Suster Bertken ('Sister Bertie'; 1426 – 25 June 1514) was a Dutch poet and

anchorite In Christianity, an anchorite or anchoret (female: anchoress); () is someone who, for religious reasons, withdraws from secular society to be able to lead an intensely prayer-oriented, Asceticism , ascetic, or Eucharist-focused life. Anchorit ...

Biography

She was born the illegitimate daughter of the canon priest Jacob van Lichtenberg. Her life before her enclosure as an anchorite is unknown, but she was evidently given a good education. In 1456 or 1457, she let herself be enclosed in a cell as an anchorite at the Buurkerk in

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

with permission by Utrecht bishop

David of Burgundy David of Burgundy (c. February 142616 April 1494) was the bishop of Utrecht from 1456. The illegitimate son of Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, David was made bishop by his father in an attempt to enforce more centralised Burgundian control ove ...

. According to a description of her life, she lived an extremely ascetic life even for an anchorite. After her death, several songs and hymns written by her were found among her belongings and were published in 1516. Her songs describe foremost her passion in the mystical union with God and became popular. She is one of few medieval women included in the Dutch literary canon. Bertken lived in a small cell adjacent to the Buurkerk church of Utrecht for fifty-seven years until her death in 1514.Van Kerckvoorde, Colette M. (1993). ''An Introduction to Middle Dutch''. Mouton de Gruyter. p. 161. Her daily activities were attending church from a window in her cell,

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique to train attention and awareness and detach from reflexive, "discursive thinking", achieving a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state, while not judging the meditat ...

prayer File:Prayers-collage.png, 300px, alt=Collage of various religionists praying – Clickable Image, Collage of various religionists praying ''(Clickable image – use cursor to identify.)'' rect 0 0 1000 1000 Shinto festivalgoer praying in front ...

and writing. The only furniture in the cell was a chair, desk and mattress. Bertken never wore shoes and her diet excluded all dairy and meat products. She died on 25 June 1514. File:Zuster Bertken leefde hier.jpg, Memorial stone for Suster Bertken near her demolished cell with a map indicating the location in the Buurkerk church. Choorstraat, Utrecht, the Netherlands. File:Epitaaf van Jacob van Lichtenberg (1384 - 1449), Domkerk Utrecht, 2023 (text cropped).jpg, Epitaph for the Provost and Canon Jacob van Lichtenberg (1384–-1449), illegitimate father of Suster Bertken, in the Utrecht Domkerk, 2023. Click to enlarge. Suster Bertken - Boeck tracterende van desen puncten, text with woodcut, 1516.jpg, Suster Bertken: ''Boeck tracterende van desen puncten''. Text with woodcut, 1516. Suster Bertken - Een boecxken van die passie ons liefs heeren, Woodcut, 1516.jpg, Suster Bertken: ''Een boecxken van die passie ons liefs heeren''. Woodcut, 1516.

Citation

Work

* ''Een boecxken gemaket ende bescreven van suster Bertken die LVII iaren besloten heeft gheseten tot Utrecht in die buerkercke'', 1516, containing ** ''Het boecxken van dye passie'' (''Hier begint een seer devoet boecxken van die passie ons liefs heeren Jhesu Christi tracterende''), meditations on the passion of Christ. ** ''Suster Bertkens boeck tractierende van desen puncten'', prayers, an essay on

Christmas Eve Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas, the festival commemorating nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus. Christmas Day is observance of Christmas by country, observed around the world, and Christma ...

, a dialogue between a faithful soul and Christ her bridegroom and eight songs of literary value. * ''Mi quam een schoon geluit in mijn oren. Het werk van Suster Bertken''. Republished and explained by José van Aelst, Fons van Buuren and Annemeike Tan (Hilversum, Uitgeverij Verloren, 2007). . Collected work with extensive notes.

In music

Suster Bertken is the subject of the

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

''Suster Bertken'' (2010) by Dutch composer Rob Zuidam (born 1964).

References

1426 births 1514 deaths 15th-century women writers 15th-century poets 16th-century Dutch writers Dutch hermits Women hermits {{RC-bio-stub