presses her poetic mission; the glorifi cation of Christian
heroes, both secular and religious. The subject of her
poems are the Ottonians and the whole Liudolf dynasty
as well as the saints and martyrs of the Christian church.
Writing in Latin, mostly in leonine hexameters and
rhymed, rhythmic prose, Hrosvit chose hagiographic
plots for her legends and plays and contemporary and
near-contemporary events for her secular epics.
Her works are arranged in three books, organized ge-
nerically and chronologically, and delineated as such by
prefatory and dedicatory materials. Book One contains
eight legends (Marian, Ascencio, Gongolf, Pelagius,
Basilius, Theolphilus, Dionysius, and Agnes); all but
Pelagius, which she claims to have composed based on
an eyewitness report, are based on biblical, apocryphal,
and hagiographic texts.
Book Two, Hrosvit’s best-known and most contro-
versial work, contains six dramas, based, she claimed,
on the comedies of Terence. For his alluring, but mor-
ally perilous, mimetic powers, she said she wished to
substitute the glorious and morally benefi cial ideals of
militantly chaste Christianity. She chose the dramatic
form, she argued, because the sweetness of Terence’s
style attracted many readers who, in turn, became cor-
rupted by the wickedness of his subject matter. Of her
six plays, two (Dulcitius and Sapientia) deal with the
martyrdom of three allegorical virgins during the perse-
cution of Christians under Diocletian and Hadrian; two
concern the salvation of repentant harlots (Abraham and
Paphnutius); and two (Gallicanus and Calimachus) are
conversion plays.
Her two extant epics in Book 3, narrate the rise of
the Ottonian dynasty (Gesta Ottonis, or Deeds of the
Ottonians) and the foundation of the Gandersheim Ab-
bey (Primordia). Throughout all her works, Hrosvit
extols the ideals of monastic Christianity and exhorts
her audience and readers to imitate and emulate her
saintly models.
Further Reading
Wilson, Katharina, trans, and ed. Hrotsvit of Gandersheim: a
fl orilegium of her works. Woodbridge (Suffolk) and Rochester,
N.Y.: Brewer, 1998.
——. trans. The plays of Hrotsvit of Gandersheim. New York:
Garland, 1989.
Katharina M. Wilson
HUGH CAPET (ca. 940–996)
The son of Hugues le Grand, duke of Francia, Hugh
Capet is traditionally considered the founder of the
third dynasty of French kings, the Capetians, who
ruled, through collateral lines, up to and after the
French Revolution. Hugh became duke of Francia and
Aquitaine in 961, fi ve years after his father’s death. Like
his ancestors, the Robertians, Hugh had landholdings
and an infl uence over the Neustrian aristocracy that
effectively made him more powerful than the king,
Lothair I (r. 954–86). From ca. 980 on, the two were in
constant confl ict. With the deaths of Lothair (986) and
Louis V (987), Hugh rose to the throne (June–July 987)
and had his son Robert crowned soon after in Orléans
(December 987).
Once king, however, Hugh proved as weak as he
had been strong as duke: the last Carolingian claimant,
Charles of Lorraine, rebelled against him, and only
the treachery of Bishop Adalbero of Laon resolved
the confl ict (991). The treachery of Arnulf, archbishop
of Reims, and the papal deposition of his replace-
ment, Gerbert of Aurillac, set in motion a confl ict that
marred the remainder of Hugh’s reign. Although it had
started before he took the throne, the castellan revolu-
tion reached a peak in many regions of the kingdom at
this point, and the impotence of both royal power and
local Carolingian political structures (the pagus) drove
some areas of his kingdom to seek their own solutions
to disorder and violence. Among the most famous and
consequential of these efforts was the Peace of God. In
October 996, Hugh died on campaign near Tours.
Unable to assert the kind of royal authority at least
theoretically available to Carolingians, Hugh sought
legitimacy in an alliance with the church, both the epis-
copacy and the reforming monastic movement, and with
some of his most powerful neighbors, such as William
V of Aquitaine and Richard II of Normandy, who gave
support in exchange for still greater levels of autonomy.
As a result, the monarchy underwent a shift in the basis
of its authority, from the essentially aristocratic Caro-
lingian model to one more dependent on ecclesiastical
legitimation and popular support.
See also Lothair IFurther Reading
Lemarignier, Jean-François. Le gouvernement royal aux premiers
temps capétiens (987–1108). Paris: Picard, 1964.
Lewis, Andrew. Royal Succession in Capetian France: Studies on
Familial Order and the State. Cambridge: Harvard University
Press, 1981.
Lot, Ferdinand. Études sur le règne d’Hugues Capet. Paris:
Bouillon, 1903.
Sassier, Yves. Hugues Capet. Paris: Fayard, 1987.
Theis, Laurent. L’avènement d’Hugues Capet. Paris: Gallimard,
1984.
Richard LandesHUGH OF SAINT-VICTOR (d. 1141)
A leading theologian, biblical interpreter, and mystic of
the fi rst half of the 12th century, Hugh was the effective
founder of the important school of the abbey of Saint-HROSVIT OF GANDERSHEIM