Christina Ebner

Albrecht Classen (University of Arizona)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.4.1: German-language Writing and Culture: Germany, 500-present.
Vol. editors: Nicole Kennedy (University of Newcastle), Gerhard P. Knapp (University of Utah), Jennifer Marston William (Purdue University), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jill E. Twark (East Carolina University)

Dates

Born 26 Mar 1277
Died 12 Dec 1356
Activity 1317-1352

Places

Born in Germany
Active in Germany

Activities

Primary

Mystic/ Saint

Resources

Ebner's Works

Save to Bookshelf

Even though we might have great difficulties today to understand the phenomenon of medieval mysticism, it was certainly one of the greatest literary media to help religious women write down their spiritual experiences, i.e., visions, and thus to become creative. Through those revelations, mystics were graced with direct encounters with the Godhead in very personal terms, and this strongly encouraged them, particularly when also guided by their male confessors, to turn to writing. Our understanding of pre-modern women’s literature depends greatly on the acceptance of mystical texts as the major female contributions, since we know of only few secular medieval women poets (Marie de France, the Winsbeckin, Leonor López de Córdoba, Christine de Pizan, Elisabeth von Nassau-Saarbrücken,…

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1138 words

Citation: Classen, Albrecht. "Christina Ebner". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 10 March 2025 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=15389, accessed 26 March 2025.]