Portrait of Hrosvitha of Gandersheim. From Antiquitates Gandersheimenses by Johann Georg Leuckfeld (Wolfenbuttel: Verlag Gottfried Freytag, 1709)
Brenda M. Johnson, M.A.
Hrotsvit of Gandersheim was a tenth-century Saxon poet, playwright, and historian, the first Western writer to adapt classical dramatic form and verse to Christian themes, and the first Saxon poet. Her extant works, completed by 973, comprise eight legends, six plays, two epics, and a short poem, all written in Latin verse. Hrotsvit lived at and was educated in the Benedictine Abbey of Gandersheim, established in 852 by the Saxon aristocratic ancestors of the 10th-century Ottonian dynasty. In an atmosphere of royal protection, superior scholarship, and freedom from political and episcopal domination, Hrotsvit penned 10th-century Europe’s most original synthesis of secular and spiritual themes.
This article analyzes one of Hrotsvit’s legends and three of her plays and demonstrates how she very cleverly depicted female “weakness” triumphing over masculine strength and political power. As a dramatist and poet, Hrotsvit found a way to negotiate her immense talent through the maze of patriarchy. It is quite a stretch for 21st-century women to fully appreciate the efforts of a Saxon woman who strove one millennium ago to assert her voice as strong and valid. This article illustrates how Hrotsvit met her challenges on her own terms with self-confidence, perseverance, and humor