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Herrad of Landsberg

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Herrad of Landsberg (Latin: Herrada Landsbergensis; c. 1130 – July 25, 1195) was a 12th-century Alsatian nun and abbess of Hohenburg Abbey in the Vosges mountains. She was known as the author of the pictorial encyclopedia Hortus deliciarum (The Garden of Delights).

Life at the Abbey

Born about 1130 at the castle of Landsberg, the seat of a noble Alsatian family, she entered Hohenburg Abbey in the Vosges mountains, about fifteen miles from Strasbourg, at an early age. Hohenburg Abbey, also known as Mont St Odile, was run by Abbess Relinda, a nun sent from the Benedictine monastery of Bergen in Bavaria. Due to her support from the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa the abbey was extremely successful and powerful, as well as a source for reform. At the abbey Herrad received the most comprehensive education available to women during the 12th century. As she grew older she rose to a high position in office at the abbey, and was soon put in charge of governing and educating her fellow nuns.[1] After Relinda's death, Herrad was elected abbess in 1167.[2]

As abbess, Herrad worked on rebuilding the monastery, as well as consolidating the land surrounding the monastery under its ownership.[3] She proved herself to be a capable and well-loved abbess, and it was at this time that she began her work on the Hortus Deliciarum. Herrad was abbess for 28 years, and continued in that office until her death in 1195. Adelhaid of Faimingen was her successor.[4][5]

Hortus deliciarum

As early as 1159 Herrad had begun within the cloister walls the work for which she is best known, the Hortus deliciarum, a compendium of all the sciences studied at that time. It was written for the women in Herrad's convent, in order to further the teaching of biblical, moral, and theological material, and was completed in 1185.[6] In it, Herrad delves into the battle of Virtue and Vice with vivid visual imagery preceding the text.

The original manuscript consisted of 648 pages on 324 parchment sheets.[7] The majority of the work is written in Latin, with approximately 1250 glosses in German.[8] The work shows a wide range of reading. Its chief claim to distinction is the 336 illustrations which adorn the text. Many of these are symbolical representations of theological, philosophical, and literary themes; some are historical, some represent scenes from the actual experience of the artist, and one is a collection of portraits of her sisters in religion. The technique has been very much admired and in almost every instance they show an artistic imagination which is rare in Herrad's contemporaries.

While other artists and writers contributed to the Hortus deliciarum, it was largely compiled, written, and edited by Herrad. Many of the poems and hymns were written by Herrad, and it is speculated that much of the art was created under the direction of Herrad as well.

After having been preserved for centuries at Hohenburg Abbey, the manuscript of Hortus deliciarum passed into the municipal library of Strasbourg about the time of the French Revolution. There the miniatures were copied by Christian Moritz Engelhardt and published by Cotta in Stuttgart in 1818.[9] The text was copied and published by Straub and Keller between 1879 and 1899 including some coloured copies from Herrad's illustrations made by Wilhelm Stengel.[10] Thus, although the original perished in the burning of the libraries of the Protestant seminary and the city of Strasbourg[11][12] during the Siege of Strasbourg in 1870 in the Franco-Prussian War, we can still form an estimate of the artistic and literary value of Herrad's work.

See also

From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia

Herrad of Landsberg — (or LANDSPERG)

A twelfth-century abbess, author of the "Hortus Deliciarum"; born about 1130, at the castle of Landsberg, the seat of a noble Alsatian family; died 1195. At an early age she entered the convent of Odilenberg, or Hohenburg, which crowns one of the most beautiful of the Vosges mountains, about fifteen miles from Strasburg. Here she succeeded to the dignity of Abbess in 1167, and continued in that office until her death. As early as 1165 Herrad had begun within the cloister walls the work "Hortus Deliciarum", or "Garden of Delights", by which she is best known. The text is a compendium of all the sciences studied at that time, including theology. The work, as one would expect from what we know of the literary activity of the twelfth century, does not exhibit a high degree of originality. It shows, however, a wide range of reading and when we remember that it was intended for the use of the novices of Odilenberg, we are enabled to glean from it a correct idea of the state of education in the cloister schools of that age. Its chief claim to distinction is the illustrations, three hundred and thirty-six in number, which adorn the text. Many of these are symbolical representations of theological, philosophical, and literary themes, some are historical, some represent scenes from the actual experience of the artist, and one is a collection of portraits of her sisters in religion. The technique of some of them has been very much admired and in almost every instance they show an artistic imagination which is rare in Herrad's contemporaries. The poetry which accompanies the excerpts from the writers of antiquity and from pagan authors is not the least of Herrad's titles to fame. It has, of course, the defects peculiar to the twelfth century, faults of quantity, words and constructions not sanctioned by classical usage, and peculiar turns of phrase which would hardly pass muster in a school of Latin poetry at the present time. However, the sentiment is sincere, the lines are musical, and above all admirably adapted to the purpose for which they were intended, namely, the service of God by song. Herrad, indeed, tells us that she considers her community to he a congregation gathered together to serve God by singing the divine praises. The fate of Herrad's manuscript is well-known. After having been preserved for centuries at her own monastery it passed about the time of the French Revolution into the municipal library of Strasburg. There the miniatures were copied by Engelhardt in 1818. The text was copied and published by Straub and Keller, 1879-1899. Thus, although the original perished in the burning of the Library of Strasburg during the siege of 1870, we can still form an estimate of the artistic and literary value of Herrad's work.

STRAUB U. KELLER, Hortus Deliciarum, folio ed. with plates (Strasburg, 1899); ENGELHARDT, Herrad von Landsberg (Stuttgart and Tübingen, 1819); SCHMIDT, Herrade de Landsberg (Strasburg, 1892); articles in: Bibl. de l'école des Chartes, I, 239; Gazette d'archéologie, IX, 57; Congrès archéol. de France, XXXVI, 274; see chapter in ECKSTEIN, Woman under Monasticism (Cambridge, 1896), 238 sqq.

References

  1. Back to citation McGuire 1988.
  2. Back to citation Storey 1998.
  3. Back to citation Griffiths 2007.
  4. Back to citation Engelhardt 1818, p. 60.
  5. Back to citation "Spät von Faimingen, Adelsfamilie". historisches-lexikon-bayerns.de.
  6. Back to citation Anon 2003.
  7. Back to citation Engelhardt 1818, p. 21.
  8. Back to citation Herrad 1979.
  9. Back to citation Engelhardt 1818.
  10. Back to citation Morgan 2003.
  11. Back to citation Organisation Archived 2015-07-04 at the Wayback Machine, bnu.fr
  12. Back to citation Creation of the BNU, bnu.fr

Bibliography

Sources

Further reading

  • Chadwick, Whitney, Women, Art, and Society, Thames and Hudson, London, 1990
  • Dionysius Albrecht. History von Hohenburg oder St. Odilien-Berg., Schlettstatt 1751.
  • Harris, Anne Sutherland and Linda Nochlin, Women Artists: 1550-1950, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Knopf, New York, 1976
  • Heinrich Reumont. Die Deutschen Glossen Im Hortus Deliciarum Der Herrad Von Landsberg. W. Reumont, Metz 1900.
  • A. Straub, G. Keller. Hortus deliciarum = Garden of delights. New Rochelle, N.Y.: Caratzas Bros., 1977.
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