WOMEN’S MONASTERIES IN MEDIEVAL GERMANY

Yıl 2023, , 25 - 32, 28.12.2023

Banu Çetin Ünal

https://doi.org/10.56387/ahbvedebiyat.1265135

Öz

A look at the social structure of Medieval Europe makes it clear that there was a patriarchal culture then. In this male-dominated culture, women struggled to survive in some way. At this point, women’s monasteries became a reliable shelter for them. One of the regions with the highest concentration of women’s monasteries is Germany. In Medieval Germany, a lot of monasteries were established for women. It was even possible to see that more monasteries for women were built in some regions than the ones for men. These monasteries, which were not only a refuge but also an educational institution for women, provided opportunities for women to receive education in different fields. Especially monasteries such as Gandersheim, Quedlinburg, Essen, and Helfta stand out among German women’s monasteries. Additionally, important figures who would later make a name for themselves emerged from these women’s monasteries in later periods. These women set an example for many more women by achieving successful works. In fact, although women generally lived in a male-dominated culture, some women were able to come to the forefront as a writer, a poet, or a prioress, achieving prominence in leadership roles. Despite all the oppression and restrictions, these women showed everyone that women could as well be successful. In our work, we will discuss the characteristics of German monasteries that served both as a refuge and an educational centre as well as the achievements of the women who were trained in these monasteries.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Medieval Germany, Woman, Monastery, Abbess.

ORTA ÇAĞ ALMANYASI’NDA KADIN MANASTIRLARI

Öz

Orta Çağ Avrupası’nda genel olarak baktığımızda erkek egemen bir kültürün var olduğu görülmektedir. Bu erkek egemen kültürde kadınlar ikincil bir konumda olmuşlar ve bir şekilde ayakta kalabilmek için çabalamışlardır. Bu noktada kadın manastırları onlar için güvenilir bir sığınak olmuştur. Kadın manastırlarının en yoğun olduğu bölgelerden birisi de Almanya’dır. Orta Çağ Almanyası’nda birçok kadın manastırı kurulmuş, öyle ki bazı bölgelerde erkekler için kurulan manastırlardan daha fazla kadın manastırları kurulduğu söylenebilir. Bu kadın manastırlarında kadınlar farklı alanlarda eğitim alma olanağına sahip olmuşlardır. Aslında bu manastırlar kadınlar için sadece bir sığınak değil aynı zamanda bir eğitim kurumuydu. Alman kadın manastırları arasında Gandersheim, Quedlinburg, Essen ve Helfta gibi manastırlar özellikle dikkat çekmektedir. Ayrıca bu kadın manastırlarında daha sonraki dönemlerde adlarından söz ettirecek önemli isimler de yetişmiştir. Bu kadınlar başarılı çalışmalara imza atarak birçok kadına örnek olmuşlardır. Aslında onlar erkek egemen kültürde var olabilmeyi başarmış kadınlardı. Onlar kadının ikincil konumda olduğu bir dönemde bir yazar, bir şair ya da bir baş rahibe olarak yöneticilik sıfatıyla ön plana çıkmayı başarabilmiş önemli isimlerdir. Bu kadınlar tüm baskı ve kısıtlamalara rağmen kadınların başarılı olabileceklerini herkese göstermişlerdir. Çalışmamızda hem bir sığınak olarak hem de eğitim merkezi olarak hizmet eden Alman manastırlarının özellikleri ve bu manastırlarda yetişen kadınların başarılarından bahsedeceğiz.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Orta Çağ Almanyası, Kadın, Manastır, Baş rahibe

