Caritas Pirckheimer (21 March 1467 – 19 August 1532) was

Abbess An abbess (Latin: ''abbatissa''), also known as a mother superior, is the female superior of a community of Catholic nuns in an abbey. Description In the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic), Eastern Orthodox, Copt ...

of Saint Clara's convent in

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

at the time of the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

, which she opposed due to the threat posed by

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...

to Catholic houses of worship and religious buildings, including her own convent. Born in

Eichstätt Eichstätt () is a town in the federal state of Bavaria, Germany, and capital of the district of Eichstätt. It is located on the Altmühl river and has a population of around 13,000. Eichstätt is also the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese ...

as Barbara Pirckheimer, she was the eldest of 12 children of Dr Johannes Pirckheimer, nine of whom would survive to adulthood and one of whom was the prominent humanist

Willibald Pirckheimer Willibald Pirckheimer (5 December 1470 – 22 December 1530) was a German Renaissance lawyer, author and Renaissance humanist, a wealthy and prominent figure in Nuremberg in the 16th century, imperial counsellor and a member of the governing City ...

. Until her mother's death in 1488, she reportedly received a

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "human ...

education at home, where she became fluent in Latin. At the age of 12 she went to school at the Franciscan monastery of Saint Clara at

. The monastery was known for its large library and encouraged study within the limits of the Franciscan Rule. Her learning was also encouraged by Nicholas Glassberger, the confessor to the convent and also a humanist scholar. When she was about 16 years old, she joined the order, taking the name of Caritas (or Charitas). Caritas was in active correspondence with various figures involved in the humanist movement, such as Sixtus Tucher. She was also in regular correspondence with her brother Willibald and through him was introduced to other prominent humanists. Willibald dedicated three books to Caritas, in which he praised her learning, although she framed herself as unworthy of the honour. Despite being widely praised for her learning, authorities viewed Caritas as a threat and she was ordered to stop her Latin writing. The Reformation took place quickly in Nuremberg and by 1525 the local authorities had taken significant control of monasteries. Already in her fifties at the time, Sister Caritas apparently received support in her struggle for the survival of the monastery from Philipp Melanchthon, formerly a close friend of Luther. They met at the end of 1525 and Caritas was able to convince him to leave nunneries in peace. Caritas utilised her extensive knowledge and the sources available to her, to argue against the efforts to close her convent. She had maintained a chronicle during her abbacy of events at the monastery during the period of upheaval (1524–1528), ''"including letters to and from the city council and written transcripts of conversations. Later a final section was added, perhaps written after her death but including passages from Caritas' later letters."''Caritas Pirckheimer/Charitas Pirkheimer/Barbara Pirkheimer (1467-1532)
/ref> She also wrote letters to

Conrad Celtis Conrad Celtes (german: Konrad Celtes; la, Conradus Celtis (Protucius); 1 February 1459 – 4 February 1508) was a German Renaissance humanist scholar and poet of the German Renaissance born in Franconia (nowadays part of Bavaria). He led th ...

, who called the new

Hrotsvitha Hrotsvitha (c. 935–973) was a secular canoness who wrote drama and Christian poetry under the Ottonian dynasty. She was born in Bad Gandersheim to Saxon nobles and entered Gandersheim Abbey as a canoness. She is considered the first female wri ...

. She died in

, aged 65. The fate of the convent, as it transpires, was that the women of Saint Clara's were allowed to stay in the monastery until their deaths but no novices were to be received. By 1591 the monastery and cloister had ceased to exist as Catholic houses of worship. In her book ''Chapters on Saint-Lore and Convent Life between A.D. 500 and A.D. 1500'' (1896) Lina Eckenstein drew the attention of modern readers to the life and achievements of Caritas Pirckheimer. Lina Eckenstein, ''Woman Under Monasticism: Chapters on Saint-Lore and Convent Life between A.D. 500 and A.D. 1500'',

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambridge University Pre ...

, 1896.

References

External links

Barbara Pirkheimer (1467–1532) biography
''The Medieval Review'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Pirckheimer, Caritas 1467 births 1532 deaths 15th-century German nuns People from Eichstätt People from Nuremberg 16th-century German Roman Catholic nuns German Roman Catholic abbesses