Margaret and Ida

ON BB. MARGARET AND IDA, NUNS AT BINGEN IN GERMANY,

AT THE END OF THE TWELFTH CENTURY

HISTORICAL COMMENTARY.

Margaret, prioress at Bingen in Germany. (Bl.)

Ida, nun at Bingen in Germany. (Bl.)

BY V. D. B.

§ Sole. The birth of Blesseds Margaret and Ida. The latter's marriage and the monastic life of both. Indications of public cult.

In Rhenish Hesse, which is bounded by the rivers Rhine and Nahe, and contains Mainz to the north, [Blesseds Ida and Margaret of Hohenfels, of whom the former had married the count of Sponheim,] Worms to the west, both famous cities, there lies on the stream Seebach a small town, having not two thousand inhabitants, named Westhofen; where there once rose a castle called Hohenfels Wagner, Beschreibung des Grossherzogthums Hessen, volume II, page 141.. But there was also another castle of Hohenfels, in the Rhenish territory, of which alone there will be talk hereafter. It was not far distant from the village of Imsbach, which is situated in a small valley on the slope of the mountain called Donnersberg, to the south. Since already in ancient times the castle was utterly destroyed, and the region subject to it passed into another dominion, the name Hohenfels has clung to the bare rock [J. G. Lehmann, Urkundliche Geschichte der Burgen und Bergschlösser um den Donnersberg und im ehemaligen Nahegaue (Kaiserslautern), IV, page 161.]. So that the site of this castle may be more easily understood, however, we subjoin its chorography, as the venerable man Falk, parish priest of Mombach near Mainz, communicated it to us. Let the reader know that the mountain Donnersberg, on whose slope the village of Imsbach lies, is signified in this little chart by the letter D surrounded with rays. In the middle of the twelfth century, as Trithemius narrates, this castle was held by Count Theodoric, to whom several children were born, certainly Bl. Margaret and Bl. Ida. Afterward Ida married Eberhard, count of Sponheim. We are little moved by what the German writer J. G. Lehmann opposes to the statements of that ancient author, judging that in the Rhenish territory, at the mountain Donnersberg, there never existed counts of Hohenfels, but only lords of Hohenfels; whose beginnings he refers to the year 1221 Die Grafen von Sponheim, page 16.. Hence he denies that Bl. Ida was the daughter of a count of Hohenfels and the wife of Eberhard of Sponheim, and contends rather that she was born of Godfrey I, count of Sponheim. Since she was his only daughter, she is wrongly called the sister of Bl. Margaret, unless perhaps she obtained that name as a spiritual sister. But the writer Weidenbach judges that these opinions of Lehmann are to be rejected Rheinischer Antiquarius, 2nd Division XVII, 75, Coblenz 1870.. According to whose view, although there were never counts of Hohenfels in the Rhenish territory, yet there lived there lords or dynasts of Hohenfels, who are already to be found at the beginning of the twelfth century. For there occur there in the twelfth century several noblemen of the house of Hohenfels: from the year 1125 to 1191, Philip I of Hohenfels, brother, as is reported, of Werner II of Bolanden: from the year 1150 to 1199, Henry of Hohenfels: from the year 1185 to 1236, Philip II of Hohenfels Kölnner, Geschichte von Kirchheim-Boland.. Wherefore even if Trithemius erred in writing that Bl. Ida was the daughter of Theodoric, count of Hohenfels, since she was only born of a nobleman of Hohenfels (perhaps Henry), it can in no way be gathered from this that Bl. Ida sprang from another stock, namely that of Sponheim, or even that she was only a spiritual sister of Bl. Margaret. Since, then, Lehmann by no means demonstrates the matter, we do not think we should depart from Trithemius.

