Christina of Markyate - Essay Example

Christina of Markyate Christina of Markyate was a woman who lived an unusual life during the Middle Ages. Her life was about her desire to be pure to God, her body kept for him as well as her service given to her beliefs. She spent time as a recluse, as well as a prioress for an abbey. She is unique in the history of medieval women for a number of reasons. The first is that her history was written, most likely, during her own lifetime. As one who went into seclusion as a recluse, she is described, not for her trials with demons, but of her difficulties from a human point of view. Christina was educated which also made her unusual for her time period. Through a unique biography written during her time, Christina has become immortal through literary history in the story of her life and of the many ways in which she fought to hold true to her virtue in order to serve God. The book, The Life of Christina of Markyate: A Twelfth Century Recluse is intended to provide readers an insight into the life of a prioress so that they can live by her example. It is believed that the surviving copy of the book was written near the middle of the fourteenth century, perhaps written at St Albans under the direction of John of Tynemouth for a series on the lives of saints that he was assembling. The original text is available which is written in one persons handwriting, although there are notes on the pages from others, and is said to be quite beautiful (Talbot 1). The manuscript, that came to belong to Sir Robert Cotton and was within the Cottonian collection, was damaged during the fire of 1731. However, only the first page and the last page seemed to have sustained any significant damage (Talbot 3). The only things that are known of the one who wrote the biography is that he was a monk in the monastery of St. Albans. It is clear that the biography, in its original form, was written by someone who was close to Christina and who was very familiar with Geoffrey de Gorham, the wealthy abbot of St Albans who offered support to Christina. The writer refers to ‘our monastery’, thus creating the impression that the monastery where Christina made her place, St Albans, is also his monastery (Talbot 6). Through the personalized way in which he describes the lives of the characters in her life, it is probable that he knew them all. Christiana was born into an Anglo-Saxon noble family at the end of the 11th century. Her name was originally Theodora, but she changed her name to Christina. Her family was in danger, however, because of the French occupation of England and in this situation, the Anglo-Saxon nobility was almost powerless. Christina went with her family to St Alban to pray and the effect that the visit had on her was to turn her devotion to God. She swore her virginal state to God as a devotion to a life in his service. However, a man decided to marry her and asked her father for permission. Her biography suggests a great many ways in which her parents tried to trick her into losing her virginity to her future husband, but through her own tricks and prayer, she was able to keep sacred her virginity (Amt 139). Christina is portrayed as being very intelligent, an intelligence that is recognized by her parents. One of the aspects of Medieval life for women was in the commoditization of their lives. Women were essentially sold into marriage in exchange for whatever the parents of that woman needed, whether that be political considerations, money, or social prestige. Through Christina, her parents could find a match that would benefit their lives. Talbot translates that her biography states “For if she remained chaste in love of Christ, they feared they would lose her, and all that they could hope to gain through her” (Talbot 69). As a woman, Christina was intended to be a product rather than a person, an object rather than the subject of her own life. In her refusal to her parents in front of the Fredebertus of the monastery, she states “I shall not be disobedient to my parents. What I do on the invitation of Him whose voice, as you say, I heard in the Gospel; ‘Everyone who leaves house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children for My name’s sake shall receive a hundredfold and possess eternal life” (Amt 140). Eventually she must go into solitude to escape the pressures put on her in regard to the idea of marriage and she goes under the protection of a monk at St Albans. This older monk, named Roger, hid Christina for four years in a small cell off of his chapel which had barely enough room for her to sit. The size of the space was a ‘span and a half’, which he put a plank over then secured with a heavy log. She suffered greatly in this cell, despite the seclusion was of her own choosing (Talbot 103). More commonly, one who is written about during this time who has gone into seclusion is described for struggles with the devil. For Christina, it is the extreme physical discomforts; a lack of warm clothing, not being able to relieve her bowels and bladder, and not having enough food to keep her body functioning, that causes the girl to have difficulties. This idea of human needs being foremost as her trials in solitude provides for a departure from earlier accounts of experiences of religious solitude (Georgianna 39). An important difference between Christina and the other women