The Cambridge Companion to Medieval Women's Writing

309 Pages·2003·1.982 MB·English

by  Carolyn Dinshaw and David Wallace

TheCambridgeCompaniontoMedievalWomen’sWriting
The Cambridge Companion to Medieval Women’s Writing seeks to recover
the lives and particular experiences of medieval women by concentrating on
various kinds of texts: the texts they wrote themselves as well as texts that
attempted to shape, limit, or expand their lives. The first part investigates
the roles traditionally assigned to medieval women (as virgins, widows, and
wives);italsoconsidersfemalechildhoodsandrelationsbetweenwomen.The
secondpartexploressocialspaces,includingtextualityitself:foreverysurviv-
ingmedievalmanuscriptbespeakscollaborativeeffort.Itconsiderswomenas
authors,asanchoresses‘deadtotheworld’,andaspreachersandteachersin
theworld(stakingclaimstoauthoritywithoutenteringapulpit).Thefinalsec-
tionconsidersthelivesandwritingsofremarkablewomen,includingMariede
France,Heloise,JoanofArc,JulianofNorwich,MargeryKempe,andfemale
lyricistsandromancerswhosenamesarelost,butwhosetextssurvive.
Carolyn Dinshaw is Professor of English and Director of the Center for the
Study of Gender and Sexuality at New York University. She is the author of
Chaucer’sSexualPoetics(1989)andGettingMedieval:SexualitiesandCom-
munities,Pre-andPostmodern(1999).
DavidWallaceisJudithRodinProfessorandChairofEnglishattheUniversity
ofPennsylvania.HeistheeditorofTheCambridgeHistoryofMedievalEnglish
Literature(1999,2002),andtheauthorofChaucerianPolity(1997).

