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“If you are really a malicious spirit, I order you…” The demonic apparitions in the visionary “diaries” of Elisabeth of Schönau
https://doi.org/10.28995/2686-7249-2020-3-27-46
Abstract
The visionary “diaries” of the Benedictine nun Elisabeth of Schönau (1129–1164) illustrate how the rhythms of the monastic life based on the yearly, weekly and daily cycles of the divine office were interiorized by the medieval monks and nuns and also shaped the thematic outline of their visions. The research works by Peter Dinzelbacher, Jeffrey Hamburger, Barbara Newman, Ann J. Cark, Mikhail Reutin and other medievalists show that in 12th–14th c. the prayerful and ascetic practices cultivated in the monasteries and especially in the convents were aimed at inducing mystical and visionary experiences. It is less known that devilish obsessions also had their chronological and liturgical associating. This article is concerned with the very beginning of the “First Book of Visions”, where Elizabeth described how the apparitions of the demons were “arranged”; how their calendar was built; how they were related to the liturgy and watch services and how through them Elizabeth (and / or her brother Ekbert, who recorded and edited her revelations) constructed her biography of a visionary and a prophetess.
About the Author
M. R. MaizulsRussian Federation
Mikhail R. Maizuls
bld. 6, Miusskaya Sq., Moscow, 125993
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Supplementary files
For citation: Maizuls M.R. “If you are really a malicious spirit, I order you…” The demonic apparitions in the visionary “diaries” of Elisabeth of Schönau. RSUH/RGGU Bulletin: “Literary Teory. Linguistics. Cultural Studies”, Series. 2020;(3):27-46. https://doi.org/10.28995/2686-7249-2020-3-27-46
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