- Jutta
"Note:" "The feminine name "Jutta" is the German form of Judith. It could also derive from the Germanic name Eutha meaning "mankind, child, descendant"."
Countess Jutta von Sponheim (
December 22 ,1091 –1136) was the youngest of four noblewomen who were born into affluent surroundings in what is currently theRhineland-Palatinate . She was the daughter of CountStephen of Spanheim .Jutta, instead of entering the convent at an early age, became an "
anchoress ," a symbolic "anchor" for the world toGod , and thus she closed herself for life in a one-room shelter, with only a small window through which food was passed in, and refused to be taken out. This hut was next to theBenedictine convent onDisibodenberg , where she was abbess. She tutored several female pupils from wealthy families and they lived with her in her hermitage. She taught and raised them all, but most notably the childHildegard of Bingen .On the Day of
All Saints ,November 1 ,1112 , Hildegard was given over as anoblate into the care of Jutta of Spanheim, who was only six years Hildegard’s elder. Jutta was also related to MarchionessRichardis of Stade , the mother ofHartwig , Archbishop of Bremen and of the Richardis, who was intimate friends with Hildegard.Jutta taught Hildegard to write; to read the collection of
psalm s used in the liturgy; and to chant the "Opus Dei" (‘work of God’), the weekly sequential recitation of theCanonical hours . She probably also taught Hildegard to play thezither -likestring instrument called thepsaltery .Jutta was a severe practitioner of
ascetism , including penitential self-flagellation . She wore a chain under her clothes, prayed barefoot in the extreme cold of a German winter, and refused the allowed (and even encouraged) modifications to the Benedictine diet for those who were sick.As an adult, Hildegard would teach moderation. Hildegard succeeded Jutta upon her death in 1136. Hildegard's other well-known teacher is the monk
Volmar .Notes
Further reading
*Silvas, Anna. "Jutta and Hildegard: The Biographical Sources". University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1998.
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