[2] in the monastery of St. Rupert at Bingen So of the two daughters of Theodoric of Hohenfels, Bl. Ida and Bl. Margaret, the former married the count of Sponheim. His county was then fairly extensive, situated in the Lower Palatinate between the Moselle and the Rhine, afterward cut up into several parts Compare V. Spruner, Atlas medii aevi, maps 15 and 16.. But Bl. Margaret chose the better part and resolved to serve Christ in the new convent of Bingen. Of this house much has already been said in our Work, in the Life of St. Hildegard the foundress, at the 17th day of September [Acta Sanctorum, volume V of September, page 635 and following, 677 and following.]; so that we may be brief. This saint, namely, born in the year 1098 in the county of Sponheim, began the monastic life at eight years of age under the direction

of Bl. Jutta, with whom she lived enclosed on the mount of St. Disibod until the year 1136. Then, Bl. Jutta having died and the number of her companions having increased, in the year 1148 St. Hildegard went over to Bingen with eighteen holy virgins, and built a monastery on the mount by the river Nahe, near the tomb of St. Rupert, duke and confessor, four German miles from Mainz [Acta Sanctorum, volume V of September, from Trithemius's Chronicle of Sponheim, page 634 and following.]; which monastery was called St. Rupert's near Bingen, or the Mount of St. Rupert. Into it the pious foundress introduced the rule of St. Benedict.

[3] they professed the monastic life, and died at the end of the twelfth century. The town of Bingen still exists at the confluence of the Rhine and the Nahe, fortified with a castle by Drusus, and so known to the Latins, afterward called Pinguia, Pingwia, Pinge, and by other names, now commonly Bingen. But the present town is not situated in quite the same place as the old one Joannis, Res Moguntiacae, volume I, page 192., but in the nearby Roman burial ground, as is established from the inscriptions and funeral urns uncovered Wagner, Beschreibung des Grossherzogthums Hessen, volume II, page 12.. The reader will find this matter discussed in the book of the distinguished man Ritter [Die Lage Bingens zur Zeit der Römerherrschaft, in: Jahrbücher des Vereins von Alterthumsfreunden im Rheinlande, XVI, pages 1 to 21; compare XVII, page 218 and following.]. Since by far the greatest part of the townspeople, who until the year 1797 were subject to the chapter of Mainz, are Catholics, the convent lasted until the year 1632, although at the end of the fifteenth century it had been utterly laid waste. But after it was destroyed again in that year by the Swedish soldiery, through the Thirty Years' War, it was transferred to Eibingen, where it continued until the revolution in France and in Germany Gallia Christiana, volume V, column 654.. Not so long ago Weidenbach edited its diplomas Regesta Bingiensia.. There, under the direction of the holy Hildegard, Bl. Margaret long discharged the office of prioress. Since therefore St. Hildegard lived until the year 1179 Acta Sanctorum, volume V of September, pages 676 and 677., we have from this some mark by which to fix the times of Bl. Margaret. Bl. Ida, having lately lost her husband, also betook herself to Bingen in the year 1189 or the following, and lived there thereafter most holily. But in what year both sisters departed from life is wholly unknown. Arthur du Moustier, in the Gynecaeum, at the 19th day of March and at the 29th day of October, will have it that Bl. Margaret flourished about the year 1109, relying partly on Ferrarius in the Nova topographia, under Spanhemium. But these things need no refutation. Others hold that Bl. Ida died in the year 1252, not distinguishing her from Bl. Jutta, the attendant of St. Elizabeth of Thuringia: but we shall return to this confusion. He will not stray far from the truth who refers the death of these most holy women to the end of the twelfth century.

