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on her tongue with sweetness as before, and again she swallowed it. And this happened to her about a hundred times. And when she felt it so frequently, she was tempted to touch it with her finger. And when she wanted to do so, that little skin went down her throat on its own. And it was told to her that the foreskin was resurrected with the Lord on the day of resurrection. And so great was the sweetness of tasting that little skin that she felt in all limbs and parts of the limbs a sweet transformation.
356:, spiritual women who practiced extreme fasting “felt that suffering was service—that it was one with Christ's suffering and that it therefore substituted for the suffering of others, both their bodily ills and their time in purgatory, and viewed the physicality of their starvation as their bodies "quite literally Christ's macerated and saving flesh." Through this physical performance of religiosity, pious revelations had a literality that enhanced the fulfillment of worship for medieval Christians.
33:
320:, and for the rest of her life she refused to eat meat, claiming the body of Christ was enough meat for her; this led to her joining the legacy of mystics who used food and consumption (or lack thereof) as a vehicle for the soul to express its desire for God, because food was "a central metaphor the most direct way of encountering God."
352:("the major form of lust") is sinful in the Christian faith, and as it is the binary opposite of fasting ("the most painful renunciation"), the church is predisposed to indulge fasting as a saintly act—however, this opens a channel for extremism that has been renounced in recent decades. Like saints receiving
283:
confessor, and were transcribed by the
Franciscan friar Ermenrich possibly as early as 1318; like many women mystics during this time, Blannbekin herself was illiterate. Devotional texts by women mystics that are "co-authored" in this way are thought to suffer from interference from the filtering and
380:
Crying and with compassion, she began to think about the foreskin of Christ, where it may be located . And behold, soon she felt with the greatest sweetness on her tongue a little piece of skin alike the skin in an egg, which she swallowed. After she had swallowed it, she again felt the little skin
298:
Blannbekin's contemporaries were quick to show contempt for her, and she carried the reputation of being "odd" even when she held respect. In one story, she was derided for compulsively bowing toward a basement window as she walked through town, but regained respectability after a stolen
Eucharist
422:
viewpoint, e.g. analyzing the erotic images of Christ in terms of feminist criticism; this presents a patterned shift in her reception: as third-wave feminism of the early 1990s reintroduced sex-positivity and
Blannbekin's Life and Revelations came back into the medievalist spotlight, her work
454:
and associates dark skin with evil, and interprets leprosy as a sign of moral corruption. When read from the perspective of any of these marginalized groups, Agnes's religious beliefs are put into sharp relief as an example of
Christian hegemonic strategies, often successful, to employ its
409:
The eroticism of
Blannbekin's visions are not without precedent; other mystics also presented Christ images with sexual effects or connotations. The reputation she earned during her lifetime is thought to be more related to her behavior than the erotic content of her visions, and sexual
389:, or a "rain of tears" from God. Many of these visions involved bright lights, and in one she described being "so filled with light within that she could gaze at herself." As with the foreskin occasion, many of her visions involved touch, such as being kissed on the cheeks by the
397:, Blannbekin claimed to taste Christ; on one occasion, a sexually immoral priest could not find his Eucharist, which Blannbekin claimed to have felt in her own mouth. Similarly, she described drinking a "refreshing spiritual drink" from the
405:
reaction: "Agnes herself was filled with an excitement in her chest every time that God visited her that was so intense that it went through her body and that it burned as a result, not in a painful but in a most pleasurable manner."
463:
While this is a mar on the universality of
Blannbekin's work, it is still an opportunity for scholars of women's spirituality to peer into the life of an "odd" beguine who emblemizes common topics of interest in Medieval mysticism.
307:
At the age of seven or eight, Blannbekin began secretly giving her meals to the poor; she would continue performing acts of both charity and self-starvation throughout her life. By the age of ten or eleven, she began craving the
252:
being the only source of information from her directly, little is known with certainty. Her surname, which is also sometimes spelled
Blanbakin, is a derivation of the name of this village (i.e.,
1022:
1012:
228:, Austria, was not released until the 20th century. Although Blannbekin is best remembered today for her visions, during her life she was known for her ministry to the
275:
During services and prayers in her early teenage years, Blannbekin began to hear voices which explained spiritual mysteries. Like her more famous contemporary,
284:
dilution of their male scribes. Understandings of the "construction of authorial personae" necessitate doubts of the validity of the transcriptions.
