A letter from Hrotsvit, nun of Gandersheim ()

Translated letter:

I took all the material of this little work as I did the first from ancient books written by named authors, except the passion of St. Pelagius [in the first book]; his martyrdom was told to me by a native of the city in which he suffered it, who bore witness that he had seen that most beautiful of men and truly knew the outcome of the affair. Wherefore, if I included anything false in either one, I did not err on my own, but uncautiously followed those who erred. There are many catholics, from whom we can not be excluded, who prefer the vanity of gentile [pagan] books for the eloquence of their cultured speech to the utility of sacred scriptures. There are others who adhere to the sacred pages and scorn other works of the gentiles but nonetheless frequently read the fictions of Terence and, while they take delight in the sweetness of his speech, they are tainted by acquaintance with impious things. That is why I, the Strong Shout of Gandersheim, have not refused to imitate him in composing whom others revere in reading. In that same kind of composition in which the filthy pollutions of lewd women are recited, the praiseworthy chastity of holy virgins will be celebrated according to the ability of my little wit. This led me, not rarely, to be ashamed and to blush, that I had to think and write in this kind of composition about the hateful madness of illicit lovers and their evilly sweet talk, which are not permitted to reach our ears. But if I failed to do this because of my embarrassment, I could not carry out my purpose, nor expound fully the praise of innocents according to my powers since the more the flatteries of the senseless lead to illicit things, the higher the glory of the heavenly helper and the more glorious the victory of the triumphant proves to be, especially when feminine fragility conquers and virile strength is confounded. For I do not doubt some will object because of the baseness of this composition, much inferior, much briefer, quite dissimilar to the thinking of the one I proposed to imitate. I grant that; but I declare to them I can not rightly be reproved as if I wished improperly to be like those who far outstrip my ignorance in higher learning. For I am not such a braggart that I presume to compare to the last pupils of those authors; I strive only to give back to the giver the wit I have received with the humble devotion of my mind, even if I have no aptitude. I am not such a lover of myself that to avoid reproof, I would cease to preach the virtue of Christ who works through the saints, with whatever ability he gives me. If my devotion pleases anyone, I shall rejoice; but if, either because of my low state or my unsophisticated and incorrect speech, it pleases no one, it will nonetheless be good that I did it since while in other little works of my ignorance I bound the vileness of my labor in heroic strophes [dactyls], in this I join them in dramatic lines, abstaining from enriching them with the pernicious pleasures of the gentiles.

Original letter:

Huius omnem materiam sicut et prioris opusculi sumsi ab antiquis libris sub certis auctorum nominibus conscriptis, excepta superius scripta passione sancti Pelagii; cuius seriem martirii quidam eiusdem, in qua passus est, indigena civitatis mihi exposuit, qui ipsum pulcherrimum virorum se vidisse et exitum rei attestatus est veraciter agnovisse. Unde, si quid in utroque falsitatis dictando comprehendi, non ex meo fefelli, sed fallentes incaute imitata fui. Plures inveniuntur catholici, cuius nos penitus expurgare nequimus facti, qui pro cultioris facundia sermonis gentilium vanitatem librorum utilitati praeferunt sacrarum scripturarum. Sunt etiam alii, sacris inhaerentes paginis, qui licet alia gentilium spernant, Terentii tamen fingmenta frequentius lectitant et, dum dulcedine sermonis delectantur, nefandarum notitia rerum maculantur. Unde ego, Clamor Validus Gandeshemensis, non recusavi illum imitari dictando, dum alii colunt legendo, quo eodem dictationis genere, quo turpia lascivarum incesta feminarum recitabantur, laudabilis sacrarum castimonia virginum iuxta mei facultatem ingenioli celebraretur. Hoc tamen facit non raro verecundari gravique rubore perfundi, quod, huiusmodi specie dictationis cogente detestabilem inlicite amantium dementiam et male dulcia colloquia eorum, quae nec nostro auditui permittuntur accommodari, dictando mente tractavi et stili officio designavi. Sed haec erubescendo neglegerem, nec proposito satisfacerem nec innocentium laudem adeo plene iuxta meum posse exponerem, quia, quanto blanditiae amentium ad illiciendum promptiores, tanto et superni adiutoris gloria sublimior et triumphantium victoria probatur gloriosior, praesertim cum feminea fragilitas vinceret et virilis robur confusioni subiaceret. Non enim dubito, mihi ab aliquibus obici, quod huius vilitas dictationis multo inferior, multo contractior penitusque dissimilis eius, quem proponebam imitari, sit sententiis. Concedo; ipsis tamen denuntio, me in hoc iure reprehendi non posse, quasi his vellem abusive assimilari, qui mei inertiam longe praecesserunt in scientia sublimiori. Nec enim tantae sum iactantiae, ut vel extremis me praesumam conferre auctorum alumnis; sed hoc solum nitor, ut, licet nullatenus valeam apte, supplici tamen mentis devotione acceptum in datorem retorqueam ingenium. Ideoque non sum adeo amatrix mei, ut pro vitanda reprehensione Christi, qui in sanctis operatur, virtutem, quocumque ipse dabit posse, cessem praedicare. Si enim alicui placet mea devotio, gaudebo; si autem vel pro mei abiectione vel pro vitiosi sermonis rusticitate placet nulli, memet ipsam tamen iuvat, quod feci, quia, dum proprii vilitatem laboris, in aliis meae inscientiae opusculis heroico ligatam strophio, in hoc dramatica vinctam serie colo, perniciosas gentilium delicias abstinendo divito.

Historical context:

Since these two passages are clearly direct addresses to the reader, they are included here as letters. The first pertains as much to the saints lives as to the plays, the second may well be addressed particularly to the learned men Hrotsvit asks in the following letter to examine and correct the text. The plays have been translated by Katharina M. Wilson, The Dramas of Hrotsvit of Gandersheim (Saskatoon: Peregrina Publishing, 1985) and by Larisa Bonfante, The Plays of Hrotsvitha von Gandersheim (New York: New York University Press, 1979).

Printed source:

Hrotsvithae Opera, ed. H. Homeyer (Munich: Schöningh, 1970), 227, 233-34, preface to the plays.