Ruothild (abbess of Pfalzel)
Ruothild (Latin: Ruothildis) was a canoness and the abbess of Pfalzel in the 980s and 990s. She was born into a wealthy aristocratic family.[1] During her tenure, the diocesan clergy of Trier began pushing the canonesses to accept the Benedictine rule and become nuns.[1]
Ruothild first appears as abbess in the 980s. According to the Libellus de rebus Trevirensibus, she had previously been a canoness of Essen Abbey, where she was educated, and was appointed to lead Pfalzel by Archbishop Egbert of Trier (r. 977–993).[2] During her abbacy, Egbert encouraged Pfalzel into artistic production and the production of liturgical vestments. The abbatial church was enlarged and vaulting added.[3] In 988, she donated the village of Emendadesdorf to the abbey.[4] In 989, she and he brother made a major donation to the abbey, including 14 serfs.[3][5]
Ruothild died on 1 December in an unknown year in the 990s.[6] Her exquisitely carved tombstone declares her to have been the "spouse of the Redeemer" (a virgin), a "comely canoness" and a "true nun".[7] The carving was lost after the canonry was closed in 1016, dug up in 1479, reburied, rediscovered in 1772 and mounted on a wall.[8] It is preserved today in the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier.[1] The text of the tombstone was copied into the Libellus in the early 11th century.[9] The inscription has been interpreted as a rejection of the Benedictine rule, since Ruothild was already a "true nun",[1] or as indicating that she was already living under the Benedictine rule voluntarily and was perhaps allied with the male clergy.[10]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d Vanderputten 2018, p. 2.
- ^ Vanderputten 2018, pp. 127 and 242n18.
- ^ a b Vanderputten 2018, p. 127.
- ^ Vanderputten 2018, p. 241n105.
- ^ Le Jan 2001, p. 243.
- ^ Vanderputten 2018, pp. 1, 128–129.
- ^ Vanderputten 2018, p. 1. A photograph of the tombstone is on p. 2.
- ^ Vanderputten 2018, p. 201n6.
- ^ Vanderputten 2018, p. 242n18.
- ^ Parisse 2011, pp. 210–211.
Works cited
[edit]- Le Jan, Régine (2001). "Entre maîtres et dépendants: Réflexions sur la famille paysanne en Lotharingie, aux IXe et Xe siècles". Femmes, pouvoir et société dans le haut Moyen Age. Picard. pp. 239–254.
- Parisse, Michel (2011). Religieux et religieuses en Empire: Du Xe au XIIe siècle. Picard.
- Vanderputten, Steven (2018). Dark Age Nunneries: The Ambiguous Identity of Female Monasticism, 800–1050. Cornell University Press.