# Sapientia — Plays character guide

> Sapientia in Plays by Roswitha of Gandersheim.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Sapientia, Charity, Hope, little Charity

**First appearance:** 0096-sapientia

## Snapshot

A Christian mother whose name is Wisdom, raising three daughters named Faith, Hope, and Charity in a city that will demand they prove it.

## Who they are

Sapientia is a widow of noble Roman stock whose household is built entirely around her daughters' Christian formation. The play's tension is set the moment the emperor's persecution reaches them: her wisdom is not the kind that avoids danger but the kind that prepares her children to meet it. She matters because her calm, deliberate mothering is the counterweight to imperial power — the quiet force the whole martyrdom turns on.

## In the story

### [The Plays of Roswitha](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/plays_se/chapters/the-plays-of-roswitha)

A mother who witnesses the martyrdom of her daughters and prays for death, embodying faith and grief.

### [Plays](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/plays_se/chapters/plays)

Mother of Faith, Hope, and Charity, whose daughters are martyred in the play 'Sapientia.'

### [Characters](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/plays_se/chapters/characters)

Listed as a character in the chapter.

### [Sapientia](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/plays_se/chapters/sapientia)

The mother who encourages her daughters through martyrdom, buries them, and prays for her own death to join them.

### [Scene II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/plays_se/chapters/scene-ii)

Summoned by Antiochus, she boldly professes her faith and agrees to appear before Emperor Hadrian.

### [Scene III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/plays_se/chapters/scene-iii)

Defends her Christian faith with intellectual discourse on numbers, refusing to worship pagan gods.

### [Scene IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/plays_se/chapters/scene-iv)

Mother who instilled faith in her daughters and prays for their steadfastness, hoping to be crowned by their virginity and martyrdom.

### [Scene V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/plays_se/chapters/scene-v)

Mother who encourages her daughters to persevere in faith and rejoices in their martyrdom.

### [Scene VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/plays_se/chapters/scene-vi)

Implied as the mother of Charity, though not directly present in this scene.

### [Scene VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/plays_se/chapters/scene-vii)

Encourages her daughter Charity to face martyrdom, expressing maternal love and spiritual certainty.

### [Scene VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/plays_se/chapters/scene-viii)

Grieving mother arranging the burial of her daughters.

### [Scene IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/plays_se/chapters/scene-ix)

Selects the burial site, thanks the matrons, and prays for death to join her daughters.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/plays_se/characters/sapientia
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/plays_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/plays_se/characters