Herrad of Landsberg facts for kids
Herrad of Landsberg lived a long time ago, from about 1130 to 1195. She was a nun and a leader (called an abbess) at Hohenburg Abbey in the Vosges mountains in a region called Alsace. Herrad is famous for writing a special picture book called Hortus deliciarum, which means The Garden of Delights.
Life at Hohenburg Abbey
Herrad was born around 1130 at Landsberg Castle. Her family was important in Alsace. When she was young, she joined Hohenburg Abbey. This abbey was in the Vosges mountains, not far from Strasbourg.
The abbey was also known as Mont St Odile. It was led by Abbess Relinda. Relinda was a nun from a Benedictine monastery in Bavaria. The abbey was very successful and powerful. This was partly because Emperor Frederick Barbarossa supported it.
At the abbey, Herrad received an excellent education. It was one of the best educations a woman could get in the 1100s. As she grew older, she took on important roles. She was put in charge of teaching and guiding the other nuns.
After Abbess Relinda passed away, Herrad was chosen as the new abbess in 1167. As abbess, Herrad worked to rebuild parts of the monastery. She also made sure the land around the monastery belonged to the abbey. She was a good and well-liked leader. During this time, she started working on her famous book, the Hortus deliciarum. Herrad was abbess for 28 years until she died in 1195.
About Hortus deliciarum
Herrad started working on Hortus deliciarum around 1159. This book was a collection of all the knowledge studied at that time. She wrote it for the women in her convent. The goal was to help them learn more about the Bible, good behavior, and religious ideas. The book was finished in 1185. In it, Herrad used many colorful pictures to show the fight between good (Virtue) and bad (Vice).
The original book had 648 pages on 324 sheets of parchment. Most of the book was written in Latin. But it also had about 1250 notes in German. The book showed that Herrad had read many different texts.
What made the book truly special were its 336 illustrations. Many of these pictures showed religious, philosophical, and literary ideas. Some were historical scenes. Others showed things from the artist's own life. There was even a collection of portraits of the nuns in her convent. The artwork was highly praised. It showed an artistic imagination that was rare for her time.
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Other artists and writers helped with the Hortus deliciarum. However, Herrad was the main person who put it together, wrote, and edited it. She wrote many of the poems and hymns herself. People also believe that she guided the creation of much of the artwork.
For centuries, the Hortus deliciarum manuscript was kept at Hohenburg Abbey. Around the time of the French Revolution, it moved to the city library of Strasbourg. There, artists like Christian Moritz Engelhardt copied the pictures. He published them in 1818. The text was also copied and published later by Straub and Keller. They even included some colored copies of Herrad's illustrations.
Sadly, the original book was destroyed in 1870. This happened when the libraries of Strasbourg burned during the Siege of Strasbourg in the Franco-Prussian War. But because copies were made, we can still understand how valuable Herrad's artistic and literary work was.
See also
In Spanish: Herrada de Landsberg para niños
