From the Material to the Mystical in Late Medieval Piety
The Vernacular Transmission of Gertrude of Helfta's Visions

Examining correlations between the material and the mystical, this books investigates collective writing and devotional culture in late medieval piety.

Racha Kirakosian (Author)

9781108841238, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 30 September 2021

350 pages
25.8 x 18.2 x 2.5 cm, 0.96 kg

'This book draws on newly discovered evidence for the collaborative production of the Latin visions of Gertrude of Helfta (d. 1301) and proposes a new approach to reading the late fourteenth-century German translation, der botte der götlichen miltekeit. A complete analysis of the manuscripts of the botte, understood as examples of dynamic textuality, is combined with studies of text production, redaction, reading and copying, and an innovative discussion of the interplay between material culture and the presentation of textiles in the two versions of Gertrude's visions.' Nigel F. Palmer, Emeritus Professor of German Medieval and Linguistic Studies, St Edmund Hall, University of Oxford

The German mystic Gertrude the Great of Helfta (c.1256–1301) is a globally venerated saint who is still central to the Sacred Heart Devotion. Her visions were first recorded in Latin, and they inspired generations of readers in processes of creative rewriting. The vernacular copies of these redactions challenge the long-standing idea that translations do not bear the same literary or historical weight as the originals upon which they are based. In this study, Racha Kirakosian argues that manuscript transmission reveals how redactors serve as cultural agents. Examining the late medieval vernacular copies of Gertrude's visions, she demonstrates how redactors recast textual materials, reflected changes in piety, and generated new forms of devotional practices. She also shows how these texts served as a bridge between material culture, in the form of textiles and book illumination, and mysticism. Kirakosian's multi-faceted study is an important contribution to current debates on medieval manuscript culture, authorship, and translation as objects of study in their own right.

1. The Helfta scriptorium
2. Redactions within a dynamic textuality
3. Manuscript transmission history
4. The book's self-reflectivity
5. The scriptorial heart
6. Imaginary textiles
Final remarks
Bibliography
Appendix
Index.

Subject Areas: History of religion [HRAX], Medieval history [HBLC1], Literary studies: classical, early & medieval [DSBB], History of art: Byzantine & Medieval art c 500 CE to c 1400 [ACK]