The original monastery was erected in 1229 by Count Burchard I of Mansfeld, on grounds near Mansfeld Castle and populated with seven nuns from the Abbey 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 of the community 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 monastery 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.
The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict, are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529 they are the oldest of all the religious orders in the Latin Church. The male religious are also sometimes called the Black Monks, especially in English speaking countries, after the colour of their habits. Not all Benedictines wear black, however, with some like the Olivetans wearing white. They were founded 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.
The Cistercians, officially the Order of Cistercians, are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contributions of the highly-influential Bernard of Clairvaux, known as the Latin Rule. They are also known as Bernardines, after Saint Bernard, or as White Monks, in reference to the colour of their cowl, as opposed to the black cowl worn by Benedictines.
The Royal Abbey of Our Lady of Fontevraud or Fontevrault was a monastery in the village of Fontevraud-l'Abbaye, near Chinon, in the former French Duchy of Anjou. It was founded in 1101 by the itinerant preacher Robert of Arbrissel. The foundation flourished and became the centre of a new monastic Order, the Order of Fontevraud. This order was composed of double monasteries, in which the community consisted of both men and women — in separate quarters of the abbey — all of whom were subject to the authority of the Abbess of Fontevraud. The Abbey of Fontevraud itself consisted of four separate communities, all managed by the same abbess.
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.
Mariawald Abbey was a monastery of the Trappists, located above the village of Heimbach, in the district of Düren in the Eifel, in the forests around Kermeter, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. In September 2018, the last remaining monks left Mariawald Abbey and the monastery is currently up for sale.
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.
Gertrude the Great or Gertrude of Helfta was a German Benedictine nun and mystic who was a member of the Monastery of Helfta. While herself a Benedictine, she also has strong ties to the Cistercian Order; her monastery in Helfta is currently occupied by nuns of the Cistercian Order.
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.
Saint Mary's Abbey, sometimes known as Glencairn Abbey, is a monastic community of nuns located in the townland of Glencairn, County Waterford, in Ireland. The community belongs to the Trappist branch of the Cistercian order, thus the nuns are also referred to as Trappistines.
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.
Sko Abbey, was a Cistercian nunnery in Sweden, in operation from 1230 until at least 1588. It was located in the Skokloster parish in Uppland. It was the predecessor of the baroque Skokloster Castle.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
