Hrotsvitha

Hrotsvitha was a tenth-century canoness of Gandersheim who composed Latin drama and historical verse. The Plays of Roswitha presents six dramas in Christopher St. John’s English translation: Gallicanus, Dulcitius, Callimachus, Abraham, Paphnutius, and Sapientia. The volume also includes Hrotsvitha’s prefaces and an introduction that places her work within medieval literary history. Her dramatic writing adapts forms associated with classical comedy to Christian stories about conviction, conversion, and moral testing. Gandersheim’s community gave her access to books and the patronage of Abbess Gerberga, whom she addresses in her writings. Hrotsvitha also wrote legends and poems concerning the Ottonian dynasty and the foundation of Gandersheim. Her work preserves an identifiable woman’s literary voice from the early Middle Ages and forms a rare bridge between ancient dramatic models and later European religious theatre.