340:. The flesh of Jesus—both flesh as body and flesh as food—is at the very center of female piety. And this flesh is simultaneously pleasure and pain.
287:
Her visions are typified as distinctive to high medieval devotionalism and used "familiar teaching techniques such as enumerating twelve glories of
220:, and only two manuscripts survived. One was destroyed in a fire at the Strasbourg library in 1870. The surviving manuscript, currently owned by a
997:
982:
1002:
987:
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256:). At the age of seven or eight, Blannbekin began secretly giving her meals to the poor. By the age of ten or eleven, she began craving the
992:
977:
430:
Medieval women, like medieval men, had the choice to support or subvert
Christianity's efforts to marginalize and persecute groups such as
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garnered a remarkable amount of support. Before this, eroticism intermingled with
Christian revelations were treated disdainfully.
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426:
Additionally, modern critics are increasingly more concerned with explicating the prejudice (albeit standard) in her work:
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261:
77:
456:
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was discovered in that said basement; however, occasions like these led to her feeling "wrongly accused and defamed".
295:, made memorable through vivid color symbolism and animal imagery," though marked by the eroticism ingrained in them.
967:
269:
385:
Blannbekin described herself as continually beset with visions throughout the day, which she described as
957:
364:
Although not all of her revelations were considered obscene, they included visions of monks, women, and
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209:
205:
181:
111:
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328:…to eat Christ is to become Christ. The Christ one becomes, in the reception of communion and in the
241:
50:
185:
114:
818:
592:
87:
418:
Modern scholars are splintered over the themes and messages of
Blannbekin. Most accounts take a
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at the birth of Christ. She repeatedly condemns Jews, presents a negative portrayal of
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Holy Feast and Holy Fast: The Religious Significance of Food to Medieval Women
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280:
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before being transcribed by the monk Ermenrich and later published in 1731 as
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910:
World Spirituality: Christian Spirituality – High Middle Ages and Reformation
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394:
292:
201:
197:
446:. Thus, we find Agnes repeating the widely known legend about the death of
839:
The Flowering of Mysticism: Men and Women in the New Mysticism (1200–1350)
806:
498:
The Flowering of Mysticism: Men and Women in the New Mysticism (1200–1350)
561:. U.S.A.: Garland Reference Library of the Humanities. pp. 138–139.
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349:
435:
345:
245:
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Fallen Bodies: Pollution, Sexuality, and Demonology in the Middle Ages
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473:
447:
402:
317:
265:
225:
66:
791:"Agnes Blannbekin, Viennese Beguine: Life and Revelations (review)"
348:
for long periods to induce a "suffering" as an offering to Christ.
365:
678:
Circumcision: A History of the World's Most Controversial Surgery
410:
contextualization of religious revelations for women was common.
439:
940:
and German translation: Peter Dinzelbacher and Renate Vogeler,
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at receiving them. In one vision, she claimed to have felt the
344:
Blannbekin also joined the ranks of spiritual women who often
165:
159:
705:
Grzymała-Moszczyńska, Halina; Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi (1996).
291:, five types of confessors, and four ways of receiving the
942:
Leben und Offenbarungen der Wiener Begine Agnes Blannbekin
279:, Blannbekin's revelations were dictated to an anonymous
150:
756:
Agnes Blannbekin, Viennese Beguine: Life and Revelations
272:, claiming the body of Christ was enough meat for her.
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698:
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and her strange and provocative expressions of faith.
16:
Austrian Beguine and Christian mystic (c. 1244 – 1315)
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401:. Supposed visitations from Jesus himself caused an
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303:Association with extremist religious consumption
208:. Her revelations were compiled by an anonymous
886:. U.S.A.: University of California Press, Ltd.
8:
913:. U.S.A.: The Crossroad Publishing Company.
646:. U.S.A.: University of Pennsylvania Press.
558:An Encyclopedia of Continental Women Writers
1023:Members of the Third Order of Saint Francis
748:
1013:Christian female saints of the Middle Ages
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609:Women Christian Mystics Speak to Our Times
591:. London: George Bell & Sons. p.
