Christina of Markyate

by Fanous; Samuel

• ISBN13: 9780415308595
• ISBN10: 0415308593
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-11-04
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

This fascinating and comprehensive collection surveys the life of an extraordinary medieval woman. Christina of Markyate made a vow of chastity at an early age, against the wishes of her parents who intended her to marry. When forced into wedlock, she fled in disguise and went into hiding, receiving refuge in a network of hermitages. Christina became a religious recluse and eventually founded a priory of nuns attached to St. Albans. Samuel Fanous and Henrietta Leyser present a vivid inter-disciplinary study devoted to the life, work, and extantvitaof Christina of Markyate, which draws on research from a wide range of disciplines. Key topics have been selected in a balanced and comprehensive approach; they cover timeless themes, such as monasticism and eremiticisim, as well as topical matters in medieval research, such as gender issues. The book begins by introducing readers to Christina's person and life, setting her in a cultural, social and religious context, and presenting theliterary background ofThe Life of Christina of Markyate.Further chapters examine themes such as the two traditions of martyrdom, virgin and ascetic, and Christina's alignment with both, the presentation of sanctity and sexual temptation in the twelfth century, and a survey of the phenomena of hermits and anchorites. The book also includes a close reading of the vita, revealing its markedly hagiographical qualities, and a discussion of the drama of the initials on the St. Alban's Psalter and what this reveals about the relationship between Christina and Abbot Geoffrey. Beautifully illustrated, this book provides students who regularly encounter Christina with a research compendium from which to begin their studies, and introduces Christina to a wider audience.

Table of Contents

List of illustrations	vii
Acknowledgements	viii
Abbreviations	ix
Notes on contributors	xi
A Note on the Life	xiv
Preface	xv
Christina of Markyate: the introduction	1	(11)
Henrietta Leyser
Christina of Markyate: the literary background	12	(13)
Douglas Gray
St Albans and women's monasticism: lives and their foundations in Christina's world	25	(28)
Stephanie Hollis
Jocelyn Wogan-Browne
Christina of Markyate and the double crown	53	(26)
Samuel Fanous
The unknown pilgrim: drama and romance in the Life of Christina of Markyate	79	(20)
Neil Cartlidge
The loves of Christina of Markyate	99	(17)
C. Stephen Jaeger
The marriages of Christina of Markyate	116	(22)
Thomas Head
Ranulf Flambard and Christina of Markyate	138	(5)
R. I. Moore
Dining at Markyate with Lady Christina	143	(17)
Rachel Koopmans
Alternative intimacies: men, women and spiritual direction in the twelfth century	160	(24)
Dyan Elliott
Christina's tempting: sexual desire and women's sanctity	184	(13)
Kathryn Kelsey Staples
Ruth Mazo Karras
The St Albans Psalter: the abbot and the anchoress	197	(20)
Jane Geddes
The Life of St Alexis, 475--1125	217	(12)
Tony Hunt
Christina of Markyate and the hermits and anchorites of England	229	(25)
List of sites and hermits	239	(15)
E. A. Jones
Select bibliography	254	(7)
Index of names and places	261