The original convent was erected in 1229 by Count Burchard I of Mansfeld, on grounds near Mansfeld Castle and populated with seven nuns from the convent of Halberstadt[de]. In 1234, the nuns moved to Rossdorf and, in 1258, relocated a final time to Helfta[de], then just outside Eisleben. During the conflicts of the reign of Bishop Albert II of Halberstadt (r.1325–1358), the monastery was devastated and the 100 nuns moved to Neuhelfta, a site closer to the city walls, in 1346. The monastery was sacked in 1525 during the Peasants' War. Those nuns who remained relocated to Althelfta. When the Abbess Walburge Reuber died in 1545, the convent was suppressed by the secular authorities.[2] It was refounded by ten nuns from the abbey of Seligenthal[de] in 1999. The new buildings incorporate some of the ruins of the old.[1]
Harrison, Anna (2008). "'Oh! What treasure is in this book?' Writing, Reading, and Community at the Monastery of Helfta". Viator. 39 (1): 75–106. doi:10.1484/J.VIATOR.1.100115.
Krieg, Martha Fessler (2000). "The 2000 Institute of Cistercian Studies Conference". Cistercian Studies Quarterly. 35 (4): 525–533.
Neville, David O. (2000). "Divergent Interpretations of Women's Agency and Luther's Political Agenda". In Hilary Collier Sy-Quia; Susanne Baackmann (eds.). Conquering Women: Women and War in the German Cultural Imagination(PDF). University of California Press. pp.177–198.
Schmidt, Margot (2002). "Helfta". In André Vauchez (ed.). Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages. James Clarke & Co. pp.659–660.
An abbess, also known as a mother superior, is the female superior of a community of Catholic nuns in an abbey.
The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict, are a mainly contemplative monastic religious order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. The male religious are also sometimes called the Black Monks, in reference to the colour of their religious habits, pace the Olivetans who wear white. They were founded in 529 by Benedict of Nursia, a 6th-century Italian monk who laid the foundations of Benedictine monasticism through the formulation of his Rule. Benedict's sister, Scholastica, possibly his twin, also became a religious from an early age, but chose to live as a hermit. They retained a close relationship until her death.
A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service and contemplation, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent. The term is often used interchangeably with religious sisters who do take simple vows but live an active vocation of prayer and charitable work.
Mechthildof Magdeburg, a Beguine, was a Christian medieval mystic, whose book Das fließende Licht der Gottheit is a compendium of visions, prayers, dialogues and mystical accounts. She was the first mystic to write in Low German.
The Gilbertine Order of Canons Regular was founded around 1130 by Saint Gilbert in Sempringham, Lincolnshire, where Gilbert was the parish priest. It was the only completely English religious order and came to an end in the 16th century at the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Modest Gilbertine revivals have taken place in the late 20th and early 21st centuries on three continents.
Saint Gertrude, St Gertrude, or St Gertrude's may refer to:
Eisleben is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is famous as both the hometown of the influential theologian Martin Luther and the place where he died; hence, its official name is Lutherstadt Eisleben. First mentioned in the late 10th century, Eisleben is divided into old and new towns, the latter of which was created for Eisleben's miners in the 14th century. As of 2020, Eisleben had a population of 22,668. It lies on the Halle–Kassel railway.
Gertrude the Great, OSB was a German Benedictine nun and mystic from the monastery of Helfta. She is recognized as a saint by the Catholic Church and figures in the General Roman Calendar on November 16 for optional celebration as a memorial throughout the Roman Rite.
Mechtilde of Hackeborn, OSB, also known as Mechtilde of Helfta, was a Saxon Christian saint and a Benedictine nun. She was famous for her musical talents, gifted with a beautiful voice. At the age of 50, Mechtilde went through a grave spiritual crisis, as well as physical suffering. In the modern Benedictine calendar, her feast is celebrated on the anniversary of her death, November 19. She died in the convent of Helfta, near Eisleben.
Gertrude of Hackeborn (1232–1292) was the abbess of the Benedictine convent of Helfta, near Eisleben in modern Germany.
Walkenried Abbey was a Cistercian abbey located in the village of Walkenried in Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1127 on the southern rim of the Harz mountain range, the remnants of the monastic complex since 2010 are part of the Upper Harz Water Regale World Heritage Site.
The Abbey of Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas is a monastery of Cistercian nuns located approximately 1.5 km west of the city of Burgos in Spain. The word huelgas, which usually refers to "labour strikes" in modern Spanish, refers in this case to land which had been left fallow. Historically, the monastery has been the site of many weddings of royal families, both foreign and Spanish, including that of Edward I of England to Eleanor of Castile in 1254, for example. The defensive tower of the abbey is also the birthplace of King Peter of Castile.
The Feuillants were a Catholic congregation originating in the 1570s as a reform group within the Cistercians in its namesake Les Feuillants Abbey in France, which declared itself an independent order.
Lüne Abbey is a former Benedictine nunnery in the Lower Saxon town of Lüneburg. Today it is a Protestant Lutheran convent and is managed by the Klosterkammer Hannover. The current abbess is Reinhild Freifrau von der Goltz.
Former religious orders in the churches of the Anglican Communion are those communities of monks, nuns, friars, or sisters, having a common life and rule under vows, whose work has ended and whose community has been disbanded. In a very few cases this is due to the termination of the work for which the community was established, but in most cases it is due to amalgamation or the death of the final remaining member of the community.
Barbara Jane Newman is an American medievalist, literary critic, religious historian, and author. She is Professor of English and Religion, and John Evans Professor of Latin, at Northwestern University. Newman was elected in 2017 to the American Philosophical Society.
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