of her time was that she desired to have a monastic life. Many daughters found that they were forced into monasteries when there were too many daughters in the family. These women would be locked into monasteries against their will, their virtue forcibly kept intact rather than through devotion to God. One of the problems with this practice is that wealthier families who did not feel they would find a suitable match for their daughters would pay a price to have them taken into the nunnery. This meant that women from poor families could not find a place within the nunnery system. In this way, women were further made to be commodities (Borresen and Vogt 40). One of the more unusual aspects of her life is that Christina was literate. Watt suggests that there is evidence that she could read and write to an extent in English, French, and Latin. When she first became a recluse, evidence shows that she studied the psalms which required knowing Latin. It is likely that she grew up speaking English but there are letters in existence that she wrote in French. It is possible that these letters exist because Gregory was teaching her to read and write in French, the official language of the convents. Because there are items of evidence that show that she knew all three languages to some extent and that she most likely could read and write them, she is unusual for her time as most women were illiterate and were not given an education (Watt, 2007, 22). The creative gifts that Christina of Markyate had were in weaving, sewing and embroidery, thus leading Diane Watt to believe that she used her skills to help preserve the St Albans Psalter. The pages contain miniature scenes from the life of Christ, the Alexis quire, the Psalms, canticles, and a diptych of St. Alban and the psalmist David (2007, 21). Watt believes that the method that is used to preserve the pages through protective fabrics that have been sewn to cover the work, may have been done by Christina. The stitches in the work reveal that they were most likely done near the time the book was created. The contribution to the book suggests that Christina did not prefer to write, but preferred to craft through sewing skills. This is how she contributed to the art of her culture (2007, 21). Despite the cloistered nature of her service to God, one of the more important aspects of her service is in her service to Geoffrey. There is a story that tells of a dream that she has in which she is enclosed in a cell with transparent walls. The meaning of this story is exampled in the involvement that she had in the daily business of the monastery. Geoffrey considered her an advisor, her word concerning many events having enough weight to change the course of a decision. It is recorded that three times Christina prevented Geoffrey from going to Rome as she believed that going was a politically dangerous decision. Because of this involvement in the political business of the monastery and of Geoffrey, Christina is often considered a business woman as much as a spiritual leader (Georgianna 41). The officious nature of the way in which Christina participated in political life has meant that, as a woman, she has a respect that is not often given to figures of Medieval history who are women. Her biography is listed in the Dictionary of National Biography, a listing that is rare for women when it is not connected to the accomplishments of their husband (Aers 101). Her accomplishments are not listed as being owed to another, but through her own intellect and desire to accomplish what was right. Her virtue became the story that guided her popularity, but her ability to guide matters of more importance within her world is what gave her a credibility for the remembrance of her place in Medieval history. There is speculations about the relationship between Geoffrey and Christina in relationship to a more personal nature is not suggested by her biography. However, indirectly there is a suggestion of a close attachment between the two through suggestive nuptial themes within the biography and in some of the pictures (Fanous and Leyser 223). The St. Albans Psalter is considered to have been a gift to Christina from the abbot, Geoffrey, and the meaning of this gift is often a topic of debate. Within the original biography, there is a suggestion that others think that they are attracted to one another through earthly love (Bradley 326). The story of Alexis and the Psychomachia is reflective of Christina’s own virginity, the chaste marriage within the story sometime considered to be a retelling of her relationship with Geoffrey. However, it is more likely, considering how important her virtue was to the reputation of the abbey, that the relationship between Geoffrey and Christina was purely a close working relationship with a deep friendship (Bradley 327). The core of the relationship between Christina and Geoffrey where it concerned her advise was that they were visions. Christina had a foreknowledge of the corrupt dealings that Geoffrey participated in and gave him advise based upon her conversations with Christ. The way in which her talks with Christ are described is as if he and she were together having a friendly conversation. Her visions were centered on Geoffrey and were the basis of the advise that she gave him, but others around her were also given visions presumably because they knew