Abortion in the Early Middle Ages, c.500-900

358 Pages·2015·7.117 MB·English

by  Zubin Mistry

Abortion_PPC 17/02/2015 16:43 Page 1
A
B
O
R
W T
hen a Spanish monk struggled to find the right words to I
O
convey his unjust expulsion from a monastery in a desperate
N
petition to a sixth-century king, he likened himself to an

aborted fetus. Centuries later, a ninth-century queen found herself I
N
accused of abortion in an altogether more fleshly sense. Abortion

haunts the written record across the early middle ages. Yet, the centuries T
H
after the fall of Rome remain very much the “dark ages” in the broader
E
history of abortion.

This book, the first to treat the subject in this period, tells the story of E
A
how individuals and communities, ecclesiastical and secular authorities,
R
construed abortion as a social and moral problem across a number
L
of post-Roman societies, including Visigothic Spain, Merovingian Y
Gaul, early Ireland, Anglo-Saxon England and the Carolingian empire.
M
It argues that early medieval authors and readers actively deliberated
I
on abortion and a cluster of related questions, and that church tradition D
on abortion was an evolving practice. It sheds light on the neglected D
variety of responses to abortion generated by different social and L
intellectual practices, including church discipline, dispute settlement E

and strategies of political legitimation, and brings the history of A
abortion into conversation with key questions about gender, sexuality, G
Christianization, penance and law. Ranging across abortion miracles E
S
in hagiography, polemical letters in which churchmen likened rivals ,

