John Capgrave’s Fifteenth Century by Karen A. Winstead (review)

REVIEWS 334 Karen A. Winstead, John Capgrave’s Fifteenth Century (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press 2007) 231 pp. Once again, University of Pennsylvania Press has published a smart and original volume for its The Middle Ages Series. This time, Karen A. Winstead, author of Virgin Martyrs: Legends of Sainthood in Late Medieval England, focuses on John Capgrave’s later writings and his perspective on intellectualism, piety, and politics. This book demonstrates how Capgrave’s moderation in politics and religion are reflected in his complex depictions of sanctity and secular rule. Winstead reclaims Capgrave as an essential voice for medievalists who seek to understand the fifteenth century because he “was neither a revolutionary nor a reactionary” (163). Winstead uses a primarily literary approach to build her argument, close reading Capgrave’s (and Lydgate’s) writings adeptly and convincingly. Her opening and concluding chapters establish the historical context: the first, a general biography of Capgrave himself, the last, a reading of Henry VI’s reign through Lydgate’s Life of Saints Edmund and Fremund and Capgrave’s Life of Saint Katherine. In many ways, then, this book is a story of two men, of two intellectuals—one a king and the other a friar. She augments some of her readings with analyses of manuscript illuminations, but the book’s primary strength is in its deep understanding of Capgrave’s political and religious philosophies as exhibited by the individuals depicted in his writings. Thematically, chapters 2, 3, and 5 are most closely related and most important to Winstead’s primary thesis regarding Capgrave’s outlook on secular rule. They establish Capgrave’s belief that the isolationist attitude that characterizes many saints’ lives is antithetical to the responsibilities of the secular ruler. Indeed , this book could be aptly titled, The Active Life, due to its emphasis on the necessity of rulers, especially, to live lives fully within the social realm and to place the good of the people above any individual inclinations to excessive piety, pacifism, or isolationism. In chapter 2, “Scholar in the World,” Winstead compares Capgrave’s Life of Saint Katherine and his Life of Saint Augustine of Hippo. Both Augustine and Katherine are great scholars who converted and subsequently had to sacrifice their solitary lifestyles in order to fulfill their Christian responsibilities as leaders . Winstead concludes that in Capgrave’s worldview, “scholarship must serve society” (35) and “being a scholar in the highest sense may require leaving one’s books forever” (46). This is a difficult task for both Katherine and Augustine to fulfill. And arguably, the Katherine of legend fails to do so before her own realm is threatened by foreign powers. It is in the emphasis of this failure that Capgrave’s version is unique among depictions of Saint Katherine. Chapter 3, “Orthodoxies,” analyzes Capgrave’s interpretation of Saint Cecilia in his Solace of Pilgrims, Life of Saint Katherine, Life of Saint Norbert, and Life of Saint Gilbert as evidence for his belief in an informed approach to Christian faith. Capgrave represents an orthodox approach to faith, though one that is not in agreement with the limitation on learning, disputation, and reading that was characterized by Arundel. Chapter 4, “Beyond Virginity,” is a digression of sorts. While it does emphasize the importance of the active life for all women, it does not emphasize the active life in relationship to good governance the same way that the other REVIEWS 335 chapters do. The chapter is, nonetheless, a good one and does much to illuminate Capgrave’s approval of women as “wives, mothers, benefactresses, witness , and teachers” as opposed to simply virgins (xi). Chapter 5, “Capgrave and Lydgate: Sainthood, Sovereignty, and the Common Good,” is an ambitious chapter that seeks to highlight the relevance of Capgrave’s writings to the larger political and literary sphere in fifteenth century England. It argues that both Lydgate and Capgrave wrote long hagiographies concerned with governance, especially in relationship to the kingship of Henry VI. She argues that Lydgate’s Life of Saints Edmund and Fremund was written in the tradition of the mirror for princes for the young Henry VI while Capgrave’s Life of Saint Katherine was written as a critique of the...