her. Roger, the older monk whose space she shared during her seclusion is one of those who supposedly had visions. When Christina first brought her visions and the advise that they suggested to Geoffrey, he was skeptical. However, he tested her and found that she seemed to have knowledge that was beyond what she should know. He began to believe and followed the advise of her visions (Watt, 1997, 30). Geoffrey and Christina had an interconnected relationship. According to Watt (1997) “Geoffrey’s role as abbot made Christina’s life simpler and safer, and Christina’s role as prophet and confidante strengthened Geoffrey” (30). In exchange for her help, Geoffrey helped Christina to establish the priory at Markyate. Christina became the mother superior of the priory, further establishing her position in the monastic life. Despite the meek and often ascetic nature of her life as it is told in the biography, Christina was well known and respected. “Christina is represented in her text as a powerful and influential woman who corrected church leaders, and who was invited to join the communities at Fontevrault and Marcigny and turned down an offer by Archbishop Thurston to become Superior of the convent of St Clement’s in York” (Watt, 1997, 31). There is evidence to suggest that the nature of the relationship between Geoffrey and Christina was such that rumors and gossip suggested terrible things about them. Geoffrey made frequent visits to Christina’s cell which suggested to some that they had a sexual relationship. As well, a great deal of money was diverted to Christina’s priory at Markyate that should have been used for other purposes, another act that suggested some sort of improper relationship between the two. Because she was favored and much of the financial shifts affected the available money to the monastery, many of the monks were hostile towards her. They felt that only an inappropriate relationship would result in this type of corruption on her behalf (Watt, 1997, 34). While that logic may seem to be true, it is as likely that her supernatural connection to God provided enough reason for Geoffrey to favor her as any type of earthly attraction and consummation. Christina appeared to have a gift that was saving Geoffrey through a great many business deals and human experience suggests that money and power are just enough of a reason to financially favor someone as is sex and emotional love. Christina of Markyate was a remarkable women who accomplished a great many things during her lifetime. From a logical point of view, she managed to create a following in an age of low levels of public communication and in doing was able to create the priory with the help of Geoffrey. She advised a powerful man and was publicly acknowledged for doing so. Whether it was through her visions or because she had intellect that had to be explained because she was female through the idea of visions, she was able to correctly predict some of the mistakes that Geoffrey might have made had he not listened to her warnings. Her life was unusual because her accomplishments in putting together the priory and in being at the center of strong religious belief, allowed her to form a following which increased belief in Christian values. Christina of Markyate was an educated woman which was unusual during this time as most women were not taught to read and to write. From a young age she proved she had a will that could not be broken as she worked towards building a life of her own choosing. As she chose to enter the monastic life over marriage, she was denying the wishes of her parents, but she found strength in her relationship with God so that she could avoid the marriage and losing her virtue in favor of devoting those aspects of her life to Him. Despite the hardships, she was the director of her own ambitions sacrificing a great deal in order to earn the privileges of choice that she was given. Women had very little choice over how to live their lives as seen by how they often were placed in a nunnery by their family. Christina chose her life and in so doing was able to create a higher impact on the world around her. Works Cited Aers, David. Medieval Literature and Historical Inquiry: Essays in Honour of Derek Pearsall. Woodbridge: D. S. Brewer, 1999. Print. Amt, Emilie. Women’s lives in medieval Europe: A sourcebook. New York: Routledge, 1993. Print. Borresen, K. E. and K. Vogt. Women’s studies of the Christian and Islamic Tradition. New York: Springer, 1993. Print. Bradley, Jill. 'You Shall Surely Not Die': The Concepts of Sin and Death As Expressed in the Manuscript Art of Northwestern Europe, C. 800-1200. Leiden: Brill, 2008. Print. Fanous, Samuel and Henrietta Leyser. Christina of Markyate: A Twelfth Century Holy Woman. Abingdon: Routledge, 2005. Print. Georgianna, Linda. The Solitary Self: Individuality in the Ancrene Wisse. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1981. Print. Talbot, C H. (trans and ed.) The Life of Christina of Markyate: A Twelfth Century Recluse. Toronto: Published by University of Toronto Press in association with the Medieval Academy of America, 1998. Print. Watt, Diane. Secretaries of God: Women Prophets in Late Medieval and Early Modern England. Woodbridge: D.S. Brewer, 1997. Print. Watt, Diane. Medieval Women's Writing: Works by and for Women in England, 1100-1500. Cambridge: Polity, 2007. Print. Read More