St. Radegund
Ben D.
Summary:
The Life of St. Radegund by Venatius Fortunatus begins by apologizing for Radegunds sex and indicating that it is an even greater achievement for those who “appeared to be imbeciles are crowned with their merits by Him who made them”(Fortunatus 48). He also says that those who “mortify themselves.....seeking to live with God”(Fortunatus 48) are granted paradise. He continues by discussing the origins of the saint and her eventual youthful captivity with King Clothar, despite being surrounded by such wealth she continued to eschew its wrappings. He then describes her marriage to the king and how she, after performing her marital duties, would “prostrate herself herself in prayer under a hair shirt” to atone for her impurity. Even in Radegunds queenly status, she still uses that rank to do good, by saving prisoners from execution and healing the poor and sick. When Fortunatus describes her transition to monastic life, he both indicates that her flagellation was unceasing and that he “shudders”(Fortunatus 53) to think of the pain she inflicted upon her body. also that she was universally adored by the members of the monastery. In the last few paragraphs Fortunatus emphasizes Radegund's fervor for menial chores and the other members' of the monastery universal love for her. The final paragraph describes how she placed a burning brass plate to her chest in an attempt to “be a martyr thought it was not an age of persecution”(Fortunatus 53).
The Life of St. Radegund by Baudovia tells a different story and focuses on her good deeds rather than her asceticism. Baudovia begins humbly, saying how she is “weakminded”(Baudovia 54) and has “but a few intelligent things to say”(Baudovia 54). She then continues to describe her collection of relics (through her considerable influence and means)and her beginnings at the monastary. Baudovia could not speak to the pre-monastary Radegund because the saint entered Baudovia's life after she left her husband for the monastic life. A large focus of the hagiography was devoted to the miracles performed by Radegund. For example, a man named Leo's vision was obstructed by a “bloody mist” (Baudovia 55) and he was cured of this affliction by “prostrating himself, full of faith, on the saint's haircloth”(Baudovia 55). The nun also talks of everyone's adoration for Radegund, she says “that to every eye, her face was always resplendent with the radiance of her soul”(Baudovia 55). Baudonvia finishes with a story about sailors who invoked Radegund's name which caused their fellow sailors who had drowned to be revived from their watery deaths, further illustrating her saintly power. According to Baudovia, she appears to be able to be called upon by anyone in need. The hagiography ends with an anecdote about Radegund exercising her saintly power by commanding a bird to leave the monastery unless it was an emissary of God.
Analysis:
Both versions of The Life of St. Radegund unintentionally illustrate the conception of women in 600 AD from both a male and a female perspective. Jason Glenn introduces this theme when he infers that Fortunatus believed “her social status and sex posed problems he needed to address he needed to address to make the case for her sanctity” (Glenn 57). This inference is also present in an analysis of the Fortnatus' text. For example, when he indicates that God has been kind to grant the “the female sex and, despite their frail physique....glory and greatness on women through strength of mind”(Fortunatus 48). Even from the first few sentences, he already insinuates that women are inferior with their “frail physiques” but can attain a closer status to men by having strength of mind. Fortunatus then emphasizes her asceticism by describing every way in which she inflicted tortures upon her body both through isolation, malnutrition and physical mutilation.(Fortunatus 52) This is offered with the tone that indicates that women have to demonstrate, beyond what is required of a man, mastery over their human needs and emotions. This is why the piece emphasizes Radegund's flagellation and asceticism so heavily, because this is how he masculanizes her image to the intended audience. This piece captures how male clergy men tried to reconcile their image of the saint(i.e. Masculine, poor and humble) and their image of a royal woman.
The Life of St. Radegund by Baudovia also illustrates a view of dark age womanhood, but from the point of view of the oppressed group. For example, she begins with her humble statement about her lowly position as a women and the few intelligent things she has to say which already illustrates what society makes her feel about contributions. What is different about these two accounts is how she does not once mention any acts of flagellation and barely brushes upon her asceticism. The focus is mainly on Radegund's deeds, miracles and the symbol she was to people in this time. She does explain that she does not want to repeat the words of “Bishop Fortunatus....but speak of what he omitted in his fear of proxility”(Baudovia 54). She speaks beyond Fortunatus by painting Radegund as an admirable figure, she says “she had earned the obedience of birds and bests, for she had never failed to obey the Lord's commands”(Baudovia 57) This illustrates both Baudovia's adoration for Radegund and her saintly power. Their is almost a sense of amazement from Baudovia that Radegund has achieved so much as a woman. These are not things discussed by Fortunatus because he does not view women in a light which they can be admirable, the only light that he views women is one of repentance for their sex. While both sides of the discussion view her in the sense these two hagiographies are great examples of the differing faces of oppression for women both from the view of the oppressor and the view of the group being oppressed.