THE CAMBRIDGE
COMPANION TO
MEDIEVAL WOMEN’S
WRITING
EDITED BY
CAROLYN DINSHAW AND DAVID WALLACE
published by the press syndicate of the university of cambridge
ThePittBuilding,TrumpingtonStreet,Cambridgecb21rp,UnitedKingdom
cambridge university press
TheEdinburghBuilding,Cambridge,cb22ru,UK
40West20thStreet,NewYork,ny10011-4211,USA
477WilliamstownRoad,PortMelbourne,vic 3207,Australia
RuizdeAlarco´n13,28014Madrid,Spain
DockHouse,TheWaterfront,CapeTown8001,SouthAfrica
http://www.cambridge.org
(cid:1)C CambridgeUniversityPress2003
Thisbookisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception
andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements,
noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithout
thewrittenpermissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firstpublished2003
Reprinted2006
PrintedintheUnitedKingdomattheUniversityPress,Cambridge
TypefaceSabon10/13pt. SystemLATEX2ε [tb]
AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
isbn 052179188x hardback
isbn 0521796385paperback
TheeditorsgratefullyacknowledgetheassistanceofLeifSorensenincompilingthisvolume.
CONTENTS
MaryMagdalenePreaching frontispiece
Listofcontributors pagevii
Chronology viii
chris africa
Listofabbreviations xix
Introduction 1
carolyn dinshaw and david wallace
PartI: Estatesofwomen
1 Femalechildhoods 13
daniel t. kline
2 Virginities 21
ruth evans
3 Marriage 40
dyan elliott
4 Widows 58
barbara a. hanawalt
5 Betweenwomen 70
karma lochrie
PartII: Textsandotherspaces
6 Womenandauthorship 91
jennifer summit
v
contents
7 Enclosure 109
christopher cannon
8 Athome;outofthehouse 124
sarah salih
9 Beneaththepulpit 141
alcuin blamires
PartIII: Medievalwomen
10 Heloise 161
christopher baswell
11 MariedeFrance 172
roberta l. krueger
12 TheRomandelaRose,ChristinedePizan,and
thequerelledesfemmes 184
david f. hult
13 Lyricsandromances 195
sarah m namer
C
14 JulianofNorwich 210
nicholas watson
15 MargeryKempe 222
carolyn dinshaw
16 ContinentalwomenmysticsandEnglishreaders 240
alexandra barratt
17 JoanofArc 256
nadia margolis
Furtherreading 267
Index 284
vi
CONTRIBUTORS
chris africa,UniversityofIowa
alexandra barratt,UniversityofWaikato,NewZealand
christopher baswell,UniversityofCalifornia,LosAngeles
alcuin blamires,GoldsmithsCollege,UniversityofLondon
christopher cannon,PembrokeCollege,Cambridge
carolyn dinshaw,NewYorkUniversity
dyan elliott,IndianaUniversity
ruth evans,UniversityofStirling
barbara a. hanawalt,OhioStateUniversity
david f. hult,UniversityofCalifornia,Berkeley
daniel t. kline,UniversityofAlaska,Anchorage
roberta l. krueger,HamiltonCollege,NewYork
karma lochrie,IndianaUniversity
sarah mcnamer,GeorgetownUniversity
nadia margolis,Independentscholar
sarah salih,UniversityofEastAnglia
jennifer summit,StanfordUniversity
david wallace,UniversityofPennsylvania
nicholas watson,HarvardUniversity
vii
CHRONOLOGY
Date
c.425 Anglo-SaxonincursionsintoEnglandbegin.
476 Romulus Augustulus, considered the last of the Roman
emperors of Western Europe, is deposed by the German
general,Odoacer.
c.481 Clovis the Frank establishes his hegemony as ruler of
northernGaul(partsofFranceandGermany).Underthe
influenceofhisChristianwife,Clotilda,Clovisconverts
toChristianitysometimebetween496and508.
512 Caesarius,BishopofArles(France),writesarule,Regula
virginum,forhissisterCaesaria’sconvent.
523 In prison, Italian philosopher and theologian Boethius
writes De consolatione philosophiae, treating classical
literaryandphilosophicalideasfromaChristianperspec-
tive.Itbecomesawidelyknowntext.
c.525–87 Frankish Queen Radegund (518–87) establishes a con-
ventinPoitierswithherselfasitsfirstabbess.Radegund’s
circleincludesthepoet,laterBishopofPoitiers,Venantius
Fortunatus. Fortunatus and Baudonivia, a sister of the
convent,bothwritelivesofRadegund.
529 BenedictofNursiafoundsamonasteryatMonteCassino
(Italy).Benedict’sprogrammeforthecommunity,includ-
ing regular periods of prayer, work, and study, becomes
themodelforEuropeanmonasticcommunities.
547 Gildas,LiberquerulusdeexcidioBritanniae.
565 IrishmonkColumbafoundsamonasteryontheislandof
Iona(offScotland)afterfoundingothersatDerry(546),
Durrow(c.556),andprobablyKells.
590–604 Pope Gregory I establishes the basic institutions of the
Romanpapacy.
viii
chronology
591 GregoryofTours,Decemlibrihistoriarum.
597 Pope Gregory dispatches Augustine to England. With
the support of King Aethelbert of Kent’s Christian wife,
Bertha (Clotilda’s great-granddaughter), Augustine con-
vertsAethelberttoChristianity.
622 Mohammed’shegirafromMeccatoMedina,startingdate
oftheIslamiccalendar.
c.630–50 The Irish author known as Pseudo-Cyprian epitomizes
thefeminasinepudicitia,‘thewomanwithoutmodesty’,
inDeduodecimabusivissaeculi,atextthatbecomeswell
knowninmedievalEurope.
636 Publication of Isidore of Seville’s influential encyclopae-
dia,theEtymologiae.
664 At Whitby, in a double monastery headed by Abbess
Hilda,theNorthumbrianKingOswyconvenesasynodto
determinewhetherEnglishChristianswillfollowtheRo-
man Catholic or Celtic Christian calendar for observing
Easter.
665–75 BarkingAbbeyfounded,withAethelburgasfirstabbess.
First Anglo-Latin author, Aldhelm, writes De virginitate
forthenunsandtheirsecondabbess,Hildelith.
710 MuslimsfromNorthAfricainvadetheSpanishpeninsula.
716–57 EnglishmonkBoniface(bornWynfrith)correspondswith
nuns Bucge and Eangyth, Ecgburg, Eadburg, and Leoba
duringhismissiontoGermany.
731 Bede,HistoriaecclesiasticagentisAnglorum.
732 Charles Martel checks the Muslim advance north of the
PyreneesatTours.
744 Foundation of the Benedictine abbey of Fulda by
Boniface.
761–74 Paul the Deacon writes his Historia Romana for
Adelpurga,DuchessofBenevento.
768–814 Charlemagne’sreign;c.781–2,Charlemagneassemblesa
groupofscholars,includingAlcuinofYork,athiscourtat
Aachen. Charlemagne’s sister Gisele, Abbess of Chelles,
isoneofAlcuin’smostenthusiasticcorrespondents.
800 Charlemagne crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope
LeoIIIinRome.
c.830 EinhardwriteshisbiographyofCharlemagne,VitaKaroli
Magni.
c.840–3 Carolingian noblewoman, Dhuoda, writes the Liber
manualisforherson,William.
ix
chronology
871–99 Reign of Alfred the Great of England. Alfred may have
initiatedtheAnglo-SaxonChroniclewhichbeganduring
hisreign.
889 Marriage of Alfred’s daughter Aethelflaed to Aethelraed
of Mercia, marking the reconciliation of Wessex and
Mercia.
c.900 Beowulf.
911 Aethelflaed, ‘the Lady of the Mercians’, assumes rule of
Mercia from her husband’s death until her own in 918.
Her brother Edward ousts her daughter Aelfwynn and
mergesMerciawithWessexafterAethelflaed’sdeath.
960s Hrotswith of Gandersheim, author of dramas, poems,
biographies,andhistories.
960–90 ‘TheWife’sLament’,‘WulfandEadwacer’.
983–91 EmpressTheophanuregentforOttoIII.
c.1000 SeiShonagon,MakuranoSoshi[ThePillowBook].
c.1010 MurasakiShikibu,GenjiMonogatari.
1022 TrialofJacobaFelicieinParisforpractisingmedicine.
c.1050–c.1300 Periodofgrowthinpopulation,agriculturalproduction,
trade,andurbanizationinEurope.
1065–7 Vita Aedwardi dedicated to Edith, wife of Edward the
Confessor(reigned1042–66).
1066 WilliamtheConqueror’sNormansinvadeEngland.
Late 1060s–mid TheBayeuxTapestrydepictingtheeventsoftheNorman
1090s Conquestisdesignedandexecuted.
1072–85 Pontificate of reform-minded Gregory VII; objectives
includestricterenforcementofclericalcelibacy.
c.1082 Goscelin of St Bertin writes his Liber confortatorius for
EveofAngers.
1086–7 Domesday Book, compiled by the order of William the
Conqueror,providesadetailedpictureofEnglandatthe
timeofthesurvey.
1095 AttheCouncilofClermont,UrbanIIcallsforanoffensive
torecaptureChristianholysitesfromtheMuslims.
1096 Robert d’Arbrissel establishes a monastery for women
andmenatFontevrault.
1097–8 Robertd’ArbrisselestablishesamonasteryatCˆıteaux.
1100 (11 November) Edith of Scotland marries Henry I of
England.AsQueenMatildasheactsasregentforHenry
whenheisinNormandy.
1106 Hildegard of Bingen, aged eight, joins recluse Jutta of
SponheimatthemonasteryofStDisibod.
x