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6. Civilizing Merovingian Gaul: The Lives of Monegund, Radegund, and Balthild
- University of Pennsylvania Press
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6 Civilizing Merovingian Gaul The Livesof Monegund, Radegund, and Balthild IN HOLYSCRIPTUREWOMENEXPRESStheir piety through domestic service to godly men and the impoverished.' In John (12.1-2), Martha, the sister of Lazarus, feeds Jesus and the apostles: "Six days before the Passover , Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. There they made him a supper; Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him." Early medieval hagiographers reproduce the biblical image of the faithful serving woman to underscore the conventional piety of female saints, such as Radegund of Holy Cross, who became the "new Martha" (nova Martha) of Meroving ian Gaul: "She did not cease from feeding the weak and blind food with a spoon. Two women were present with her for this purpose, but Radegund alone ministered at table. Like a nova Martha, she bustled about until the brothers were both rich in their cups and convivial.t'? Merovingian sacred biographies , including Radegund's, couple iconoclastic depictions of women's charismatic and institutional authority with more traditional motifs of domesticity , charity, and claustration. In their vitae Merovingian women usurp many of the sacerdotal, pastoral , and administrative functions of the male hierarchy." Hagiographers portray cloistered women as mystically performing the sacrificial action of the mass and baptizing the sick. Holy women bury the dead, hear confession , absolve sinners, and, like priests, they preach, teach, and proselytize. They impose communal penance on monasteries and even entire villages, and they administer the cult of the dead by procuring relics and building saints' shrines. The tombs of female saints consecrate both material objects and human beings. The same sacred biographers who so exalt female saints, however, also characterize women's piety within the framework of a feminized household and folkloric domesticity.' Female Merovingian Civilizing Merovingian Gaul 121 saints demonstrate their steadfast faith in God by spinning altar cloths, baking bread, and making candles. They cheerfully perform menial tasks, such as cleaning latrines, dusting altars, and washing saints' tombs; they nurse, bathe, and feed the poor. And, by rejecting royal dress and jewelry in favor of haircloth, they conform to the theology of the cosmetic. Their vitae promote women's submission to male altar servants and highlight the cloister as the locus of female sanctity. Merovingian hagiographers illustrate their hallowed lives with the unique imagery of a Germanic population that is in the process of blending with a Gallo-Roman one; thus, Merovingian vitae present hagiographical motifs in a singular way. Yet the hagiographers who created the corpus of female vitae in early medieval Gaul employed biblical rhetoric to achieve goals similar to those of their Mediterranean and eastern counterparts-the empowering and bridling of female sanctity. Fifth- and sixth-century Gaul witnessed the fusion of northern Germanic tribes with a Romanized Gallic population that was ruled both by bishops and Frankish military leaders who eventually became the reges Francorumr The Merovingians (i.e., the royal dynasty that ruled what is now France, Belgium, and the Rhineland between 4-50 and 751) accelerated the process of making saints, sanctifying entire families, and creating monastic communities." Monasticism in early France can be traced to the diffusion of eastern ascetic principles through an aristocratic group of fifth-century Romanized Gauls who lived in Aquitaine and the Rhone Valley , and along the Mediterranean coast. Gallo-Roman aristocrats, some of whom had received ascetic instruction in Egypt and Constantinople, introduced eastern-style monasticism at a handful of major sites, including Tours, Marseilles, Lerins, ArIes, Jura, and Poitiers. 7 The Gallo- Roman episcopacy gradually established control over the various ad hoc monastic organizations that developed around the cults of famous saints, such as Martin of Tours, founder of Marmoutier and Liguge." Bishops sought to incorporate all individual ascetics into the structure of the church hierarchy to prevent the creation of unofficial sects that might evolve around the magnetic personalities of non-consecrated holy women and men. Under episcopal and royal guidance, monasteries became critical units of political, economic, and missionary activity. Whereas early medieval male houses tended to be concentrated in the countryside, walled towns, urban basilicas, and private households safeguarded neophyte female communities." The first significant women's cloisters in Gaul were located at Marseilles, Jura, Vienne, Tours, Arles, and Poitiers, and these early houses were often connected to renowned [54.226.155.151] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 05:53 GMT) 122 Chapter 6 male institutions, such as that of John Cassian's at Marseilles. The...