I've recently been discovering a bunch of interesting medieval German mystics. Hildegard of Bingen is the one most people think of, and she was quite a personality. But I've just finished reading Andrew Davidson's recently released novel The Gargoyle and discovered the women mystics at the Beguine convent of Engelthal.
The Gargoyle is a tour de force, one of the best novels I've read this year. (I've posted a review at http://www.HistoricalNovels.info/Gargoyle.html.) It's about a present-day man horribly burned in a car wreck who is visited in the hospital by a woman who claims to have healed him once before, when she was a nun at Engelthal in the fourteenth century and he was a wounded soldier. The quality of Davidson's writing makes this novel a real stunner. It's hard to classify - not a time-slip novel, and it's never completely clear whether the mysterious (but not at all spooky) woman is delusional, remembering a past life, or a "wandering Jew" type figure. But the historical portions are thoroughly researched and vividly brought to life, and are integral to the novel's structure. Highly recommended.
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Medieval Spirituality
- Margaret
- Bibliomaniac
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Medieval Spirituality
Browse over 5000 historical novel listings (probably well over 5000 by now, but I haven't re-counted lately) and over 700 reviews at www.HistoricalNovels.info
"The Gargoyle" sounds good- I'll have to see if I can track down a copy.
The words ’German” and “mystic” don’t immediately strike us as congruent, but in fact there is a long tradition of mysticism in Germany, as I discovered when I came across the Brethren of the Free Spirit, who flourished in Germany during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.
They are just a part of a long line leading to the originals of the nineteenth century, like the fascinating Adolf Just, who were inspired as part of a spiritual re-awakening to return to nature; vegetarianism, long hair, sandals and all.
I recently read a very interesting article which posits that the Pagan in the make-up of the German nature has never been completely defeated, but has periodically re-emerged through different historical periods in different forms. The authors' theory is that the hippy movement of the twentieth century had its roots in ideas brought to the States by German immigrants who had been influenced by the German "Lebensreform" (life-reform) movement of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
The words ’German” and “mystic” don’t immediately strike us as congruent, but in fact there is a long tradition of mysticism in Germany, as I discovered when I came across the Brethren of the Free Spirit, who flourished in Germany during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.
They are just a part of a long line leading to the originals of the nineteenth century, like the fascinating Adolf Just, who were inspired as part of a spiritual re-awakening to return to nature; vegetarianism, long hair, sandals and all.
I recently read a very interesting article which posits that the Pagan in the make-up of the German nature has never been completely defeated, but has periodically re-emerged through different historical periods in different forms. The authors' theory is that the hippy movement of the twentieth century had its roots in ideas brought to the States by German immigrants who had been influenced by the German "Lebensreform" (life-reform) movement of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
Last edited by annis on Thu October 30th, 2008, 2:19 am, edited 3 times in total.
The word "pagan" has become a difficult one , fraught with emotional and negative connotations. I htink that in the context of this article it means the spirituality expressed by the sense of the numinous nature of living things which permeated all aspects of daily life amongst the ancient Germanic tribes.
This sense of awe is captured rather well in Donna Gillespie's novel "The Lightbearer", I feel.
Obviously this spiritual experience can be manifested within many different frameworks including Christianity, but is a strong part of the German heritage.
It's an interesting theory anyway, and like all theories can be manipulated to suit the appropriate argument. Alexandra Kollantai's theories regarding social and sexual relationships were clearly influential as well.
Digression is good! It always livens things up to throw more ideas into the mix
This sense of awe is captured rather well in Donna Gillespie's novel "The Lightbearer", I feel.
Obviously this spiritual experience can be manifested within many different frameworks including Christianity, but is a strong part of the German heritage.
It's an interesting theory anyway, and like all theories can be manipulated to suit the appropriate argument. Alexandra Kollantai's theories regarding social and sexual relationships were clearly influential as well.
Digression is good! It always livens things up to throw more ideas into the mix
Last edited by annis on Thu October 30th, 2008, 5:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Another one of those remarkable medieval German nuns is Hroswitha of Gandersheim, a learned tenth century philosopher and playwright, who claimed the Roman playwright Terence as an inspiration.