[4] [The praises of both were celebrated by Trithemius in the Chronicles of Sponheim and Hirsau.] Trithemius, abbot of Sponheim and afterward of Würzburg, mentions the blessed sisters three times. In the Chronicle of Sponheim, at the year 1189, he reports these things Works, part II, page 258, edition of 1601.: In this year Ida, countess of Sponheim, became a nun in the monastery of St. Rupert near Bingen, induced from heaven by a wonderful vision granted her; where, living in holy conversation and the strictest penance, she was an exemplar of chastity and holiness to all. Her sister was that most holy virgin Margaret of Hohenfels, prioress in the same monastery for many years; who is said to have been renowned for miracles in her life, and the feast of her commemoration is kept on the fourth day before the Kalends of November. And in the Chronicle of Hirsau Ibid., page 159., at the year 1190, these other but similar things: In the second year of Henry, abbot of Hirsau, Ida, countess of Sponheim, became a nun of our Order in the monastery of the mount of St. Rupert near Bingen; in which thereafter all the days of her life she lived most religiously; in prayers and meditations on the divine Scriptures, in continual humility and obedience, second to none. Her sister was Margaret, a virgin of most holy conversation; who vigorously discharged the office of prioress for many years in the same monastery, and, renowned for miracles, at length passed to the Lord. Her festal day of commemoration is kept on the fourth day before the Kalends of November, when she passed from life. The readers will doubtless notice that the coming of Bl. Ida is fixed in the Chronicle of Sponheim in the year 1189, in that of Hirsau (as also in the annals) in the following year. Which year is to be chosen, who will decide? There will perhaps be those who note that Trithemius refers the death of St. Hildegard to the year 1180, although the most holy virgin died in the year 1179 Acta Sanctorum, volume V of September, page 676.; so that the chronicler at times runs one year ahead; and so it is more probable that Bl. Ida betook herself to Bingen in the year 1189. I do not object. But let us return to Trithemius.

[5] [and in the annals of Hirsau, where Bl. Ida is reported to have died on the 24th of February, Bl. Margaret on the 29th of October.] In the annals of Hirsau, then Volume I, pages 480 and 481, St. Gall edition, 1690., or the Greater Chronicle, he sets out all those things a little more fully, at the year 1190: In the same year the countess of Sponheim, named Ida, her husband Count Eberhard having departed this life, being a woman most devoted to Christ, always intent from her girlhood on almsgiving and holy works, considering the unstable brevity of this life, being now loosed from the law of her husband, abandoned all the vanity of this world for the love of God; and, entering the monastery of the holy Rupert near Bingen, received the habit of holy conversation. Living thereafter in great rigour, almost always intent on prayers of the mind, fasts, vigils, and readings of the divine Scriptures, she became for the others an exemplar of all holiness and virtue. There was renowned in the same monastery at that time Margaret, her sister, a most holy virgin, who under the direction of the holy Hildegard long discharged the office of prioress, and was most chastely joined to God in all purity of mind through the desire of love, and shone with many miracles. For love of her and mutual charity the aforementioned countess entered the same monastery, bringing in with her to it, for the support of the nuns, no small substance of this world. Both these sisters beloved of the Lord were daughters of Theodoric, count of Hohenfels; both faithfully served Christ in the highest holiness of life until death; both were renowned for miracles both in life and after death. Of whom Ida, the elder in age, full of good works, at length passed from this light on the sixth day before the Kalends of March, that is, the 24th day of February, but Margaret, the younger, rested in the Lord on the fourth day before the Kalends of November, that is, the 29th day of October. Her sacred head is kept in the monastery of Sponheim, formerly mine, which I once obtained by many prayers from the mistress Guda.

This translation of the head, which is a notable testimony of public cult, must have been made between the years 1483 and 1506, in which space of time Trithemius was abbot of Sponheim Gallia Christiana, volume V, columns 640 and 641., or rather between the year 1494, in which the mistress Guda Specht was set over the monastery of Bingen, and the year 1501, in which she died [Gallia Christiana, volume V, column 654; Trithemius, Chronicle of Sponheim, at the year 1494, and Chronicle of Hirsau, at the year 1494. Compare Joannis, Res Moguntiacae, page 194.], as we read in the epitaph inscribed on the wall; which, edited by Helwich, we render into Latin thus:

Here lies the nun Guda Specht of Bowenheim, provost and first reformer of the monastery; she presided laudably for ten years in many and various tribulations, in which she obtained a blessed end of life in the year 1501 [Syntagma monumentorum, in Archiv für hessische Geschichte, volume XII, page 460; compare volume VIII, page 327.].

