Speculum virginum

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Allegory of the three estates of women (virgins, widows, married women) based on the parable of the fourfold arable field from a manuscript from the late 13th century. The virgins reap a hundredfold, the widows sixtyfold and the wives thirtyfold ( Mt 13.8  EU ).

The Speculum virginum , also called Jungfrauenspiegel , is a medieval textbook in twelve books, which has been handed down in 24 full manuscripts and various excerpts in Latin .

Emergence

Battle of flesh and spirit (Homo constat ex carne) ; from a 12th century manuscript

The font originated around the year 1140 in the literary tradition of a mirror ( Latin speculum ). The author of the work is not known. It is mostly attributed to the Benedictine philosopher, poet and musician Konrad von Hirsau , but it could also come from an unknown canon regular from the Middle Rhine .

Content, form and structure

The text is divided into twelve books in which questions about monastic life and following Christ are discussed in a dialogue between Presbyter Peregrinus and the consecrated Virgin Theodora. In the dialogue between the two fictional people in the roles of teacher and his pupil, the fundamentals of a monastic life for women are conveyed and illustrated by a theological justification, historical derivation and pragmatic arrangement. Everything is subordinated to the exhortation to do what is right, the exhortation . This also includes the interpretation of the Holy Scriptures in an allegorical sense .

Methodically reflected, following the guidelines of medieval school lessons and with rhetorically trained prose, the didactic effect is underlined. It increases to doxological parts of rhythmically linked rhyming prose.

An introductory letter is part of the font. Each of the twelve books, which differ in length, is framed by an introductory double-choir epithalamium and a poem at the end. The epithalamium consists of 129 verses that form a neumed acrostic . Four early manuscripts each have a further song at the beginning or at the end of the text.

Illustrations

The tree of vices, from a manuscript of the Cistercian Abbey of Himmerod around 1200. The seven main vices each have the other vices they produce. The root of the trunk is Superbia , it also holds the golden chalice of Belshazzar , king of Babylon.

Common to all manuscripts in the main group is a series of twelve large illustrations. They show:

These are pen and ink drawings that almost always have colored washes ; they show the protagonists as well as the mystical visions discussed in the text. They fit into the didactic concept. The large, expressive pen drawings are considered exemplary of the art of this era. The images are anchored in the text by means of text references. The composition is attributed to the author.

reception

The Speculum virginum was widely received in the 12th and 13th centuries and provides essential insights into the problems of the time, in which theological questions are discussed as well as the inner renewal of the church. It is also considered an early testimony to the influence of women in the reform movement of the church. The script was translated into Middle Dutch and Old Swedish .

literature

expenditure

Secondary literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Klaus Graf : The 'Speculum virginum' of Peregrinus Hirsaugiensis - the 24 full manuscripts . At: Archivalia , September 14, 2015. With a list of the manuscripts. (Accessed October 21, 2017)
  2. ↑ Know where! Knowledge creates spaces: the positioning of thinking in the mirror of printmaking . Oldenbourg Verlag, 2008, ISBN 978-3-05-004755-3 , pp. 152 ( books.google.de ).
  3. ↑ a b c d e Urban Küsters, Jutta Seyfarth, 'Speculum virginum', in: ²VL 9 (1995), 67-76.
  4. ↑ Urban Küsters, Jutta Seyfarth, 'Speculum virginum', in: ²VL 9 (1995), 67-76.
  5. ↑ Virtus: On the semantics of a political concept in the Middle Ages . Campus Verlag, 2014, ISBN 978-3-593-50076-8 , pp. 106 ( books.google.de ).
  6. ↑ According to Klaus Graf : The 'Speculum virginum' of Peregrinus Hirsaugiensis - the 24 full manuscripts . At: Archivalia , September 14, 2015. (Accessed October 21, 2017)
  7. ↑ Walters Ms. W. 72, Speculum virginum. In: thedigitalwalters.org. Retrieved October 12, 2017 .
  8. ↑ Speculum Virginum = Jungfrauenspiegel , herder.de, accessed on October 12, 2017
  9. ↑ Konrad von Hirsau - German biography. In: deutsche-biographie.de. www.deutsche-biographie.de, accessed on October 22, 2017 .
  10. ↑ Speculum virginum - virgin level. Kungl. Boktryckeriet. PA Norstedt & Söner, accessed October 22, 2017 (Swedish).

Web links

Commons : Speculum virginum  - collection of images, videos and audio files