Three holy women

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Representation from the 14th century of Fides, Spes and Caritas in the Paulus chapel below Burg Bischofstein on the Moselle

Three holy women or three virgins refers to a complex of ideas that refers to pictorial representations and testimonies of veneration of three women in the Middle Ages and early modern times as well as to its interpretations in modern esoteric currents .

The pattern of the trinity is also common among male saints, but their veneration mostly remained within the regional framework and are therefore less well known.

origin

Pre-Christian goddesses are often assumed to be the origin of some holy trinity. At least the preference for groups of three seems to go back to pre-Christian customs and ideas such as the Celtic matrons . The ancient stone monuments, some of which are still visible today, were sometimes later interpreted as Christian representations of saints and included in the cult. In any case, a direct continuity of figures or names has not yet been proven.

The representation of the Holy -Dreiergruppen in the Catholic Church is a phenomenon of Western Europe . In the Orthodox Church and in Scandinavia , on the other hand, there are mainly representations of groups of four, especially St. Sophia with her daughters Fides, Spes and Caritas (or in Greek Pistis, Elpis and Agape (faith, hope, love)).

The preferred representation of groups of three meant that originally individual saints were often only merged into groups of three in the course of time or, for example, five saints were reduced to three. In some of the patron saints of three virgins, not even the names of those portrayed are known. Some groups arose from the custom of visiting three pilgrimage sites on a pilgrimage, the patron sisters of which were then venerated together over time.

Individual groups of saints

The number of groups of three virgins is large and their composition is inconsistent. The most important are:

St. Sophia with her 3 daughters, statue around 1870, princely house chapel at Löwenstein Castle , Kleinheubach

Fides, Spes and Caritas

They are personifications of the Christian virtues of faith, hope and love and come from the Eastern Church tradition, in which they are jointly venerated as the daughters of St. Sophia, the personification of wisdom . The group became known in the west before the 6th century and found its distribution mainly in France with Cahors as its center and in Luxembourg . In the German-speaking area, her cult is concentrated in the Rhineland north of the Moselle .

Einsteth, Wilbeth and Worbeth

The origin of the three names is unclear, they are probably Germanic personal names. The legend counts her among the companions of Ursula of Cologne . They are said to have already died in Strasbourg on their return from Rome, while the rest of the Ursula troops were then murdered by the Huns in Cologne. The cult of the enthousi has been documented since the middle of the 12th century; Wilbeth and Worbeth seem to have been added to her only in the second half of the 13th century, and in some places she was worshiped alone until the 16th century. Since Eindeth first appeared in Strasbourg , it is assumed that her model was a historical person of that name or his grave slab in the local church of St. Peter. Further early evidence can be found in the 14th century in Worms , Meransen and Schildthurn . In the late Middle Ages their cult spread mainly in Upper Bavaria and South Tyrol .

Because of their unclear origin, this group in particular has drawn speculation about a pagan origin. In his treatise Die Drei Ewigen - An investigation into Germanic peasant beliefs , Hans Christoph Schöll developed a comprehensive theory about the "three prayers" in 1936, which traces the three names back to Germanic or already Indo-European primordial goddesses. Since the whole theory is based on partly demonstrably false phonetic similarities without linguistic methodology , it was immediately rejected even by fellow scientists, but has nevertheless found widespread use in esoteric circles to this day.

The three Marys

The worship of the first two, later three Marys arose in the 13th / 14th centuries. Century in Provence and spread throughout France with the elevation of its relics at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer in the 15th century. These are Maria Magdalena , Maria Salome and Maria Jacobi, sometimes also with Maria , the mother of Jesus, and Maria, the sister of Lazarus . From France, their cult also spread to the Rhineland and south-west Germany , occasionally as far as Saxony (e.g. Härtensdorf ).

