Female Imitatio Christi in early modernity – the search for strong virgins like St Wilgefortis

Berlis, Angela (22 July 2012). Female Imitatio Christi in early modernity – the search for strong virgins like St Wilgefortis (Unpublished). In: Vortrag im Rahmen der Ausstellung “A Celebration of Female Images of Christ – Art Exhibition and Lecture Series. Universität Winchester (England). 22.07.2012.

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At first glance you think that this is Christ crucified. At a second glance, you recognize a woman hanging on a cross. This is not an invention of the 20th century but reaches back to history where we we can find women cross-dressed or even bearded as men. St Wilgefortis or St Uncumber was a bearded and crucified woman who was venerated widely in northern Europe during the fifteeneth and sixteenth centuries. Wilgefortis is a corruption of the term „virgo fortis“ („strong virgin“). She and other female saints were considered as „imitations of Christ“. The paper deals with the reasons why this saint became so popular and how even today ideas about such strong virgins which mirror androgynous symbolism live on in popular culture.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Division/Institute:	01 Faculty of Theology > Department of Old Catholic Theology [discontinued]
UniBE Contributor:	Berlis, Angela
Subjects:	200 Religion > 280 Christian denominations 200 Religion > 230 Christianity & Christian theology
Language:	English
Submitter:	Angela Karoline Hermine Berlis
Date Deposited:	25 May 2016 15:22
Last Modified:	05 Dec 2022 14:54
URI:	https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/80556