Looking Forward, Looking Back: St. Elisabeth (1207–1231), Twentieth-Century German Women's Rights, and the Ideal of Christian Love

At the same time as German women gained new legal rights and responsibilities, Catholics looked back seven hundred years to celebrate Elisabeth of Thuringia, a woman who represented Catholic love and charity. To heal the deep divisions in society, Catholics were to strive to love their fellow man as Elisabeth had done and to feel the depth of love that she felt for her fellow Christians. Even as so much had changed from the worlds of medieval and early modern Europe, Catholics claimed Elisabeth as a model for Catholic women's efforts. The importance of the "Social Question" led Catholic leaders to see in medieval Elisabeth an ideal for twentieth-century women. Venerating Elisabeth allowed Catholic women to highlight the power and potential of women while they also honored Catholic tradition that required women's humility and obedience.