Elisabeth of Schonau: The Complete Works (review)

Elisabeth of Schönau: The Complete Works. The Classics of Western Spirituality.Translation and Introduction by Anne L. Clark. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2000. xviii + 306pp. $34.95.

In the preface to this volume, Barbara Newman calls attention to the contrast between Elisabeth of Schönau's (1129-65) popularity in her lifetime (the Latin texts survive in 145 manuscripts and her works were translated into French, Anglo-Norman and Icelandic) and her relative obscurity today. This difference becomes even more noteworthy when one compares it with the situation of Elisabeth's contemporary, Hildegard of Bingen, whose texts had less "staying power" in the Middle Ages but have become widely read and commented on today. Newman suggests that Elisabeth's works may be less likely to capture the contemporary imagination because they do not reflect the heroic achievements, daunting intellectual gifts, dazzling lyrical talent, or theological depth of some of her medieval contemporaries (ix). Rather, Elisabeth is one "who spoke in and for her community, and through whom her community spoke." Elisabeth is rightly identified as a profoundly ecclesial figure--a quality that does not always resonate strongly with contemporary audiences.

Anne L. Clark of the University of Vermont has helped correct this neglect through this translation of Elisabeth's works, a volume in the Paulist series, The Classics of Western Spirituality. Clark has also authored Elisabeth of Schönau: A Twelfth-Century Visionary (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1992), a fine companion volume to this collection of primary texts. The present volume includes Elisabeth's complete corpus: three Books of Visions, The Book of the Ways of God, The Resurrection of the Blessed Virgin, The Book of Revelations about the Sacred Company of the Virgins of Cologne, and 22 letters. The final text in the volume, written by her brother Ekbert, is entitled The Death of Elisabeth.

Given the complex process by which the textual accounts of Elisabeth's visionary experience were produced--including both the composition of new texts and frequent supplementation and revision of earlier material--Clark is to be commended for producing a clear and accurate text that traces some of these changes without burdening the reader with unduly complex notes. Her translation is based on the edition of F.W.E. Roth that includes the longer rather than the shorter versions, giving the reader maximum exposure to the visionary texts and allowing comparison to the Latin. Key disparities between earlier and later versions are included in the endnotes. I was also appreciative of the greater clarity in meaning effected by Clark's choice to use more literal translations of certain terms. For example liberatio becomes "liberation"; remedium is translated "healing" rather than "salvation"; servitium (to the saints) is rendered "service" rather than "prayers."

Clark offers a nuanced analysis of the complex interactions between Elisabeth and her brother, Ekbert. In 1155, three years after Elisabeth began having visions, Ekbert is ordained and joins Elisabeth at Schönau, giving up a promising ecclesiastical career to become a monk. Ekbert's hand is visible in his assembling and editing of Elisabeth's oral accounts of her visions (9) and also in his requests to Elisabeth to seek specific information from her "angels" on theological issues of interest to him (5). Ekbert then continually honed this work, polishing old texts and adding and subtracting material.

In spite of Ekbert's extensive influence, Clark maintains that Elisabeth's own voice is not completely obscured. For example, Ekbert did not always excise controversial material such as Elisabeth's vision of a virgin who, she was told, was a symbol of Christ's humanity (12). Clark also argues that while Elisabeth had great confidence in Ekbert's skill and loyalty, she also kept some things to herself and, at times, kept control over what questions she asked or what information she reported. Clark also establishes Ekbert's firm belief in Elisabeth's gifts as...