References:
Baudonvia. The Life of St. Radegund. In Reading the Middle Ages. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2010 53-57
Fortunatus, Venatius The Life of St. Radegund. In Reading the Middle Ages. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2010 47-53
Glenn, Jason. The Middle Ages in Text and Texture:Reflection of Medieval Sources . Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2011.
Summary:
The Life of St. Radegund by Venatius Fortunatus begins by apologizing for Radegunds sex and indicating that it is an even greater achievement for those who “appeared to be imbeciles are crowned with their merits by Him who made them”(Fortunatus 48). He also says that those who “mortify themselves.....seeking to live with God”(Fortunatus 48) are granted paradise. He continues by discussing the origins of the saint and her eventual youthful captivity with King Clothar, despite being surrounded by such wealth she continued to eschew its wrappings. He then describes her marriage to the king and how she, after performing her marital duties, would “prostrate herself herself in prayer under a hair shirt” to atone for her impurity. Even in Radegunds queenly status, she still uses that rank to do good, by saving prisoners from execution and healing the poor and sick. When Fortunatus describes her transition to monastic life, he both indicates that her flagellation was unceasing and that he “shudders”(Fortunatus 53) to think of the pain she inflicted upon her body. also that she was universally adored by the members of the monastery. In the last few paragraphs Fortunatus emphasizes Radegund's fervor for menial chores and the other members' of the monastery universal love for her. The final paragraph describes how she placed a burning brass plate to her chest in an attempt to “be a martyr thought it was not an age of persecution”(Fortunatus 53).
The Life of St. Radegund by Baudovia tells a different story and focuses on her good deeds rather than her asceticism. Baudovia begins humbly, saying how she is “weakminded”(Baudovia 54) and has “but a few intelligent things to say”(Baudovia 54). She then continues to describe her collection of relics (through her considerable influence and means)and her beginnings at the monastary. Baudovia could not speak to the pre-monastary Radegund because the saint entered Baudovia's life after she left her husband for the monastic life. A large focus of the hagiography was devoted to the miracles performed by Radegund. For example, a man named Leo's vision was obstructed by a “bloody mist” (Baudovia 55) and he was cured of this affliction by “prostrating himself, full of faith, on the saint's haircloth”(Baudovia 55). The nun also talks of everyone's adoration for Radegund, she says “that to every eye, her face was always resplendent with the radiance of her soul”(Baudovia 55). Baudonvia finishes with a story about sailors who invoked Radegund's name which caused their fellow sailors who had drowned to be revived from their watery deaths, further illustrating her saintly power. According to Baudovia, she appears to be able to be called upon by anyone in need. The hagiography ends with an anecdote about Radegund exercising her saintly power by commanding a bird to leave the monastery unless it was an emissary of God.
Analysis:
Both versions of The Life of St. Radegund unintentionally illustrate the conception of women in 600 AD from both a male and a female perspective. Jason Glenn introduces this theme when he infers that Fortunatus believed “her social status and sex posed problems he needed to address he needed to address to make the case for her sanctity” (Glenn 57). This inference is also present in an analysis of the Fortnatus' text. For example, when he indicates that God has been kind to grant the “the female sex and, despite their frail physique....glory and greatness on women through strength of mind”(Fortunatus 48). Even from the first few sentences, he already insinuates that women are inferior with their “frail physiques” but can attain a closer status to men by having strength of mind. Fortunatus then emphasizes her asceticism by describing every way in which she inflicted tortures upon her body both through isolation, malnutrition and physical mutilation.(Fortunatus 52) This is offered with the tone that indicates that women have to demonstrate, beyond what is required of a man, mastery over their human needs and emotions. This is why the piece emphasizes Radegund's flagellation and asceticism so heavily, because this is how he masculanizes her image to the intended audience. This piece captures how male clergy men tried to reconcile their image of the saint(i.e. Masculine, poor and humble) and their image of a royal woman.
