ABSTRACT
Medieval saints are sometimes so undistinguished it seems a miracle that they ever earned sainthood. In the case of Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia it seems strange that not everybody who knew her noticed she was holy. When she suffered an unjust beating, she smiled and murmured sweetly that the grass bends under the flood’s flow, but afterwards grows better for its nourishing effects. Ordered to dismiss her beloved lady companions, she obeyed without delay. Bare feet and woollen cloth she preferred to the costly raiment of the court; instead of being served she preferred to serve. The blood she shed in her penitentiary practice gave her the name of a martyr and her way of life was held up as an example for all. Such measure of sanctity was rewarded by a widespread devotion throughout the Middle Ages, and even today Elizabeth is commemorated in the Roman Catholic Church. But behind this paragon of virtue, this follow-the-book pattern of perfection, is a flesh-and-blood presence. The figure of Elizabeth has become an icon, yet she had enough force to change the icon to fit her own shaping of piety, which she expressed in the imitatio Christi as well as in the earthly endeavours of marriage and motherhood. In addition to being a near personification of charity, poverty, fortitude, temperance, chastity, justice, humility, compassion, patience, obedience, continence and discretion, Elizabeth was a happily married woman and an unvirginal mother of three children. This saint is furthermore unusual for the quality of historical sources about her. They provide an exceptional opportunity to study not only the image of the saint but also the historical person. 1
