ultimately, however, in view of the overall text of Adelheid's revelations, such motifs as “asceticism, devil, child figure” are only of secondary importance; The central issue in the revelations - as in the entire Engelthaler literature - is a new image of God; This is indicated not least by the motifs in the “Visions” of the Trinity, taken from scholastic appropriation theory .

All in all, the revelations of Adelheid Langmann - like the texts of the often so-called "experience mysticism" - are highly complex structures which for the most part do not reveal themselves directly to today's understanding, but rather only taking diverse aspects into account.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ For the biographical information see: Gustav Voit: Engelthal. History of a Dominican convent in the Nuremberg area. 2 vols. Korn & Berg, Nuremberg 1977/78 (series of publications of the Altnürnberger Landschaft XXVI), here: vol. 2, p. 192f.
  2. ↑ See Langmann (1878), pp. 1-3.
  3. ↑ See Langmann (1878), pp. 28f .; 43.
  4. ^ For the first time Langmann (1878), pp. 4,27-5,12.
  5. ↑ See Langmann (1878), pp. 26.1-6.
  6. ↑ For the term “Gnaden-Leben / Gnadenvita” see: Siegfried Ringler, 1980 (see below: literature), pp. 352–358.
  7. ↑ See Ringler 1985 and Ringler 1980 (see below: Literature), Col. 602f. and p. 81; 225; 372.
  8. ↑ Cf. for example Langmann (1878), pp. 42,2f., Where the expressions "wilde godheit" and "wüest meine gothait" known from Eckhart , Tauler and Seuse are probably taken from a Dominican sermon, but are meaningless in the further text stay.
  9. ↑ See e.g. B. Langmann (1878), p. 20: "I can not do it alone because you are blessed, I can because other people are also blessed."
  10. ↑ See Ringler 1980 (see below: Literature), pp. 195–198.
  11. ↑ See Ringler 1980 (see below: literature), p. 75; 197f.
  12. ↑ See e.g. B. the artistically composed conversation between Mary and the Trinity and several saints, Langmann (1878), pp. 30–32.
  13. ↑ http://www.handschriftencensus.de/werke/4245 Handwritten tradition
  14. ↑ See Ringler 1985 and Ringler 1980 (see below: Literature), Col. 601f. or p. 79f.
  15. ↑ Langmann (1878), p. 37: “du solt nemen three disciplin, itlich [= any] with three miserere and with a panting, daz ez bluete, and solt weeping süezze zeher [= tears]”.
  16. ↑ See Langmann (1878), p. 4.
  17. ↑ See Langmann (1878), p. 18f.
  18. ↑ Langmann (1878), p. 67: “and he was as already daz daz unequal what and he sucked ir prustlein and what pei ir untz daz man metten people, and she het as great joy with im daz da lank ze who say . "
  19. ↑ Frenken (2002) on Adelheit Langmann pp. 219-229. On the common occurrence of hallucinations and mortifications cf. Pp. 220-223.
  20. ↑ Ursula Peters: Religious experience as a literary fact. On the prehistory and genesis of women-mystical texts of the 13th and 14th centuries. Tübingen 1988 (Hermaea NF 56), p. 192f.
  21. ↑ So z. B. Ringler 1980 (see below: literature), p. 354; 368; 377f.
  22. ↑ Langmann (1878), pp. 73,11f .: "si verjah, that there si little bodily ie no thing seen."
  23. ↑ See already Albert Hauck: Kirchengeschichte Deutschlands , vol. 5. Leipzig 1920, p. 393f .: "Not the face, but the word was the main thing for them."
  24. ↑ See Langmann (1878), pp. 59, 12ff. with variant note 14.
  25. ↑ See e.g. B. Langmann (1878), p. 37; 43; 52; 56 u. ö; P. 31; 64 (each in relation to the appropriations of the Trinity) and ö .; P. 7; 9f. u. ö.
  26. ↑ So already Philipp Strauch, Langmann (1878), p. XV.
  27. ↑ See Langmann (1878), pp. 19-21; 30-32; 35f .; 39f. u. ö.
  28. ↑ So also in the Vita of Dominikus; see the evidence in Ringler 1980 (see below: literature), p. 327.
  29. ↑ So also in Langmann (1878), p. 18; 66f. u. ö .; see. in addition the passages in Friedrich Sunder, in: Ringler 1980 (see below: literature), p. 393, line 72 u. 96; P. 413, lines 775f. u. ö., with commentary on pp. 187–189.
  30. ↑ So also in Langmann (1878), p. 67; see. on this the passage in Friedrich Sunder, in: Ringler 1980 (see below: literature), p. 415, lines 848–870, with commentary p.
  31. ↑ Langmann (1878), p. 37, lines 21-23, with reference to “mein herrren sant Dominicum”, ibid. Line 10. See the evidence in: Ringler 1980 (see below: literature), p. 171 and also pp. 158-160; 162. With such sources, it can no longer be proven that Adelheid's behavior was driven by self-tormenting motives; it can also be justified simply by obedience to the rules.
  32. ↑ See Langmann (1878), p. 22f .; 31; 37; 64; 92: "Violence, wisdom, goodness (in the sense of" goodness ")" / Minne, for Latin "potentia, sapientia, bonitas / amor". See Ringler 1980 (see below: literature), p. 232f .; 272.

literature

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  • Philipp Strauch (ed.): The revelations of Adelheid Langmann, nun of Engelthal . Strasbourg 1878 (Sources and research on the linguistic and cultural history of the Germanic peoples 26) Internet Archive
  • The revelations of Margaretha Ebner and Adelheid Langmann . Translated into New High German by Josef Prestel. H. Böhlaus successor, Weimar 1939 (Mystik des Abendlandes 3)

Secondary literature

Web links

Wikisource: Adelheid Langmann  - Sources and full texts
personal data
SURNAME Langmann, Adelheid
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German nun and mystic
DATE OF BIRTH 1306
PLACE OF BIRTH Nuremberg
DATE OF DEATH November 22, 1375
Place of death Engelthal