There is a picture of a Dürer woodcut in this Wikipedia article of Hroswitha and Otto the Great.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hrosvit
There seems to be a tradition of medieval German nuns being respected advisors to heads of State. Going back to ancient Germanic practices, is this perhaps related to the ancient Germanic tradition of paying great heed to the counsel of women?
There is a picture of a Dürer woodcut in this Wikipedia article of Hroswitha and Otto the Great.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hrosvit
There seems to be a tradition of medieval German nuns being respected advisors to heads of State. Going back to ancient Germanic practices, is this perhaps related to the ancient Germanic tradition of paying great heed to the counsel of women?
- Margaret
- Bibliomaniac
- Posts: 2440
- Joined: August 2008
- Interest in HF: I can't answer this in 100 characters. Sorry.
- Favourite HF book: Checkmate, the final novel in the Lymond series
- Preferred HF: Literary novels. Late medieval and Renaissance.
- Location: Catskill, New York, USA
- Contact:
I'm in complete agreement about the value of digression. While it may sometimes be appropriate to move digressions to another thread, I think they almost invariably enrich the conversation.
Earlier periods of German history has been neglected ever since the horrors of the Nazi era transfixed people's attention. But Germany has an extremely rich history, which should not be treated as part of an inevitable march to Nazism.
Hildegard of Bingen is a particularly fascinating person. I have not read any fiction about her, though there are some novels about her listed at http://www.historicalnovels.info/Angevins.html#EurCont, but I highly recommend the nonfiction book by Fiona Maddocks, Hildegard of Bingen. It reads like fiction and had me mesmerized. Hildegard was walled up as an anchorite with a small group of other nuns when she was still quite young. She was essentially voiceless until the head of this group of nuns died, at which time she suddenly came into her own. She began writing down her visions and (after a period in which she might have been condemned for heresy, but was instead embraced by influential church leaders, including the pope) became a famous spiritual leader. She had enough influence to write letters chastising emperors and popes and get away with it!
Earlier periods of German history has been neglected ever since the horrors of the Nazi era transfixed people's attention. But Germany has an extremely rich history, which should not be treated as part of an inevitable march to Nazism.
Hildegard of Bingen is a particularly fascinating person. I have not read any fiction about her, though there are some novels about her listed at http://www.historicalnovels.info/Angevins.html#EurCont, but I highly recommend the nonfiction book by Fiona Maddocks, Hildegard of Bingen. It reads like fiction and had me mesmerized. Hildegard was walled up as an anchorite with a small group of other nuns when she was still quite young. She was essentially voiceless until the head of this group of nuns died, at which time she suddenly came into her own. She began writing down her visions and (after a period in which she might have been condemned for heresy, but was instead embraced by influential church leaders, including the pope) became a famous spiritual leader. She had enough influence to write letters chastising emperors and popes and get away with it!
Browse over 5000 historical novel listings (probably well over 5000 by now, but I haven't re-counted lately) and over 700 reviews at www.HistoricalNovels.info
While I was checking out the Brothers and Sisters of the Free Spirit I found yet another German mystic, a Cistercian nun of the thirteenth century who was part of the Beguinemovement which was related to the Brethren of the Free Spirit and the Cathars.
Mechtlid of Magdeburg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechthild_of_Magdeburg
It seems that there was a plethora of these alternative religious movements during the medieval period, but for some reason only the Cathars have remained well known. I can think of a lot of HF featuring the Cathars, but nothing about the others.
Mechtlid of Magdeburg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechthild_of_Magdeburg
It seems that there was a plethora of these alternative religious movements during the medieval period, but for some reason only the Cathars have remained well known. I can think of a lot of HF featuring the Cathars, but nothing about the others.
- Margaret
- Bibliomaniac
- Posts: 2440
- Joined: August 2008
- Interest in HF: I can't answer this in 100 characters. Sorry.
- Favourite HF book: Checkmate, the final novel in the Lymond series
- Preferred HF: Literary novels. Late medieval and Renaissance.
- Location: Catskill, New York, USA
- Contact:
Yes, in fact, the fourteenth century nun in The Gargoyle was a member of a Beguine convent that had some type of connection with Mechthild. I was going to say Mechthild helped to found it, but I'm not finding the exact connection at the moment.
Browse over 5000 historical novel listings (probably well over 5000 by now, but I haven't re-counted lately) and over 700 reviews at www.HistoricalNovels.info