Saint Hildegard of Bingen was born in the year of 1098 in the castle of Böchelheim on the River Nahe. Hildegard specific birthdate is unknown. She was born the tenth child in from her father, Hildebert and her mother, Mechtildis. Her family was very noble. At the age of 8, her family could not support her, so she was given to an anchoress name Jutta. From there and forward she would receive a religious education and live the religious life that would soon develop her into a nun. From this age, she was spent in the Benedictine house. During this time she began to experience visions and illnesses. Some of the visions she would have included bright lights, sound of symphonies, and figures that would appear.
While living in the Benedictine House she had the opportunity to learn how to read musical notation; learn German and some Latin from Jutta; and she exposed to going to service at least eight times a day. Jutta taught Hildegard basic education, and from there she learned to read Psalter in Latin. Because of Hildegard’s grammatical errors, she would have the help of her lifelong secretaries, Jutta and Volmar (another monk), to write down her visions. Her visions later inspired her to write music.
In the year of 1136, when Hildegard was about 38 years of age, Jutta died and Hildegard was elected to lead the women of Disibodenberg. Despite of Hildegard’s visions it did not stir the women to not vote for her. As her role as head continue to grow and flourish, by her 42nd birthday her visions had continued to grow on her as well. She began to see images, hear voices, and sometimes was unable to move. Because of her visions she was called forth to write and teach everything that she saw and heard. She describes the vis...
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..."The Life and Works of Hildegard Von Bingen (1098-1179)." Internet History Sourcebooks Project. Fordham University, 24 May 1995. Web. 16 Sept. 2013.
Mershman, Francis. "St. Hildegard." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 5 Oct. 2013 .
Singer, Charles. "The Visions of Hildegard of Bingen." Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine 78 (2005): n. pag. National Center for Biotechnology Information. U.S. National Library of Medicine, Jan. 2005. Web. 02 Oct. 2013. .
Vision: From The Life of Hildegard Von Bingen. Dir. Margarethe Von Trotta. Perf. Barbara Sukowa, Heino Ferch, and Hannah Herzsprung. Netflix. Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph, 29 Sept. 2009. Web. 7 Nov. 2013. .
Beowulf is an Anglo-Saxon narrative poem whose oral traditions date back to the sixth century (Ward v1,ch3,s3,n11). Beowulf opens with a short account of the victorious Danish king Scyld Scefing, whose pagan ship-burial is described. His body was carried on board a ship, piled up with arms and treasures: the ship passed out to sea, whence Scyld had arrived to the Danes as an abandoned child – a likely indication of a charmed, magical life. In The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki we meet Yrsa (also found in Beowulf), who is an impoverished child of uncertain birth (Byock xi); she later becomes queen – another charmed life. But re,markably she grows into one of the few women in the saga who do not employ magic. In Beowulf the reigns of Scyld’s son and grandson, Beowulf and Healfdene, are mentioned, and we then meet Hrothgar, the son of Healfdene. In The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki we also meet a Hrothgar, but his name is abbreviated into Hroar. He and his brother Helgi saw their father, King Halfdan, killed by King Frodi, who would have killed the two sons except for the magic of the commoner Vifil with whom they were hiding. King Frodi, in his attempt to kill them, “sought the aid of seeresses and soothsayers,” and when that failed, of “sorcerers” (2). But the magic of Vifil was so strong that it obscured the supernatural vision of the women (witches?); Vifil knew that “powerful spirits have visited the island [where he lived] (3) and thus saved Helgi and Hroar. Later Hroar is a notable figure, just as in Beowulf, ruling over the northern English kingdom of Northumberland until forced into a disastrous conflict. Meanwhile, as kids, Hroar and Helgi’s sister, Signy, manifests an uncanny poetic ability of speaking in beautiful verses when Jarl Saevil is escorting a group to King Frodi’s celebration; to me this seems magical. At Frodi’s feast a seeres named Heid is placed high up on a trance platform and asked to reveal any information about Hroar and Helgi.
What was the predominant image of women and women’s place in medieval society? Actual historical events, such as the scandal and subsequent litigation revolving around Anna Buschler which Steven Ozment detail’s in the Burgermeisters Daughter, suggests something off a compromise between these two literary extremes. It is easy to say that life in the sixteenth century was surely no utopia for women but at least they had some rights.
