Hrotsvitha

Who was Hrotsvitha?

Hrotsvitha of Gandersheim, was a 10th-century German secular canoness, as well as a dramatist and poet who lived and worked at Gandersheim Abbey in modern-day Bad Gandersheim, Lower Saxony, established by the Ottonian dynasty. She wrote in Latin, and is considered by some to be the first person since antiquity to compose drama in the Latin West. She has also been called "the most remarkable woman of her time."

Each writer who has mentioned Hrotsvitha had his own way of writing her name. Some variations include Hrosvite, Hroswitha, Hroswithe, Rhotswitha, Roswit and modernized Roswitha. Even this long list is not complete. The meaning of this name has been a focus for disagreement. Her name, as she herself attests, is Old Saxon for "strong voice."