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All written in Latin, they are an exception to the sterility that characterized the literary production of her century. They have a certain similarity, not only to the Church Fathers, but also to classical poetry, including Virgil, Horace, Ovid, Plautus and Terence, the main influence of her poems. They show the chastity and perseverance of the Christian woman against the image of the weak and sentimental Latin woman. They are grouped in three major books. Liber primus contains eight female-themed "legends" revolving around virginity, religiosity, marriage, motherhood and sexuality. Liber tertius is the historiographic work of Hrostvitha in which the Gesta Ottonis I imperatoris, of epic character, where Otto I is extolled, stands out. 

But it is in the so-called Liber secundus where we find the author's most original contribution to medieval literature. It contains six dramatic works. The full titles of these works are as follows: Gallimachus (or The Resurrection of Drusiana and Callimachus), Lapsus et conversio Teophili vicedomini, Gallicanus (or The conversion of Gallicanus, captain of the army), Abraham (or The fall and conversion of Maria, niece of Abraham the Hermit), Paphnutius (or The Conversion of the Meretrix Thais), Dulcitius (or The Martyrdom of the holy virgins Agape, Quionia and Irene), Sapientia (or Martyrdom of the holy virgins Faith, Hope and Charity). 

They are characterized by a somewhat naive humor. She wrote them taking as a model the respective tragedies of Terence that were read in the convent. She intends to replace these readings with others that are more edifying to the nuns. In these works, Hrostvitha manages to make female weakness overcome male strength. She deals mainly with the theme of the martyrdom suffered by some Christian women after taking their vows of chastity. She also refers, in her fourth and fifth dramas, to women in brothels and the way in which, with small interventions, they agree to change their way of life. The nun starts her comedies with a statement in which she herself emphasizes the didactic and moralizing purpose of her comedies:  

 "[...] Hay algunos cristianos que, pese a atenerse fielmente a las Sagradas Escrituras, y aun despreciando obras de otros autores paganos, leen y releen con frecuencia la poesía de Terencio y, al tiempo que disfrutan de la dulce lengua de este, se contaminan con las perversidades de las que vienen a saber. Por eso, mientras que otros se afanan en su lectura, yo, la voz resonante en Gandersheim, no he tenido escrúpulos para imitarlo en mis composiciones, porque en las mismas composiciones en las que eran representadas las obscenas suciedades de impudorosas mujeres, he exaltado, de acuerdo a las modestas capacidades que se encuentran en mi ingenio, la encomiable pureza de las santas y cristianas vírgenes [...]."

Roswitha de Gandersheim. Obras Completas(2005). Introducción, traducción y notas de Juan Martos y Rosario Moreno Soldevila. Editorial: Huelva.

She deals mainly with the martyrdom that some Christian women suffer after taking their vows of chastity. He also refers, in his fourth and also fifth drama, to women who find themselves in brothels and the way in which, with small interventions, they agree to change their way of life. He renders "pious and Christian" what in his plays was "frivolous and licentious" and strives to counteract the bad female image that appeared in the Latin texts by enhancing the figures of women. 

This is undoubtedly Hroswitha's most original contribution to medieval literature. It should not be forgotten that theatre in the classical style was not known during the Middle Ages, with a few exceptions, such as the Pamphilus de Amore; medieval performance appeared by other, generally religious, routes before the definitive recovery of classical theatre brought about by Humanism in the 15th century.

She was able to grasp intellectually the meaning of classical theatrical performance and to recover it, at least in written form (there is no record of her plays being performed), in her time.

The literature produced in a religious environment by authors such as Hrotswitha of Gandersheim or the abbesses of Fraumünster - without forgetting later authors such as Hildegard of Bingen, Frau Ava or Mechthild of Magdeburg - during the German (and European, in general) Middle Ages, presents some common characteristics: In contrast to the pejorative view of medieval women, these writers, in texts of different literary genres, show a woman who is not only the perfect Christian but also a strong and courageous woman, knowing how to resist all kinds of evil with an iron will, sometimes enduring the most horrible tortures.

These works, after centuries of neglect, were discovered by the poet Conrad Celtis in the Benedictine monastery of St. Emmeram in Regensburg and then published in 1501. Hrostvitha's last, unfinished work, was rescued from oblivion by the clergyman J. G. Leuckfeld in 1707. Entitled Primordia coenobii Gandersheimensis, it tells the story of the Gandersheim monastery from its foundation up to the time of Hrostvitha's life. 

 

 

Indications

-Classical culture: Block Preservation of classical languages. Language and lexicon; Block Continuity of cultural heritage. Literature, art and science.

-Universal Literature 1st Baccalaureate: Interpretation of medieval fragments of different genres and themes.

-Spanish Language and Literature ESO: Literary Education Block.

Because they are very short in length, the six dramas can be used to practice dramatized reading. Mainly the Dulcitius drama because it contains the most.

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