Christina von Retters

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Christina von Retters (also Christina von Hane ) (* around 1269 in the Worms area ; † around 1292 in Bolanden , Hane Monastery ) was a medieval mystic .

According to recent research, Christina von Retters was very likely one of the daughters of Walram II of Nassau and the sister of King Adolf of Nassau .

At the age of six, Christina was given to a monastery by her relatives or her parents, the Premonstratensian monastery in Hane (Palatinate) . Christina probably never lived in Retters, but in Hane. Mittermaier, the editor of her vita, writes that Christina may have been the sister of the later German king, Count Adolf von Nassau , that is, she came from the nobility.

Her biography is available in Central German, presumably it was not a translation from Latin. The unknown author of the text, possibly Christina's confessor, suggests that he heard Christina's biography himself. The manuscript is incomplete; it breaks off suddenly and without any representation or mention of her death.

At the age of six Christina had already served God with venien ( prostration ) and immersed herself in contemplation of the Passion of Jesus Christ . As a child around the age of ten she always wanted to be alone and had the first apparitions of the baby Jesus . Numerous auditions and visions are described in the vita . Christina von Retters is one of those mystics who subjected themselves to the toughest exercises of asceticism . She chastised herself frequently, exposed herself to the cold, and bit her tongue. She was particularly afraid of their sexual desires. Therefore she repeatedly injured her own vagina, also with the help of a burning piece of wood: "Another time she took a burning wood and thrust it into her body glowing, so that the bodily fire extinguished the fire of her desire with great pain." The mentality historian Peter Dinzelbacher writes: “Despite the burning of her gender, she was still plagued by sexual“ lusts ”. So she filled her vagina with lime and vinegar so that it remained without natural elimination for eight painful days, followed by blood for three days. But even that didn't help. Only one repetition with lime and urine brought her to the brink of death and deep depression. ”Then she fell into a state of paralysis and felt spared from her fantasies. But she continued to perform very harsh forms of mortification.

Christina died at the age of 23. She was venerated as a blessed .

literature

  • Franz Paul Mittermaier (Ed.): Biography of Blessed Christina, called von Retters. In: Archive for Middle Rhine Church History , 17, 1965, pp. 209–252 and 18, 1966, pp. 203–238.
  • Peter Dinzelbacher : Christian Mysticism in the Occident. Your story from the beginning to the end of the Middle Ages. Schöningh, Paderborn et al. 1994, pp. 233-236.
  • Ralph Frenken: Childhood and Mysticism in the Middle Ages. Peter Lang, 2002, pp. 127-141.
  • Franz Paul Mittermaier: Where did the blessed Christina live, in Retters or in Hane? In: Archive for Middle Rhine Church History 12, 1960, pp. 75–97.
  • Kurt Ruh: history of occidental mysticism. 3 volumes. CH Beck, Munich (Volume I: 1990, Volume II: 1993, Volume III: 1996).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ "Retters, Christina von". Hessian biography. (As of February 26, 2013). In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS).
  2. ^ Franz Paul Mittermaier: Where did the blessed Christina live, in Retters or in Hane? In: Archive for Middle Rhine Church History 12, 1960, pp. 75 ff.
  3. ↑ a b Kurt Ruh: History of occidental mysticism , vol. 2. CH Beck, Munich 1993, p. 121.
  4. ^ Franz Paul Mittermaier: Where did the blessed Christina live, in Retters or in Hane? In: Archive for Middle Rhine Church History 12, 1960, p. 86.
  5. ↑ Franz Paul Mittermaier (Ed.): Biography of Blessed Christina, called von Retters. In: Archive for Middle Rhine Church History , 17, 1965, p. 223.
  6. ↑ Franz Paul Mittermaier (Ed.): Biography of Blessed Christina, called von Retters. In: Archive for Middle Rhine Church History , 17, 1965, p. 229 u. 231.
  7. ↑ Franz Paul Mittermaier (Ed.): Biography of Blessed Christina, called von Retters. In: Archive for Middle Rhine Church History , 17, 1965, p. 227.
  8. ↑ Franz Paul Mittermaier (Ed.): Biography of Blessed Christina, called von Retters. In: Archive for Middle Rhine Church History , 17, 1965, p. 235. New High German translation according to Ralph Frenken: Childhood and Mysticism in the Middle Ages , Peter Lang, 2002, p. 127–141
  9. ↑ Peter Dinzelbacher: Christian Mysticism in the Occident. Your story from the beginning to the end of the Middle Ages. Schöningh, Paderborn et al. 1994, p. 235.
personal data
SURNAME Christina von Retters
BRIEF DESCRIPTION medieval adventure mystic
DATE OF BIRTH around 1269
PLACE OF BIRTH Worms room
DATE OF DEATH around 1292
Place of death Bolanden , Hane Monastery