Ava

A German poetess, the first woman known to have written in German and probably identical with a recluse of that name who died in Austria in the vicinity of Melk, A.D. 1127. Almost nothing is known of her life or personality. She herself tells us in a passage in her work that she was the mother of two sons who helped her in procuring the material for her poems. These poems are metrical versions of stories from the New Testament and consist of a "Life of Jesus", "Antichrist", "The Gifts of the Holy Ghost ", "The Last Judgment", and "John the Baptist". They are preserved in two manuscripts, one at Verona, the other at Gorlitz. The "John the Baptist" is found only in the latter manuscript. Ava's authorship of this poem, as well as that of the "Life of Jesus" has been questioned, but hardly on sufficient grounds. The poems are naive in tone and display deeply religious sentiments, but, except for occasional passages, they are destitute of poetic merit. Their technique is often crude, assonance taking the place of rhyme and alliteration being not infrequent. The chief source from which Ava drew her material was the New Testament, but she also made use of older German poems and possibly other writings such as the Apocryphal Gospel of the Infancy of the Saviour by the Pseudo-Matthew.

We ask you, humbly, to help.

Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! It's a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. If you have already donated, we sincerely thank you. We're not salespeople, but we depend on donations averaging $14.76 and fewer than 1% of readers give. If you donate just $5.00, the price of your coffee, Catholic Online School could keep thriving. Thank you. Help Now >

Rosaries by Catholic Online Shopping

Our Lady Fatima 6mm Amethyst Swarovski Sterling Silver Rosary Bracelet

@ $145.99

White pearl Bead Gold Rosary

@ $23.95

We ask you, humbly: don't scroll away.

Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! It's a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. If you have already donated, we sincerely thank you. We're not salespeople, but we depend on donations averaging $14.76 and fewer than 1% of readers give. If you donate just $5.00, the price of your coffee, Catholic Online School could keep thriving. Thank you.

Help Now >