Queenship and Sanctity: The Lives of Mathilda and the Epitaph of Adelheid (Medieval Texts in Translation)

Preface

PREFACE A few years ago, the historian Roger Collins reviewed the state of early medieval studies in the Anglo-American world.1 On the whole, his conclusions were positive: studies of the period, he noted , have increased in number and sophistication, while translated sources—essential for bringing the early Middle Ages within the mental and curricular horizons of English-speaking students and non-specialists—are becoming more plentiful and generally available . This is particularly true for the Carolingian (and, to a lesser extent, Merovingian) periods, for which Richard Gerberding, Paul Fouracre, Jo Ann McNamara, Janet Nelson, Paul Dutton, and many others have provided us with a substantial number of critical English translations of hagiographic, biographical, annalistic, devotional , and administrative texts written in the sixth through ninth centuries. Despite this richesse des sources, however, the “post-Carolingian” period which follows (extending from the late ninth to the early eleventh century) has remained largely inaccessible to the Englishreading public. Until very recently, few of the major sources for the period had been translated, while many of those which did exist were old and/or difficult to obtain. Thus while the opera of both Liudprand of Cremona and Hrotswitha of Gandersheim lately have been the beneficiaries of new critical editions,2 the only complete translations of Liudprand’s works or Hrotswitha’s historical writings are over sixty years old—for Liudprand, that of F. viii A.Wright (); for Hrotswitha, Mary Bernardine Bergman’s  Ph.D. dissertation. In the last decade or so, this situation has begun to improve; in particular, John France’s bilingual edition of Ralph Glaber’s Histories, Peter Reid’s complete translation of the works of Rather of Verona, and David Warner’s outstanding rendition of Thietmar of Merseburg’s Chronicon have brought the words and thoughts of some of the most intriguing figures of the Middle Ages to the much wider audience that they deserve.4 It is my hope that Queenship and Sanctity will likewise introduce readers to an era and to individuals who remain too little known, and hence undervalued, in American lecture halls and seminar rooms. This project was given its initial impetus by Barbara Rosenwein, who encouraged me to expand an early translation of Odilo’s Epitaph into a larger volume of Ottonian women saints’ lives. I am deeply grateful not only for her initial interest, but for her generous and continuing support. The early stages of the manuscript were written in the intimate environs of Sophia University’s Institute for Medieval Thought. My thanks to the Institute’s director, Dr. Klaus Riesenhuber, and his staff for their help, as well as for the chance to work in a true island of tranquility amidst the urban hubbub of Tokyo. Later, my students at the University of Chicago allowed me to subject preliminary versions of the Epitaph and Older Life of Mathilda to the trial by fire which only a classroom can provide; their comments, compliments, and complaints helped to make the final product a better and more useful one. At The Catholic University of America Press, I am grateful to my anonymous readers for their critiques and suggestions (both needed and heeded), to my editor, Carole Burnett, for her enthusiasm, erudition , and exactitude, and to Dave McGonagle and Tom Noble for their patience and encouragement during the (too) many years in which the project took shape. Thanks as well to my colleagues at the University of Richmond for their help—in particular, Dave  ix Bowne and Sue McGinnis, without whose expertise I would not have been able to produce the maps in this volume. My greatest debt, however, is to my wife Amanda, to whom this book is dedicated ; her love, support, and understanding over the years are what made it possible. x  ...