Chapter Two

Virgin and Witch:
Women in Medieval Christianity

Chapter Summary

You will encounter a complex picture of women in medieval Christianity in Western Europe similar to that of the biblical and early Christian worlds. Women contribute to the historical unfolding of medieval Christianity mainly within the context of asceticism. The opportunities and acclaim this context affords are challenged by a growing spirit of misogyny in the church which contributes to, among other things, the witch hunt. Keep in mind these two trends as you read the chapter and texts: a kind of liberation provided by the virgin life and the hostility toward women apparent in a variety of sources.

In Chapter Two of Her Story the spotlight is on women in the ascetic tradition of the church. Be sure you understand some of the reasons for the development of the ascetic tradition and the diverse forms it took from the earliest centuries of Christianity through the late Middle Ages. One of the most controversial forms was the "spiritual marriage," condemned in the text from John of Chrysostom. Note the strategies he uses to try to win readers over to his point of view.

Most significant in this chapter is the claim that the ascetic life provided women with a wide range of opportunities for leadership, travel, learning, ecclesiastical influence, friendship with men and even some priestly duties. It also functioned as an alternative to child-bearing and marital subjection. Look for some of these opportunities and perhaps some additional ones as you read the texts on Catherine of Siena (2.5), Christina of Markyate (2.1), and Margery Kempe (2.3). Both the full account of Christina's life and Kempe's later autobiography reveal celibate women who receive direct communication and visions from God. They reflect mysticism, a dimension of female asceticism. It is on the basis of a rich spirituality that Julian and the nuns in communities, such as that at Helfta, challenge the patriarchal church. The text from Julian (2.4) picks up a theme in Chapter Two: alternative ways of thinking about God.

Virgin and celibate women have been the focus of much recent study by medieval historians. Scholars are discovering material about more and more women, and the lives of better known figures, such as Julian and Hildegard of Bingen, are being explored in detail. You will find some of this more recent material in the updated bibliography. The experiences of such women are being compared and contrasted to each other, to those of men who chose to live ascetic lives, and to those of their married female contemporaries. Interesting patterns are appearing, such as the emergence of a tradition encouraging women to defend their virginity even if it meant physical mutilation or death.

The celebration of the virgin life contributed to the fervent devotion that came to surround Mary the Mother of Jesus by the High Middle Ages. You should become familiar with the various ways the church came to think about Mary. Pay particular attention to the cultural and theological circumstances that gave rise to these concepts. Although some modern historians argue that Mary serves to undermine the equality of women, Christine de Pisan uses Mary as a basis for defending the equality of women. Also think about how meaningful these images are for contemporary Christians and whether they should be at least complemented by new perspectives that stress Mary's poverty.

Another theme in this chapter is the way church leaders and theologians thought about women. The themes already articulated in the early centuries of Christian history – woman was made as inferior to man and brought sin into the world and should therefore be subordinate – became more strident, especially in the popular literature of the Middle Ages. Such attitudes contributed to the witch hunt, which flourished in Europe between the fourteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Witches were perceived as very dangerous because they were said to combine the practice of black magic with devotion to the Devil; thus they were heretics and not simple felons. Be sure to understand that most historians believe the full–blown picture of the witch was a fiction, drawn from the writings of clergymen and magistrates who hunted witches. The predominance of women as victims has not been called into question by

