READING GUIDE FOR WEEK 4
I. Two Lives of St. Radegund (circa 525-587)
In 531 the sons of Clovis utterly eradicated the ruling house of the
Thuringian tribe in battle. As part of his share of the spoils, Clothar
won possession of the six-year old princess, Radegund, whom he raised for
a decade as his wife-to-be. Radegund spent another decade as one
of Clothar's several wives (and Queen of the Franks) before experiencing
a religious conversion around 550. She fled her husband and eventually
ended up founding a convent of nuns just outside the city of Poitiers;
the monastery was named Holy Cross in honor of a relic of the True Cross
provided by Radegund. She spent the rest of her life as one of the
nuns (not the abbess). Radegund is of interest because she was both
a powerful queen and an important female saint. These qualities inspired
two Lives, one by her friend Venantius Fortunatus (a well-known Gallo-Roman
bishop), and one by her fellow-nun, Baudonivia. Note: a "fane" is
a pagan shrine; monacha is a Latin word for nun; "Quadragesima" is lent;
"the Adversary" is the Devil.
A. Venantius Fortunatus' Life of the Holy Radegund
1. Is sainthood a gendered concept for Venantius?
2. Can women be saints? Why or why not? When? What must they do?
3. Make sure you understand the circumstances by which Radegund became
Clothar's wife. What does Fortunatus have to say about this period
in her life?
4. What are the actions of a queen, as described by Fortunatus? What
seem to be a queen's duties? [keep in mind, however, that Fortunatus is
consciously foreshadowing her conversion to the ascetic, monastic life]
5. What early signs of sainthood does Fortunatus detect (or create?)
in Radegund's life?
6. What caused Radegund to abandon her husband and adopt the religious
life?
7. Was Radegund an ascetic? Why or why not?
8. Miracles were a crucial part of sainthood. What miracles does Fortunatus
attribute to her? What sort of people benefit from Radegund's miracles?
Is gender significant here?
9. Humility was a crucial attribute of medieval monasticism.
Does Radegund exhibit humility? How?
10. Did Radegund exercise power? As a queen? As a saint? In what ways?
On what sources and/or attributes was this power based?
11. Were saints public or private figures?
12. What role in Merovingian society did nuns (or monks) seem to play?
13. What is the purpose of Fortunatus' Life? Who did he think would
read it? What would they learn from it?
B. Life of Radegund, by Baudonivia (starts at p. 86)
1. What does Baudonivia say about Radegund's life as Clothar's wife?
Was being married shameful? Why did Radegund not want to go back
to Clothar?
2. Why do you think that Clothar helped her build her monastery?
Why did he approve of this behavior?
3. Why didn't Radegund become the abbess of Holy Cross?
4. What role do saints and relics play in the world of Radegund's monastery?
In the political world of Clothar?
5. Was Radegund an ascetic? Explain her ascetic practices.
6. For whom is Baudonivia's account written? For what purpose?
7. What virtues does Radegund possess?
8. Make a list of Radegund's miracles. How would you characterize
them? Does gender play a role here?
9. Explain the miracle found in chapter 12 (concerning the housemaid
Vinoberga).
10. What sort of public role did Radegund play while living in Poitiers?
Did she remove herself from the world? Describe and explain her relationships
with the Frankish royal family.
11. Compare and contrast the Lives of Baudonivia and Fortunatus - how
do they differ? How are they similar? Consider style, content, the author's
goal, the relative status of each author, the gender of each author, etc.
II. Law Codes from the Germanic Kingdoms (Amt, pp. 38-49)
1. What is the general procedure of Germanic Law? Does intention matter?
That is, does it matter why someone committed a ‘crime'?
2. How were most crimes punished?
3. Was Early Medieval society an egalitarian one? Why or why not?
4. What sort of status did women have in these law codes? What sorts
of crime were they subject to? How were these crimes punished?
5. How did class (or social status) complicate matters of gender? That
is, did one's value as a women increase with social status? Find examples.
6. How much independence did women have? Did they have independent
legal standing? That is, could they prosecute cases in court?
7. How were marriages supposed to be arranged, at least according to
Germanic law?
8. Did women have rights to property? When? Under what circumstances?
9. Could women get divorces? When?
10. Contrast Germanic Law with Roman Law - what differences do you
see? What similarities?
III. Church Rulings on Women, 5th-7th centuries (Amt, 219-231)
1. How does the Church view women? Were they full members of the Christian
community?
2. Mention is made of deaconesses - what does this suggest? What happened
at the Council of Orange?
3. Caesarius of Arles announces that many things in nunneries are different
from monasteries - what does he mean? Can you find any examples?
4. Were nunneries "velvet prisons"? What function(s) did nunneries
(and monasteries) play in this world?
5. On what sorts of things does Caesarius dwell? What actions were
necessary to be a nun? What behavior?
6. What was life like inside a nunnery? What did nuns do?
7. What sort of woman was likely to enter nunneries such as Caesarius'?
Were they likely to be rich or poor? Why?
8. What was the role of the abbess? What powers did she have inside
the nunnery? Outside?