Venerable Ava

The poet Ava (c. 1060 – 7 February 1127), also known as Frau Ava, Ava of Göttweig or Ava of Melk, was the first named female writer in any genre in the German language. She is the author of five poems which focus on Christian themes of salvation and the second coming of Christ. Her work on the lives of John the Baptist and Jesus "has been praised as the first German epic". Her simple rhyming couplets made complex biblical teachings accessible in the vernacular. Little is known about the life of Ava beyond her work and some references to her identity as an anchorite (anchoress). It is known that she was married and bore two sons who are mentioned in the afterword of her poem posthumously named Das Jüngste Gericht (The Last Judgement). Through this afterword we also learn that one of Ava's sons died within her lifetime, though the age at which he died and the cause of death are not stated. Due to her vast knowledge of scripture, most scholars identify Ava the poet with a certain Ava whose death is recorded in a number of monasteries in Austria. It is likely that after the death of her husband, Ava lived as an enclosed woman on the estate of Göttweig Abbey in Lower Austria, near Krems, or perhaps in Melk Abbey. In Klein-Wien near Göttweig there remains still today a tower called "Ava's Tower" (Avaturm), possibly the remains of the earlier nunnery. It seems likely that the church of Saint Blaise in Klein-Wien stands on the site of the little chapel that existed at the time of Ava. Until recently, Ava was usually referred to as "Frau Ava." The convention at least in English-speaking scholarship has changed since the appearance of the Rushing edition, which pointed out that the title "Frau" sounds patronising when male poets of the period are not called "Herr Wolfram" etc. Four untitled poems attributed to Ava are found in the Vorauer Manuscript dated 1150.