“I must accept it and be glad,” I said as the other sisters arrived and we filed into the chapel. “It is un-Christian not to show gratitude for a gesture of goodwill, especially when it is so unexpected.”
In the pew, I opened my Book of Hours just as the first notes of the chant floated from the church and the sisters intoned, “Deus, in adiutorium meum intende. Domine, ad adiuvandum me festina.” O God, come to my assistance. O Lord, make haste to help me.
I looked over my shoulder at Ricardis, her head bowed and eyes closed, and was charmed by her humbleness as much as I had been by her exuberance.
Now at the grave, I reached into the pocket of my robe and took out the little box with the heart-shaped lump of salt my mother had given me. My mother had been so strong and protective of me and had not hesitated to confront the monks to ensure my right to make my own decision. Through this gift, the memory of her wisdom had guided me through the years, reminding me where I had come from and of the work I had been called to do.
I turned the piece over in my fingers, as pure and white as it had been on the day I first laid my eyes on it, then closed the lid again. “I promise I will spare no effort to shield our community from attacks, save it from neglect, and give it independence so we can control our present and determine our future,” I said, my words caught by the wind and carried away into the universe.
As I walked back to the convent, I wondered whether I had made that pledge to Jutta or to my mother, or perhaps to both.
What I did not know was that on that same day Abbot Kuno wrote a letter to Abbot Heinrich of Fulda, a monk learned in canon law, and an authority on Regula Benedicti.
You see, my plans had already reached the abbot’s ears. He was quite certain that as my nominal superior he would have to consent to my relocation, and if I defied him he could escalate the matter to Mainz. There, the archbishop would be unlikely to side with me, especially as the monks had a new ally at his court—Helenger’s nephew Walter who, although only twenty-three, had just been made a junior canon and was poised for a brilliant career. Kuno’s letter to Fulda was just a way of reassuring himself.
But I would not learn about any of it for years. For a long time, I would not be aware that just as I was vowing to save the convent and free the sisters, the monks were preparing to ensure that everything remained as it was and that the order of things was preserved.
Thank you for reading The Greenest Branch. I hope you enjoyed it. Would you kindly take a few minutes to support independent publishing by leaving a review on Amazon and/or Goodreads? I will greatly appreciate it!
If you would like to learn more about Hildegard or about my future writing projects, feel free to get in touch via my website's Contact Me form at www.pkadams-author.com. You can also follow me on Twitter @pk_adams.
GLOSSARY OF TERMS
As clocks were not in use in the Middle Ages, the passage of time was typically measured by the eight daily services of the Divine Office. The exact timing of these services was dictated by the rising and setting of the sun and therefore varied depending on the season. Here’s a rough approximation:
matins - in the middle of the night, any time between midnight and 2 a.m.
lauds - at dawn (around 3 a.m. in the summer)
prime - first office of the day, around 6 a.m.
terce - mid-morning office, around 9 a.m.
sext - mid-day office, around 12 noon
nones – mid-afternoon office, around 3 p.m.
vespers - the evening office, between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.
compline - at nightfall, around 9 p.m.
Anchorite monasticism – an early form of monasticism particularly popular in the Middle Ages. It was characterized by complete isolation from the world for the purpose of practicing religious devotion. Most commonly, anchorite enclosures (cells or anchorholds) were attached to a church in the form of a wooden shack or a stone-walled annex. There were more women than men who practiced that form of monasticism, and they were referred to as anchoresses. Anchorite monasticism was in contrast to cenobitic (community-based) monasticism as exemplified by priories or abbeys, although sometimes, as in this story, the two could co-exist in the same place.
Rule of Saint Benedict (Lat. Regula Benedicti) – a set of rules governing the daily life in the Benedictine communities. It covers both religious practices and non-religious activities like work, study, recreation, and meals. It was written by Benedict of Nursia (Norcia) the founder of the order (c. 480-550). Note: Benedict was only canonized in the year 1220, much later than the events in this story.
Obedientiary – in the context of cenobitic monasticism a senior monk or nun who held an office within the community. In addition to the abbot/abbess and prior/prioress, they included such posts as cantor, kitchener, cellarer, porter, bursar, matricularius, novice master, infirmarian, etc.
Magistra – the Latin term for ‘teacher’, sometimes applied to leaders of female monastic communities who held a rank lower than abbess.
Investiture controversy – the power struggle between the papacy and the secular rulers of the Holy Roman Empire (encompassing roughly today’s Germany, Northern Italy, and parts of western France) over who should have the right to appoint bishops by symbolically investing them with the insignia of their authority. It lasted some 75 years from the second half of the 11th to the early 12th century. It resulted in a state of civil war in most of the German territory as well as the appointments of several anti-popes by successive emperors