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842:. U.S.A.: The Crossroad Publishing Co.
501:. U.S.A.: The Crossroad Publishing Co.
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708:Religion, Psychopathology, and Coping
216:. The copies were confiscated by the
64:10 March 1315 (aged 70–71)
7:
789:Newman, Barbara (20 November 2003).
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782:
780:
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711:. Atlanta, GA: Rodopi Publishers.
476:on 10 March 1315, in her convent.
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360:Association with mystic eroticism
312:. In around 1260, she joined the
260:. In around 1260, she joined the
180:– 10 March 1315) was an Austrian
248:to a peasant family; due to her
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31:
878:Bynum, Caroline Walker (1987).
268:; for the rest of her life she
998:14th-century Christian mystics
983:13th-century Christian mystics
795:The Catholic Historical Review
240:Blannbekin was likely born in
214:Venerabilis Agnetis Blannbekin
188:. She was also referred to as
125:Venerabilis Agnetis Blannbekin
1:
1003:14th-century Christian saints
588:A Dictionary of Saintly Women
555:Wilson, Katharina M. (1991).
338:suffering Christ of the cross
174:
43:
988:14th-century Austrian people
973:13th-century Austrian people
612:. U.S.A.: Sheed & Ward.
585:Dunbar, Agnes B. C. (1904).
314:Third Order of Saint Francis
262:Third Order of Saint Francis
993:14th-century Austrian women
978:13th-century Austrian women
759:. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer.
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1043:14th-century women farmers
1033:13th-century women farmers
194:Venerable Agnes Blannbekin
753:Wiethaus, Ulrike (2002).
606:Perrin, David B. (2001).
30:
1018:Medieval Austrian saints
936:Critical edition of her
836:McGinn, Bernard (1998).
495:McGinn, Bernard (1998).
459:members to its own ends.
681:. U.S.A.: Basic Books.
1028:Roman Catholic mystics
1008:Austrian women writers
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383:
342:
336:, is the bleeding and
190:Saint Agnes Blannbekin
807:10.1353/cat.2003.0225
640:Elliot, Dyan (1999).
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414:Criticism and support
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370:pseudo-sexual ecstasy
368:naked, and described
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206:Roman Catholic Church
1048:14th-century farmers
1038:13th-century farmers
938:Vita et Revelationes
907:Raitt, Jill (1987).
399:spear wound of Jesus
250:Life and Revelations
472:Blannbekin died in
393:. While eating the
270:refused to eat meat
115:Christian mysticism
78:Franciscan tertiary
673:Gollaher, David L.
88:Middle High German
69:, Duchy of Austria
944:, Goppingen 1994.
374:foreskin of Jesus
310:sacramental bread
277:Angela of Foligno
258:sacramental bread
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108:Literary movement
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958:1240s births
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963:1315 deaths
432:homosexuals
420:gynocentric
391:Lamb of God
224:convent in
178: 1244
102:Revelations
47: 1244
952:Categories
480:References
452:Ethiopians
334:asceticism
289:the Virgin
281:Franciscan
254:Plambachen
222:Cistercian
74:Occupation
823:161785368
815:1534-0708
457:subaltern
448:sodomites
395:Eucharist
330:imitation
293:eucharist
210:confessor
202:canonized
198:beatified
675:(2000).
403:orgastic
354:stigmata
350:Gluttony
242:Plambach
84:Language
51:Plambach
324:writes:
246:Austria
204:by the
192:or the
182:Beguine
112:Beguine
917:
890:
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821:
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474:Vienna
442:, and
436:lepers
346:fasted
318:Vienna
266:Vienna
226:Zwettl
67:Vienna
819:S2CID
468:Death
366:Jesus
98:Genre
915:ISBN
888:ISBN
844:ISBN
811:ISSN
761:ISBN
713:ISBN
683:ISBN
648:ISBN
614:ISBN
563:ISBN
503:ISBN
440:Jews
236:Life
184:and
61:Died
40:Born
803:doi
332:of
316:in
264:in
200:or
954::
858:^
817:.
809:.
799:89
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793:.
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244:,
175:c.
173:;
166:ən
160:iː
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923:.
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852:.
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805::
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721:.
691:.
656:.
622:.
595:.
571:.
511:.
169:/
163:k
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