Three virgins

The patronage of three virgins, who have different names, but often no names at all, point to strong folk roots. The legends about the three virgins, who are miraculously set over a rock valley or taken up by a rock while fleeing, come from similar legends that have been linked to corresponding places. Due to circumstances that are mostly no longer comprehensible, these legends have passed into church cult. Two legends from the Basel area are particularly well known:

Eichsel: Kunigunde, Mechtrudis, Wibrandis

The legend of the three virgins Kunigunde , Mechtrudis and Wibrandis is widespread in the southern Baden region . They were followers of Ursula of Cologne on her pilgrimage to Rome . On the way back they are said to have fallen ill near Eichsel and died in a place called Rapprechtsweier (also Rapperschwier , today probably Adelhausen ). A mix-up led to Kunigunde being associated with the city of Rapperswil . The three virgins are still remembered annually in Eichsler's society .

Basel: Chrischona, Margaretha, Odilia

A related legend is that of the three virgins Chrischona, Margaretha and Odilia. They too were among Ursula von Cologne's companions . On their return from Rome they are said to have refused in Basel to endure the ordained martyrdom with Ursula and were chased out of the city. They settled on the surrounding hills near Basel and put a lantern down in their halls at night to give each other signs of life.

A variant of the legend treats them as three noble sisters from the Pfeffingen family . After the death of her parents, her brother became lord of the castle and took her into care. After they secretly fell in love with three brothers from the hated Thierstein house , the lord of the castle was prophesied by a dwarf that the Pfeffingen house would go under, while his sisters would build eternal houses. The lord of the castle caught the three brothers on a night visit and beheaded them, whereupon the three sisters withdrew as hermits. A variant names the families Münchenstein and Reichenstein instead of the houses Pfeffingen and Thierstein .

The churches of St. Chrischona , St. Margarethen and St. Ottilien are named after them.

A version by the church historian Hermann Crombach , published in 1647, mixed the Eichsler legend with parts about Chrischona from the Basel legend, which can be traced back to the simultaneous canonization of these four virgins by Cardinal Raimund Peraudi in June 1504.

Three holy girls

The three saints Madel Barbara , Margaretha , Katharina belong to the group of the fourteen helpers in need . They are saints who were both virgins and martyrs . There is a popular saying to impress the saints and their attributes : "Margaretha with the worm, Barbara with the tower, Katharina with the bike, these are the three holy girls."

Three sisters: Bertilia, Eutropia, Genovefa

The cult around the three early medieval saints Bertilia, Eutropia and Genoveva , each separated by 100 years, was formed in Limburg and Brabant with the cult center Zepperen in the 17th century and was essentially limited to this region. A third of the three sisters' chapels were not built until the 19th century.

Three donors or healing counselors

The common ownership of a forest by several communities was often traced back to donations from three rich sisters, in Bavaria mostly called "Heilratsinnen". In popular belief, these benefactors of the community were sometimes viewed as saints from the second half of the 16th century and were integrated into church cult. However, in several cases there is evidence of the transfer of ownership of the forest in question to the communities, which shows that the legend does not match the reality.

literature

  • Matthias Zender: The veneration of three holy women in Christian Central Europe and their preparations in old ideas. In: Matronen und related deities (= supplements to the Bonner Jahrbücher . Volume 44). Rheinland-Verlag, Cologne 1987.
  • Anton Bauer: To the veneration of the three holy virgins Ainbeth, Gwerbeth and Fürbeth in the diocese of Freising. In: Bavarian Yearbook for Folklore. 1961, pp. 33-44.
  • Hans Christoph Schöll: The three Eternals. An investigation into Germanic peasant beliefs. Jena 1936.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Zender 1987, p. 215
  2. Zender 1987, p. 227
  3. Zender 1987, p. 228
  4. Eleven thousand minus three virgins ( Memento from January 4, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  5. The three virgins at the gates of Basel. baselinsider.ch, May 18, 2012, archived from the original on January 4, 2014 ; accessed on May 21, 2015 .
  6. St. Chrischona on the Dinkelberg. altbasel.ch, August 1, 2006, accessed on February 25, 2019 .