Most probably in the third year before Guda's death the sacred head of Bl. Margaret was translated, namely when in the year 1498 the tomb of St. Hildegard the virgin on the mount of St. Rupert was opened with the greatest reverence, in the presence of the whole community there, and of others appointed for this; of whom one was John Trithemius, our abbot, who obtained by prayers an arm of the same holy virgin from the mistress Guda and the community, to whom he had done many good things in the time of their tribulations. And these sacred relics, with others, he had enclosed in a certain panel Trithemius, Chronicle of Sponheim, at the year 1498.. Further, the same Trithemius declares in the Chronicles of Sponheim and Hirsau that the feast of commemoration, or the festal day of commemoration, of Bl. Margaret was kept at the beginning of the sixteenth century. Which words, however they be explained, are another indication of public cult. Trithemius likewise reports that both were renowned for miracles both in life and after death, having earlier used the same words of St. Hildegard Chronicle of Hirsau, at the year 1180.: and these sayings too show that the patronage of both was implored after death. Let no one, then, doubt that Bl. Margaret and Bl. Ida were publicly numbered among the saints a hundred years before the decrees of Urban VIII. Nevertheless, as the body of St. Hildegard is said to have been raised from the earth only in the Thirty Years' War and translated to Eibingen Acta Sanctorum, volume V of September, page 677, so too the bones of both sisters seem to have been left in their original tomb, and not even then removed, after the church of St. Rupert at Bingen was violated and laid waste by the Swedish soldiers.

[7] [The names of both in martyrologies and menologies. Bl. Ida to be distinguished from the attendant of St. Elizabeth and from the mistress of St. Hildegard.] Whether the names of Blesseds Ida and Margaret were ever inscribed in the Usuardine menologies of Bingen and Sponheim, who will decide, since most of the liturgical books of those parts perished in the Protestant tumults? Arnold Wion first (that I know of) announced Bl. Ida at the 19th day of March, in these words Lignum vitae, part II, page 79.: In the monastery of Bingen, the deposition of St. Ida, countess of Sponheim and nun. This memory he wrote at the 19th day of March, and in the notes said that the blessed woman died in the year 1252, because he did not distinguish her, as Ménard first duly noticed Martyrologium Benedictinum, page 209., from St. Jutta, the attendant of St. Elizabeth, wife of the landgrave of the Thuringians, as I noted above. Both errors Ferrarius had imprudently admitted in the general catalogue of the saints; but, which you may wonder at, Arthur du Moustier, who had read Ménard, himself also erred, thinking Bl. Ida the same as Jutta, sister of Meginhard, count of Sponheim, who lived with St. Hildegard on the mount of St. Disibod and is half a century older. Nevertheless, since

the annals of Hirsau, from which it became known that Bl. Ida departed this life on the 24th day of February, were not published until the year 1690, hence it came about that, after the example of Wion, the Benedictine Menologists and other writers of the sacred calendars, for instance Ménard, Ferrarius, Arthur, Hueber, and de Heredia, and even Gelenius Magnitudo Coloniae, page 676., referred her to the 19th day of March: from which day our predecessors, in the Praetermissi, put her off to the present day. Bucelin, in his monastic history, made mention of Bl. Margaret at the 28th day of October; but Wion Lignum vitae, part II, page 354., who came after, corrected the error, writing at the following day: In the monastery of Sponheim, the heavenly birthday of St. Margaret, prioress, sister of St. Ida, countess of Sponheim and nun of Bingen: and almost the same things were repeated by Ferrarius, Ménard, Arthur, de Heredia, and lately Lechner. But an error is not absent from these either, since Bl. Margaret was never a nun of Sponheim, but of Bingen. The error arose from this, that Trithemius, the guide of all and the only one, was abbot of Sponheim. If ever it should seem that the names of Blesseds Ida and Margaret should be inserted in the liturgical martyrologies, there could be written at the 24th day of February: At Bingen in Germany, the deposition of Bl. Ida of Hohenfels, widow of the count of Sponheim and nun; and at the 29th day of October: At Bingen in Germany, the heavenly birthday of Bl. Margaret of Hohenfels, prioress and disciple of St. Hildegard.