WOMAN'S LONG STRUGGLE 49 



exceptional value was this unique work that the editor of 

 the great collection of pictures, which illustrates this re- 

 markable book, does not hesitate to declare that "Few il- 

 luminated manuscripts had acquired a fame so well de- 

 served as the Hortus Deliciarum of Herrad. ' ' 1 



No sketch, however brief, of the literary nuns of medi- 

 aeval Germany would be complete without some reference 

 to the learned religious of the convent of Helfta, near 

 Eisleben in Saxony. Of the abbess Gertrude we read that 

 her enthusiasm for knowledge was so great that she not 

 only inspired others with the same enthusiasm, but that 

 she was an incessant collector of books, which she had her 

 nuns transcribe. Among her most distinguished subjects 

 were two religious by the name of Matilda, one of whom 

 was her sister, and a third, who, to distinguish her from 

 the abbess, is known as ' ' Gertrude the Great. ' ' 



The writings of these nuns were inspired by that great 

 mystic movement which then prevailed in various parts of 

 Europe and are among the most impassioned productions 

 of the age. For this reason they still have a special claim 

 on the attention of students of art and literature, as well 

 as those of theology and mysticism. Impressed by the simi- 

 larity of their ideas and descriptions as compared with 



1 Cf. Hortus Deliciarum, by Herrad de Lansberg, folio with one 

 hundred and ten plates, Strasburg, 1901, and Herrade de Lands~ 

 berg, by Charles Schmidt, Strasburg. 



The erudite academician, Charles Jourdain, says of Herrad '9 

 great work " L 'encyclopedic qu'on lui doit, I 'Hortus Deliciarum, 

 embrasse toutes les parties des connaissances humaines, depuis la 

 science divine jusqu'a 1 'agriculture et la metrologie, et on 

 s'etonne a bon droit qu'un tel ouvrage, qui supposait une erudi- 

 tion si variee et si methodique, soit sorti d'une plume feminine. 

 Quelle impression produirait aujourd'hui 1'annonee d'une encyclo- 

 pedic qui aurait pour auteur une simple, religieuse? Parlerons-nous 

 des femmes du monde? II n'existe d'elles, au XX e siecle, non plus 

 que dans les siecles precedents aucun ouvrage comparable a I'Hortus 

 Deliciarum. ' ' Excursions Historiques et Philosophiques, p. 480, Paris, 

 1888. 



