Dulcea of Worms מרת דולצא מוורמייזא

The daughter of a cantor and the wife of Rabbi Eleazar ben Judah of Worms—the Rokeach, one of the leaders of Chasidei Ashkenaz. In November 1196 two armed men broke into the house and killed her and both her daughters, Bellette and Hannah. The attackers are usually called Crusaders; scholars hold otherwise—they were robbers who knew there was money and valuables in the house. The town authorities caught and executed them.

The Rokeach wrote of her both in prose and in verse. The elegy is an alphabetical acrostic built on Eshet Chayil from Proverbs 31. And here is what makes it remarkable: the praises are general, but the information is entirely particular, and out of it a woman's day assembles itself—a woman of whom we would otherwise know nothing.

She handled money: she took in her neighbours' funds and lent at interest, and by this kept the household while her husband studied and wrote. She sewed: spun thread, bound books, sewed covers for Torah scrolls, prepared wicks for the synagogue. She taught women—and, in her husband's words, led their prayer, and they sang after her. She adorned brides and arranged matches.

The value of the text is that it was not meant as testimony. A man was mourning his wife and daughters and listing what was left of them—and what came out is an almost unique page on how it actually was.