to fetuses flung from the womb of the church and uncomfortable c
.
5
imaginings of resurrected fetuses in theological speculation, this volume
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also illuminates the complex cultural significance of abortion in early 0
–
medieval societies.
9
0
ZUBIN MISTRYis Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at Queen Mary 0
University of London.
Front cover: Scene from the life of Germanus of Paris: Germanus’s mother, Z
Eusebia (right), attempts an abortion. Paris, Church of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, U
chapel of Sainte-Geneviève. Photograph © Painton Cowen. B
I
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ABORTION IN THE
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I EARLY MIDDLE AGES
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c.500–900
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Abortion in the Early Middle Ages
c. 500–900
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MISTRY 9781903153574 PRINT.indd 1 19/06/2015 14:12
YORK MEDIEVAL PRESS
York Medieval Press is published by the University of York’s Centre for Medieval
Studies in association with Boydell & Brewer Limited. Our objective is the promo-
tion of innovative scholarship and fresh criticism on medieval culture. We have a
special commitment to interdisciplinary study, in line with the Centre’s belief that
the future of Medieval Studies lies in those areas in which its major constituent
disciplines at once inform and challenge each other.
Editorial Board (2015)
Professor Peter Biller (Dept of History): General Editor
Professor T. Ayers (Dept of History of Art)
Dr Henry Bainton (Dept of English and Related Literature): Secretary
Dr J. W. Binns (Dept of English and Related Literature)
Dr K. P. Clarke (Dept of English and Related Literature)
Dr K. F. Giles (Dept of Archaeology)
Professor W. M. Ormrod (Dept of History)
Dr L. J. Sackville (Dept of History)
Dr Hanna Vorholt (Dept of History of Art)
Professor J. G. Wogan-Browne (English Faculty, Fordham University)
Consultant on Manuscript Publications
Professor Linne Mooney (Dept of English and Related Literature)
All enquiries of an editorial kind, including suggestions for monographs and
essay collections, should be addressed to: The Academic Editor, York Medieval
Press, University of York, Centre for Medieval Studies, The King’s Manor, York,
YO1 7EP (E-mail: [email protected]).
Details of other York Medieval Press volumes are available from Boydell & Brewer
Ltd.
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MISTRY 9781903153574 PRINT.indd 2 19/06/2015 14:12
AThbeo rRtieovno ilnt othf eO Ewaraliyn MGildydnldeŵ Arg iens
Medieval cE. n5g0l0i–sh90 C0 hronicles
AZlicuibai nM Maricshtraynt
YORK MEDIEVAL PRESS
YORK MEDIEVAL PRESS
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MISTRY 9781903153574 PRINT.indd 3 19/06/2015 14:12
© Zubin Mistry 2015
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under current legislation
no part of this work may be photocopied, stored in a retrieval system,
published, performed in public, adapted, broadcast,
transmitted, recorded or reproduced in any form or by any means,
without the prior permission of the copyright owner
The right of Zubin Mistry to be identified as
the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with
sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
First published 2015
A York Medieval Press publication
in association with The Boydell Press
an imprint of Boydell & Brewer Ltd
PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3DF, UK
and of Boydell & Brewer Inc.
668 Mt Hope Avenue, Rochester, NY 14620–2731, USA
website: www.boydellandbrewer.com
and with the
Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York
ISBN 978 1 903153 57 4
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library
The publisher has no responsibility for the continued existence or accuracy of
URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this book, and
does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate
or appropriate
This publication is printed on acid-free paper
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MISTRY 9781903153574 PRINT.indd 4 19/06/2015 14:12
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments vi
Abbreviations x
Note on Translation xiii
Introduction: Thinking about Abortion in the Early Middle Ages 1
1. From Hope of Children to Object of God’s Care: Abortion in
Classical and Late Antique Society 23
2. The Word of God: Abortion and Christian Communities in Sixth-
Century Gaul 56
3. Church and State: Politicizing Abortion in Visigothic Spain 93
4. Medicine for Sin: Reading Abortion in Early Medieval Penitentials 126
5. Tradition in Practice: Abortion under the Carolingians 165
6. Legislative Energies: Disputing Abortion in Law-Codes 207
7. Interior Wound: The Rumour of Abortion in the Divorce of Lothar
II and Theutberga 238
8. Unnatural Symbol: Imagining Abortivi in the Early Middle Ages 262
Afterword 296
Bibliography 300
Index 334
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book was written in two immensely stimulating intellectual environ-
ments. The School of History at Queen Mary University of London was
the setting for the final stages. The bulk of it was researched and written at
University College London. I arrived at Gordon Square as a classicist with
little intention of moving beyond the fall of Rome. By the time I left a decade
or so later, something had happened. I owe a special collective thanks to
teachers and, later, colleagues at the History department at UCL, including
(but not exclusively) its critical mass of medievalists.
Ideas developed in chapters four, six and eight were presented in conference
and seminar papers delivered at the Gender & History symposium at York in
September 2012, the Earlier Middle Ages seminar at the Institute of Historical
Research, London, in February 2013, and the Matrix of the World workshop at
Rome in November 2013; I am grateful for helpful comments and suggestions
by participants. I (finally) had the pleasure of meeting Marianne Elsakkers at
a Generation to Reproduction conference at Cambridge in December 2012 and
soon found a copy of ‘Reading Between the Lines’ in my hands. Normally a
liberal lender of books, I jealously guard my copy.
My debts have steadily accumulated over the years. Simon Corcoran, Jack
Lennon, James Palmer and John Sabapathy provided serendipitous references.
Julian Barr, Roy Flechner, Karl Heidecker, Yitzhak Hen, Rachel Stone and
Charles West generously shared unpublished work. Conrad Barwa (best man
in multiple senses), Bill MacLehose and Sophie Page read and commented in
detail on previous incarnations of chapters. (I fondly remember Bill’s knack
for making me laugh at my mixed metaphors and other crimes against the
English language). Yitzhak Hen read chapter two, Karl Heidecker and Rachel
Stone chapter seven. David d’Avray provided comments on chapters three
and seven, and much else besides. Miri Rubin saved me from a clanger late in
the day. All remaining errors and infelicities (and mixed metaphors) are mine.
Pete Biller has been an inspiration on the page, a careful and charitable
reader when the roles have been reversed, and a consistent source of wisdom,
wit and encouragement off the page. I owe an even bigger debt to Antonio
Sennis as supervisor, colleague and friend. It is no exaggeration to say that I
would never have migrated to the Early Middle Ages without Antonio.
I am grateful to the Isobel Thornley Fund for a grant towards the cost of
publication and Clive Burgess for his kindness during the application process.
vi
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Acknowledgments
I owe huge thanks to Caroline Palmer, not least for her endless reserves of
both patience and encouragement, together with her colleagues at Boydell
and Brewer. Camila Gatica Mizala generously helped me with Spanish. I
finally tracked down the cover image thanks to the kind help of Thomas
Sureau, Mary Shepard and Painton Cowen.
I owe the biggest debt of all to my family. My sister, Zeenia, was my
dearest friend and confidante throughout my postgraduate years. Her gifts
for languages and laughter were matched by her gift for cooking crêpes at
unearthly hours.
Harpreet Palray has been the sine qua non as I struggled to finish this book.
It has intruded upon our first year of marriage (a scouting mission for the
cover image took place during an anniversary trip to Paris). Her support has
been unfailing. It’s now my turn to play the Caryatid.
Finally, this book would never have been possible without the love and
support of my parents. It is dedicated to them.
vii
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This book is produced with the generous assistance of a grant from Isobel
Thornley’s Bequest to the University of London
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