The Life of St. Radegund by Baudovia also illustrates a view of dark age womanhood, but from the point of view of the oppressed group. For example, she begins with her humble statement about her lowly position as a women and the few intelligent things she has to say which already illustrates what society makes her feel about contributions. What is different about these two accounts is how she does not once mention any acts of flagellation and barely brushes upon her asceticism. The focus is mainly on Radegund's deeds, miracles and the symbol she was to people in this time. She does explain that she does not want to repeat the words of “Bishop Fortunatus....but speak of what he omitted in his fear of proxility”(Baudovia 54). She speaks beyond Fortunatus by painting Radegund as an admirable figure, she says “she had earned the obedience of birds and bests, for she had never failed to obey the Lord's commands”(Baudovia 57) This illustrates both Baudovia's adoration for Radegund and her saintly power. Their is almost a sense of amazement from Baudovia that Radegund has achieved so much as a woman. These are not things discussed by Fortunatus because he does not view women in a light which they can be admirable, the only light that he views women is one of repentance for their sex. While both sides of the discussion view her in the sense these two hagiographies are great examples of the differing faces of oppression for women both from the view of the oppressor and the view of the group being oppressed.
References:
Baudonvia. The Life of St. Radegund. In Reading the Middle Ages. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2010 53-57
Fortunatus, Venatius The Life of St. Radegund. In Reading the Middle Ages. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2010 47-53
Glenn, Jason. The Middle Ages in Text and Texture:Reflection of Medieval Sources . Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2011.
The Holy life of saint radegund
Mackenzie Warner
3/13
The life of Saint Radegund is portrayed by two different writers, both of whom had very different relationships with her. Radegund’s life is seen in different ways but both showing the holy life she lead and her devotion to God. Verantius sought to show her similarities to saints like St. Martin who lived in poverty and sought repentance through violence to their bodies. Baudonivia on the other hand showed Radegund’s life in the monastery, where she used her royal status and clout to encourage others to join the christian faith.
The author who first wrote a hagiographic of Radegund’s life was Verantius. A poet who developed a friendship with Radegund via letters and poems. He wrote a biography in the year 587. He had a difficult time portraying her as a saint because she was a women and because she lived her life with piety and dedication to the holy word. He wrote in a way that depicted the female sex as far weaker and less holier than the male sex. Radegund lived in an exceptional holy way, regardless of her sex. “In other words, a woman who dedicated herself to a christian life of the sort exemplified by Radegund could, like her, transcend the inherent shortcomings of her sex.” (pg. 59) This quote portrays the majority of the populations feelings regarding the female race.
Varantius goes on to show how Radegund lived her life in a way of rejecting the flesh and ascetics. Radegund wore hair shirts which was an undergarment worn to discomfort the body in order to seek repentance from God. Along with this type of bodily torture she also restrained her arms and neck with iron rings which caused her flesh to swell and bleed. By mortifying her flesh she sought to live a life with God. Verantius also wrote a great deal about her union with a man. He wanted to make it clear that she was still a very holy women even when bound to a man. He says, “People said that the King had yoked himself to a monacha rather than a queen.” (pg. 60) This shows that even though she was legally married, her heart was still very much with God. Radegund being a queen also presented an issue for Verantius. He believed Queen Radegund rejected her status and duties as queen in order to live a pious and basic life. When Verantius does mention her queenliness “he notes that she left her clothes and ornaments for the poor or to a church.” (pg. 61)
The author of the second hagiography portrays Radegund in a very different light than Verantius. This hagiography was written twenty years after Radegund’s death and was written at the request of the congregation of the monastery that Radegund had founded and lived. The author’s name was Baudonivia. Baudonivia did not feel it necessary for Radegund to overcome her sex, so she does not make a point to show the imperfections of the female sex.
The Radegund that Baudonivia portrays is one that does not cause discomfort to her body and used her royal status to help those in need, contrary to Verantius. “Radegund and her retinue passed near a fane where non-christian Franks worshipped, and she ordered it destroyed.” (pg. 63) According to Baudonivia, Radegund continued to use her noble blood even after she retreated to the monastery. Whenever she got wind of a disagreement between kings she wrote letters to them urging them to have peace. Baudonivia believed Radegund knew the good she could do by using her royal status. The miracles that Radegund performs according to Baudonivia are performed on a higher class of people than the hagiography that Verantius portrays. Because of one of her healing miracles a foundation for a basilica of Saint Radegund was formed. This demonstrates the population she was affecting in Baudonivia’s writings.
