Can a queen achieve Christian perfection? Spiritual advice from Henryk Bitterfeld of Brzeg for queen Jadwiga from the dedication Letter of the treatise “On the contemplative and active life”
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15633/fhc.30209Keywords:
Dominicans, Church history, ecclesiology, Jadwiga of Anjou, Henryk Bitterfeld of BrzegAbstract
Henry Bitterfeld of Brzeg dedicated his treatise, “On contemplative and active life”, to Queen Jadwiga in response to her desire to pursue Christian perfection. This article aims to elucidate Bitterfeld’s conception of this perfection and to assess whether he believed it could be shared by the Polish queen. The investigation is situated within the broader 14th-century discourse on the role of the laity in the Church. Amidst a crisis of the papacy and the ecclesiastical hierarchy, the laity began to demand more subjective engagement and sought their own paths to achieving the fullness of Christian life. Bitterfeld emerges from the analysis as a theologian loyal to the traditional understanding of Christian perfection, as articulated by St. Thomas Aquinas. However, his writings also reveal the influence of the Prague intellectual milieu. He encourages the laity, including Queen Jadwiga, to embody, within the constraints of their ecclesiastical roles and state duties, the model practiced by mendicants. Central to this model is the “vita mixta”, which integrates both active and contemplative dimensions of life.
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