Each time I perform I am taken into another place, another state of being. In this particular monologue, I was performing as Huldey from The Moors by Jen Silverman. This monologue was very interesting to me because I could relate to it but at the same time, the character was nothing like me. As a dramatic person, I was able to portray Huldey's actions and emotions without being tied to them in the way she is. This allowed me to be engaged with the audience which is part of step one in being a good actor. (Benedetti) Throughout this monologue I had to make several choices in order to ensure that it would not be monotonous. The monologue starts off as Huldey reading her diary. Her writing is boring but she thinks it to be the most amazing thing in the world and thinks of herself as a famous writer when in reality she is not. I had to portray this attitude with every line. Overall, I feel a did a pretty good job, However, there was one particular line that I could have placed more emphasis on and made a stronger choice. "There is nothing good in the world" could have been a really phenomenal line had I known what choice to make. In the future, I would rehearse the monologue more to see what feels right there and would be cohesive with the rest of the monologue.
This is a small example of how Einhard was a very educated man and in other accounts he was highly regarded as a poet. Einhard was not only skilled enough to write on Charlemagne, he was almost obligated to do so. After a quick summary of some of the highlights of Einhard’s career the introduction to The Life of Charlemagne says,
When Catherine was six she saw a bridal chamber up in the heavens with Jesus Christ who bestowed upon her the sign of the cross and his eternal bene...
Otto, Rudolf. The Idea of the Holy. Trans. John W. Harvey. New York: Oxford UP, 1958. Print.
Gluckel of Hamlin, was not just a regular housewife, thought to be like other women in the 17th century, but she was also a business women, who showed that not only men controlled the economy. She was born in to a Jewish family in Hamburg, Germany in 1646. Due to religious persecution her family moved to Hamlin, Germany. She was betrothed at age twelve to Hayyim Hamel and was married at age 14. Gluckel gave birth to fourteen children, two of whom, a two-week old infant son and a three-year old daughter, died prematurely. Gluckel was an active partner in her husband’s business, which consisted of trading jewelry and stones and giving out loans and t...
Works Cited: http://members.ll.net/ken/hunter3.html Ozment, Steven. The Burgermeister's Daughter: Scandal in a Sixteenth –Century German Town. New York: Harper Perennial, 1996. Print.
Within the pages of the well-known epic poem are many extraordinary and warring narratives of the Middle Ages. Beowulf is important because it is one of the most ancient European epics written in the vernacular, or native tongue. The seemingly super natural heroes of this exciting and famous writing have a great impact on the typical roles of their women. As declared through out the many lines of the astonishing poem, the women have many purposes and serve a variety of roles. Wealhtheow, Hygd, Hildeburh, Freawaru, and Grendel’s Mother give examples of the historical roles that are expected of the women of this ancient time. The women in “Beowulf” have the significant roles of hostess, peaceweaver, and mother.
Schaff, Phillip. History of the Christian Church. Vol. VI, §73. 3rd ed. Edinburgh: Hendrickson, 2006. Web.
The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved February 21, 2010 from New Advent: http://www.newadvent.org
Another effect of what are called the ‘historical elements’ in Beowulf – the subsidiary stories of the Danes and the Geats – is to give the poem greater depth and verisimilitude. Hrothgar, the Danish king, is a ‘historical character, and the site of his palace of Heorot has been identified with the village of Leire on the island of Seeland in Denmark. The Geat king Hygelac really existed, and his unlucky expedition against the Franks, referred to several times in the poem, is mentioned by Gregory of Tours in the Historia Francorum and has been given the approximate date of AD521 (127).
Beowulf begins with a history of the Danish kings. Hrothgar is the present king of the Danes. He builds a hall, called Heorot, to house his army. The Danish soldiers gather under its roof to celebrate and have fellowship with each other. Grendel, who lives at the bottom of a nearby swamp, is awakened and disgusted by the singing of Hrothgar's men. He comes to the hall late one night and kills thirty of the warriors in their sleep. For the next twelve years Grendel stalks the mead hall known as Heorot.
http://www.pentheon.com/articles/o/odin.html 1 page, accessed April 7, 2004. Created on March 3 1997, Modified Feb. 12, 2004. Encyclopedia Mythica 1995-2004
Ullmann, Walter. A Short History of the Papacy in the Middle Ages. 2nd ed. New York City, NY: Routledge, 2003.