Kaynakça

• ABDURRAHMANOĞLU, A. (2023). “Sistersiyen Tarikatı’nın Altın Çağı, Yapısı ve İşleyişi”. Journal of Universal History Studies, C.1, (6), 1-18.
• ANDERSEN, E. A. (2000). “Mechthild von Magdeburg”. Matthias Konzett (Ed), Encyclopedia of German Literature. Chicago and London: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 691-692.
• BARRATT, A. (Ed.). (2010). Women’s Writing in Middle English. Harlow: Longman.
• BURGESS, H. E. (1957). Hroswitha of Gandersheim: A study of the author and her Works. Montana State University, Master’s Thesis.
• CAMPION, L. (2022). Cushions, Kitchens and Christ: Mapping the Domestic in Late Medieval Religious Writing. University of Wales Press.
• CASE, S.E. (2014). Feminism and Theatre. New York: Routledge.
• CLASSEN, A. (1991). “Mechthild von Hackeborn”. Katharina M. Wilson (Ed), An Encyclopedia of Con- tinental Women Writers. Vol.1, New York: Garland Publishing, 518.
• CLASSEN, A. (2006). “Hrotsvit of Gandersheim (Hroswitha) (ca. 935–after 972)”. Jay Ruud (Ed), Ency- clopedia of Medieval Literature. New York: Facts On File, 322-324.
• CLASSEN, A. (2007). The Power of a Woman’s Voice in Medieval and Early Modern Literatures. Berlin: Walter De Gruyter.
• ÇETİN ÜNAL, B. (2022). Orta Çağ’da Otto Rönesansı. (Doktora tezi). Tokat: Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa Üniversitesi.
• ÇETİN ÜNAL, B. ve ÜLGEN, P. (2021). “Orta Çağ Almanya’sının Unutulan Bilge Kadını: Gandersheim’lı Hrotsvit”. Cappadocia Journal of History and Social Sciences, (17), 108-123.
• ENNEN, E. (1999). Frauen im Mittelalter. 6. Auflage, München: C.H. Beck
• EVANS, D. D. (2001). “Hrotsvit of Gandersheim (c.935-c.975)”. Mary R. Reichard (Ed), Catholic Women Writers: A Bio- Bibliographical Sourcebook. Westport: Greenwod Press, 169-174.
• FREINBERGER, R. (2013). Das Gottesbuch Mechthilds von Magdeburg – eine Ressource für spirituelle Theologie heute. Paris-Lodron-Universität Salzburg, Master-Thesis.
• FRIDERUCUS SCHULZE (trz). De Brunonis I. Archiepiscopi Coloniensis Ortu Et Studııs Praecipuisque Rebus Ab Eo Gestis, Halis Saxonum, Formis H. Gocht Cothenensis.
• GOODMAN, E. (1995). The Origins of the Western Legal Tradition: From Thales to the Tudors. NSW: The Federation Press.
• HOLLADAY, J. A. (2001). “Quedlinburg”. John M. Jeep (Ed), Medieval Germany: An Encyclopedia. New York: Garland Publishing, 633-634.
• JANSEN, C. (2017). “Clamor Validus” vs. “Fragilitas Sexus Feminei”: Hrotsvit of Gandersheim on the Agency of Women. Western Michigan University, Master’s Thesis.
• JESTICE, P. G. (2018). Imperial Ladies of the Ottonian Dynasty: Women and Rule in Tenth-Century Germany. Charles Beem and Carole Levin (Ed), Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan.
• JONES, H. and JONES, M. H. (2019). The Oxford Guide to Middle High German. New York: Oxford University Press.
• LEWIS, G. J. (2006). “Gertrud von Helfta”. Richard K. Emmersons (Ed), Key Figures in Medieval Euro- pean: An Encyclopedia. New York: Routledge, 250-251.
• RANFT, P. (2002). Women in Western Intellectual Culture, 600–1500. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. RANFT, P. (2015). “Women’s Monasteries: Western Christian”. William M. Johnston and Christopher Kleinhenz (Ed), Encyclopedia of Monasticism. Vol.1&2, New York: Routledge, 1407-1409.
• RICHMOND, P. A. (2016). Communities Empowered: Developing Institutional Identities at Quedlinburg and Gandersheim under the Ottonians. Budapest: Central European University, Master’s Thesis.
• SAUER, M. M. (2004). “Gertrude “the Great” of Helfta”. Phyllis G. Jestice (Ed), Holy People of the World: A Cross-Cultural Encyclopedia. Vol.1, Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, 307.
• SCHECK, H. (2006). “Mathilda and the Monastery At Essen”. Margaret Schaus (Ed), Women and Gender in Medieval Europe: An Encyclopedia. New York: Routledge, 549-550.
• SCHECK, H. (2009). “Queen Mathilda of Saxony and the Founding of Quedlinburg: Women, Memory, and Power”. Historical Reflections /Reflexions historiques, C.35, (3), 21-36.
• STERLING-HELLENBRAND, A. (2002). “Getrude the Great (1256-1301/1302)”. Jana K. Schulman (Ed), The Rise of the Medieval World, 500-1300: A Biographical Dictionary. Westport: Greenwood Press, 160-161.
• STERNAL, B. (2018). Harzer Persönlichkeiten: Lebensbilder. Norderstedt: Books on Demand.
• STEVENSON, J. (2005). Women Latin Poets: Language, Gender, and Authority, from Antiquity to the Eighteenth Century. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• The Plays of Roswitha. (1923). (Trans. Christopher St. John). London: Chatto & Windus.
• THIETMAR OF MERSEBURG. (2001). Ottonian Germany: The Chronicon of Thietmar of Merseburg (rans. David A. Warner). Manchester: Manchester University Press.
• TOBIN, F. (2006). “Mechthild von Magdeburg (ca. 1207–ca. 1282)”. Richard K. Emmersons (Ed), Key Figures in Medieval European: An Encyclopedia. New York: Routledge, 463-464.
• VOADEN, R. (1997). “All Girls Together: Community, Gender and Vision at Helfta”. Diane Watt (Ed), Medieval Women in their Communities. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, Toronto, 72-91.
• WEMPLE, S. F. (1994). “Women from the Fifth to the Tenth Century”. Christiane Klapisch-Zuber (Ed), A History of Women in the West. USA: Harvard University Press, 169-201.
• WIBERG PEDERSEN, E. M. (2006a). “Mechthild of Hackeborn”. Margaret Schaus (Ed), Women and Gender in Medieval Europe: An Encyclopedia. New York: Routledge, 552.
• WIBERG Pedersen, E. M. (2006b). “Gertrude The Great”. Richard K. Emmersons (Ed), Key Figures in Medieval European: An Encyclopedia. New York: Routledge, 323.
• WILSON, K. M. (1984). “The Saxon Canoness: Hrotsvit of Gandersheim”. Katharina M. Wilson (Ed), Medieval Women Writers. Athens: The University of Georgia Press, 30-63.
• WILSON, K. M. (2004). “Introduction”. Phyllis R. Brown, Linda A. McMillin, Katharina M. Wilson (Ed), Hrotsvit of Gandersheim: Contexts, Identities, Affinities, and Performances. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 3-12.
• YAVAŞ, H. (2021). “Orta Çağ’da Sistersiyen Ekonomisi Üzerine Bir Değerlendirme”. Selçuk Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi, (46), 58-73.