Jutta von Sponheim, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death
TweetJutta von Sponheim
German noble and nun
Date of Birth: 22-Dec-1091
Place of Birth: Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
Date of Death: 22-Dec-1136
Profession: nun
Zodiac Sign: Capricorn 
About Jutta von Sponheim
- Countess Jutta von Sponheim (22 December 1091 – 1136) was the youngest of four noblewomen who were born into affluent surroundings in what is currently the Rhineland-Palatinate.
- She was the daughter of Count Stephen of Spanheim. Jutta, instead of entering the convent at an early age, became an "anchoress," a symbolic "anchor" for the world to God, and thus she closed herself for life in a one-room shelter, with only a small window through which food was passed in, and refused to be taken out.
- This hut was next to the Benedictine monastery on Disibodenberg, where she was abbess.
- She tutored several female pupils from wealthy families and they lived with her in her hermitage.
- She taught and raised them all, but most notably the child Hildegard of Bingen. On the Day of All Saints, 1 November 1112, Hildegard was given over as an oblate into the care of Jutta of Sponheim, who was only six years Hildegard’s elder.
- Jutta was also related to Marchioness Richardis of Stade, the mother of Hartwig, Archbishop of Bremen and of Richardis, who was intimate friends with Hildegard. Jutta taught Hildegard to write; to read the collection of psalms used in the liturgy; and to chant the Opus Dei (‘work of God’), the weekly sequential recitation of the Canonical hours.
- She probably also taught Hildegard to play the zither-like string instrument called the psaltery. Jutta was a severe practitioner of ascetism, including penitential self-flagellation.
- She wore a chain under her clothes, prayed barefoot in the extreme cold of a German winter, and refused the allowed (and even encouraged) modifications to the Benedictine diet for those who were sick. As an adult, Hildegard would teach moderation.
- Hildegard succeeded Jutta upon her death in 1136.
- Hildegard's other well-known teacher is the monk Volmar.
Read more at Wikipedia