Additional Readings

• Atkinson, Clarissa. Mystic and Pilgrim: The Book and the World of Margery Kempe. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1983.
• Boyce–Tillman, June. "Hildegard of Bingen: A Woman for Our Time." Feminist Theology 22 (September 1999): 25–41.
• Brauner, Sigrid. Fearless Wives and Frightened Shrews: The Construction of the Witch in Early Modern Germany. Edited with an introduction by Robert H. Brown. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1995.
• Briggs, Robin. Witches and Neighbors: The Social and Cultural Context of European Witchcraft. New York: Viking, 1996.
• Crisp, Beth R. "Seeking the Feminine: An Exploration of the Spiritual Writings of Hildegard of Bingen and Julian of Norwich." Pacifica 10 (October 1997): 310–18.
• Elliott, Dyan. Spiritual Marriage: Sexual Abstinence in Medieval Wedlock. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993.
• Gaventa, Beverly Roberts. " 'All Generations Will Call Me Blessed': Mary in Biblical and Ecumenical Perspective." Princeton Seminary Bulletin 18 (1997): 251–261.
• Gertrude of Helfta. The Herald of Divine Love. Translated and edited by Margaret Winkworth. Classics of Western Spirituality. New York: Paulist Press, 1993.
• Hollis, Stephanie. Anglo-Saxon Women and the Church: Sharing a Common Fate. Rochester: Boydell, 1992.
• Lerner, Gerda. "The Way of the Mystics 1 and 2." In The Creation of Feminist 2 65–115. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.
• Levack, Brian P. The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe. London: Longman, 1987.
• Levack, Brian P. ed. Witchcraft, Women and Society. New York: Garland Publications, 1992.
• The Life of Christina of Markyate. Translated by Monica Furlong. Berkhamstead, [England]: Arthur James, 1997.
• Loades, Ann L. "Feminist Theology: A View of Mary." In Mary Is for Everyone: Papers on Mary and Ecumenism, edited by William McLoughlin and Jill Pinnock, 32–40. Leominster, England: Gracewing, 1997.
• McEntire, Sandra, ed. Margery Kempe: A Book of Essays. New York: Garland, 1992.
• McInerney, Maud Burnett, ed. Hildegard of Bingen: A Book of Essays. New York: Garland, 1998.
• Miller, Patrick D. ed. "[Mary]". Theology Today 56 (October 1999): 293–378.
• Muessig, Carolyn. "Prophecy and Song: Teaching and Preaching by Medieval Women." In Women Preachers and Prophets through Two Millennia of Christianity, edited by Beverly Kienzle and Pamela Walker, 146–158. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998.
• Newman, Barbara. Sister of Wisdom: St. Hildegard's Theology of the Feminine. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987.
• Perry, Nicholas and Echeverria, Loreto. Under the Heel of Mary. London: Routledge, 1988.
• Quaife, G. R. Godly Zeal and Furious Rage: The Witch in Early Modern Europe. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1987.
• Rorem, Paul. "Love and Mother: Medieval Language for God and the Soul." In Women, Gender and Christian Community, edited by Jane Dempsey Douglass and James F. Kay, 46–54. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1997.
• Ruether, Rosemary Radford. "Mary in U.S. Catholic Culture." National Catholic Reporter (February 10, 1995): 15–17.
• Schipperges, Heinrich. The World of Hildegard of Bingen: Her Life, Times and Visions. Translated by John Cumming. Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, 1998.
• Schulenburg, Jane Tibbetts. Forgetful of Their Sex: Female Sanctity and Society, ca. 500–1100. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998.
• Schulenburg, Jane Tibbetts. "The Heroics of Virginity: Brides of Christ and Sacrificial Mutilation." In Women in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, edited by Mary B. Rose, 29–72. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1986.
• Williams, Gerhild Scholz. "The Woman/the Witch: Variations on a Sixteenth–century Theme." In The Crannied Wall: Women, Religion and the Arts in Early Modern Europe, edited by Craig A. Monson, 119–137. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1992.

Questions for Reflection

1. Using what you have learned about women in the ascetic life from Chapters Two and Three, why do you think historians call this "ambiguous space" for women? Do you agree?
2. Why were women, and particularly elderly women, singled out for prosecution as witches? What reasons can you suggest which go beyond those mentioned in the text?
3. Has the association between women and mysticism been a means for female liberation or further female oppression
4. The prominence of Mary in some Christian communities has also been identified as "ambiguous space" for women – that is, having both positive and negative consequences. What positive consequences does her presence have? What negative? What do you think the value of Mary is for women in the twenty–first century?
5. Compare the text from Perpetua in Chapter Two and that from the life of Christina in this chapter.
6. Review the opportunities women were offered within ascetic communities which were generally closed to them in secular life. Why do you think these opportunities developed? What curtailed them?

Related Websites for Chapter Two

• Medieval Feminist Newsletter Bibliography: bailiwick.lib.uiowa.edu/wstudies/history.html
• Internet Medieval Sourcebook: Sex and Gender: www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook1v.html
• Women in the Middle Ages: www.teacheroz.com/Middle_Ages.htm#women
• Hildegard of Bingen: www.staff.uni-mainz.de/horst/hildegard/music/music.html
• Women Writers of the Middle Ages: www.library.rochester.edu/index.cfm?PAGE=227
• Women in the Middle Ages: Women and/in Religion: www.uh.edu/engines/medievalwomen/wmareli.htm
• Yahoo! Christine de Pisan: dir.yahoo.com/Arts/Humanities/Literature/Authors/Poets/Christine_de_Pizan__1364_c_1430_/
• The Witch Hunts:history.hanover.edu/early/wh.html
• Julian of Norwich: Her 'Showing of Love' and Its Contexts: http://www.luminarium.org/medlit/julian.htm
• Matrix: A Scholarly Resource for the Study of Women's Religious Communities from 400 to 1600 C.E.: http://monasticmatrix.usc.edu/
• Christian Classics Ethereal Library: www.ccel.org
• Mapping Margery Kempe: A Guide to Late Medieval Material and Spiritual Life: www.holycross.edu/departments/visarts/projects/kempe/