Herluka von Bernried, also known as Herluka von Epfach, (1060 – 1127) was a German laywoman and supporter of

Gregorian reform The Gregorian Reforms were a series of reforms initiated by Pope Gregory VII and the circle he formed in the papal curia, c. 1050–80, which dealt with the moral integrity and independence of the clergy. The reforms are considered to be nam ...

.I.S. Robinson, Conversio'' and ''conversatio'' in the ''Life'' of Herluca of Epfach', in Conor Kostick (ed.), ''Medieval Italy, Medieval and Early Modern Women. Essays in Honour of Christine Meek'' (Dublin, 2010), pp. 172-94Griffiths, Fiona J., 'Women and Reform in the Central Middle Ages', in Judith Bennett, and Ruth Karras (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Women and Gender in Medieval Europe (2013; online edn, Oxford Academic, 16 Dec. 2013) The vast majority of what is known of Herluka can be attributed to the works of Paul von Bernried, a German priest and friend of Herluka's, in his ''Vita Herlucae'' (''Life of Herluka'', composed c. 1130/1) and in parts of his ''Vita Gregorii'' (''Life of Gregory VII,'' composed c. 1128'')''. Epfach St

Life

Herluka devoted her life to

asceticism Asceticism (; from the el, ἄσκησις, áskesis, exercise', 'training) is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from sensual pleasures, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world for their p ...

, living in voluntary poverty and choosing to be celibate.Alois Schnitzer: ''Die selige Herluka von Bernried. Persönlichkeit und Zeitlage.'' In: ''Jahrbuch des Vereins für Augsburger Bistumsgeschichte'' 3 (1969), S. 5–15 (

PDF Portable Document Format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. ...

1,5 MB) She lived most of her life in the Swabian village of

Epfach Epfach is a village and former municipality () located on the left bank of Lech, in the municipality of Denklingen in the Upper Bavarian District of Landsberg, Bavaria, Germany. History Around 14 BCE there was, near the present village, on t ...

before moving to

Bernried Bernried is a municipality in the district of Deggendorf in Bavaria in Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, a ...

in 1121. It is speculated that she moved there possibly to flee a peasant uprising, some historians also believe Herluka moved to Bernried after the priest Sigeboto (a companion of hers) was appointed there.

Visions and opposition to unchaste priests

Herluka was documented to have had several visions which directed her life as a holy woman. In one such vision Wikterp, the former bishop of

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...

and a bloodied Christ appeared to her. Wikterp told Herluka that the suffering of Christ she was witnessing was caused by priestly immorality. As a result of the vision, she refused to attend masses or take consecrated bread from unchaste priests, including Richard, the local priest working in Epfach.''The Papal Reform of the Eleventh Century: Lives of Pope Leo IX and Pope Gregory VII'' (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2004), 262-364 According to Paul, this public rejection of non-celibate priests encouraged others to do the same and raised public support for Gregorian reform.

References

{{Authority control 11th-century births Women of the Holy Roman Empire 11th-century German women 12th-century deaths