Gertrude of Hackeborn
Gertrude of Hackeborn (1232–1292) was the abbess of the Benedictine convent of Helfta, near Eisleben in modern Germany.
Gertrude was born in 1232 near Halberstadt, Saxony-Anhalt. She was a member of the Thuringian Hackeborn dynasty and elder sister of Mechtilde. At a young age, she entered the Benedictine convent of Roderdorf, which followed Cistercian traditions.[1] She was elected abbess in 1251 at the age of nineteen. She founded the convent of Hederleben in 1253 with the help of her two brothers, Albert and Louis, but it suffered from a lack of water, so she received the castle of Helpeda (Helfta) and its surrounding land from them and moved her community there in 1258.[2]
During her time as abbess, Benedictine practice, Cistercian austerity, and Dominican and Beguine spirituality came together to make the convent of Helfta famous across the Holy Roman Empire for its practices of asceticism and mysticism.[3][4] Gertrude required her nuns to be educated in the liberal arts, but most importantly in the Bible. Abbess Gertrude bought or had the nuns copy "all the good books she could get".[1] She is described as a cultured woman of remarkable character, uniting love, gentleness, and piety with practical wisdom, and good sense.[5] Under the leadership of the Abbess Gertrude, the monastery at Helfta was highly regarded for its spiritual and intellectual vitality.[6] Despite the protection of some powerful families, it was pillaged at least twice during Gertrude's time.[7]
In 1270, she tended the sick and gave shelter to Beguine Mechthild of Magdeburg.[1]
From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia
Gertrude of Hackeborn — Cistercian Abbess of Helfta, near Eisleben; born near Halberstadt in 1232; died towards the end of 1292. She belonged to the noble Thuringian family of Hackeborn and was a sister of St. Mechtild. At an early age she entered the Cistercian convent of Rodersdorf, of which she was elected abbess in 1251 when she was only nineteen years of old. In 1253 she founded, with the assistance of her two brothers, Albert and Louis, the convent of Hedersleben. Because her own convent suffered from want of water she obtained from her brothers the castle of Helpeda, of Helfta, with its surrounding land, and transferred her community to that place in 1258. During her rule, the convent of Helfta became the most famous abode of asceticism and mysticism in Germany. She required her nuns to be educated in the liberal arts, but insisted especially on the study of Holy Scripture. Gertrude was a model abbess, remarkable for her piety as well as prudent direction of her nuns. About a year and a half before her death, the abbess was seized with apoplexy, and during her sickness gave to all her nuns an example of heroic patience and resignation to the will of God. The Abbess Gertrude must not be confounded with St. Gertrude "the Great". The Abbess Gertrude never wrote anything, received no extraordinary revelations from God, and has not been canonized. She was born more than 20 years before Gertrude "the Great", who lived as an ordinary nun in the same convent.
References
- Back to citation occurrence 1.0 Back to citation occurrence 1.1 Back to citation occurrence 1.2 Schaus, Margaret. "Gertrude of Hackeborn", Women and Gender in Medieval Europe, Taylor & Francis, 2006 ISBN 9780415969444
- Back to citation Ott, Michael. "Gertrude of Hackeborn." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 6. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 7 May 2013
- Back to citation Jewell, Helen M., Women In Late Medieval and Reformation Europe 1200-1550, Palgrave Macmillan, 2006 ISBN 9781137232489
- Back to citation Schmidt, Margot (2002). "Helfta". In André Vauchez (ed.). Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages. James Clarke & Co. pp. 659–660.
- Back to citation Bevan, Frances. Matelda and the Cloister of Hellfde, James Nisbet & Co., London, 1896
- Back to citation Catholic News Agency, 11 November 2012
- Back to citation "Lindemann PhD., Kate. "Helfta Monastery", Women Philosophers". Archived from the original on 2014-03-14. Retrieved 2013-06-01.