The audience that each of the hagiographies hoped to adhere to were very different. Verantius was writing for the entire public, specifically men of the church. We know this because of the amount of times he refers to the female sex being weaker and how Radegund overcomes the shortcomings of her sex. He wanted to give her the recognition that she deserved for living such a pious and holy life. And at this time in history, men ruled the church and were skeptical of women. Verantius emphasized Radegund as the stereotypical saint by showing her ability to harm her body, her desire to live a minimalist lifestyle, and her rejection of royal status. He also describes her marriage as being less of a secular marriage but a marriage with God. He wanted to portray her as being married but not in a way that would discredit or make her more of a women.
Baudonivia on the other hand had an audience that was primarily intended for the women of the monastery. In the writings it is said that the women of the monastery did not necessarily see the Radegund that Verantius portrays, instead, “Their Radegund had shaped not merely the physical but also the spiritual and emotional space in which they lived, through which they moved, and in which they prayed.” (pg.66) Baudonivia portrayed Radegund in the way that the women remembered and rejoiced her. They believed her to be a saint and did not need the affirmation of the church.
I found both analysis’ of Saint Radegund very interesting because they seem to portray two very different women. One that lived a pious and minimal life, the other a life that used the gifts God gave her to create a better and more christian world. In my opinion, both showed very holy lives, but the intended audiences were clearly different groups. Whether or not one was more accurate is not known but if we look at the authors we can guess that Verantius’ version was either the most accurate of Radegund’s life or at least the way she wanted to be portrayed to the rest of the world. Baudonivia’s version was written nearly two decades after Radegund’s death so we can suppose that she was acquiring information about Radegund’s life from other nuns and friends within the Poitiers community.
The way that Verantius describes her marriage is very interesting because historically very little is known about the marriage and no children were produced causing one to believe that it was a marriage of little passion and love. Verantius describes the lengths that Radegund would go to in order to leave the marital bed and seek comfort in God, through asking to relieve nature and staying throughout the night. Eventually fleeing her husband’s home to go to the monastery. Doing some research on the Frankish kingdoms, all of Radegund’s family fought over land and was killed except for her cousin/husband. What I found even more interesting was that she was one of six wives, which is not a christian tradition. This could have caused her complete devotion to the christian church and turn to a life faithful only to God.
Whatever the reason for her pious and devout life, one thing is certain, Radegund was a woman who broke the mold and showed that women could live holy lives just as men. She was a very unique figure in the history of the christian church because of the way she obtained sainthood. Most women in that time period who had gained sainthood did it through martyrdom, Radegund however, obtained sainthood the way men did, by living a life worthy of God.
3/13
The life of Saint Radegund is portrayed by two different writers, both of whom had very different relationships with her. Radegund’s life is seen in different ways but both showing the holy life she lead and her devotion to God. Verantius sought to show her similarities to saints like St. Martin who lived in poverty and sought repentance through violence to their bodies. Baudonivia on the other hand showed Radegund’s life in the monastery, where she used her royal status and clout to encourage others to join the christian faith.
The author who first wrote a hagiographic of Radegund’s life was Verantius. A poet who developed a friendship with Radegund via letters and poems. He wrote a biography in the year 587. He had a difficult time portraying her as a saint because she was a women and because she lived her life with piety and dedication to the holy word. He wrote in a way that depicted the female sex as far weaker and less holier than the male sex. Radegund lived in an exceptional holy way, regardless of her sex. “In other words, a woman who dedicated herself to a christian life of the sort exemplified by Radegund could, like her, transcend the inherent shortcomings of her sex.” (pg. 59) This quote portrays the majority of the populations feelings regarding the female race.
Varantius goes on to show how Radegund lived her life in a way of rejecting the flesh and ascetics. Radegund wore hair shirts which was an undergarment worn to discomfort the body in order to seek repentance from God. Along with this type of bodily torture she also restrained her arms and neck with iron rings which caused her flesh to swell and bleed. By mortifying her flesh she sought to live a life with God. Verantius also wrote a great deal about her union with a man. He wanted to make it clear that she was still a very holy women even when bound to a man. He says, “People said that the King had yoked himself to a monacha rather than a queen.” (pg. 60) This shows that even though she was legally married, her heart was still very much with God. Radegund being a queen also presented an issue for Verantius. He believed Queen Radegund rejected her status and duties as queen in order to live a pious and basic life. When Verantius does mention her queenliness “he notes that she left her clothes and ornaments for the poor or to a church.” (pg. 61)
The author of the second hagiography portrays Radegund in a very different light than Verantius. This hagiography was written twenty years after Radegund’s death and was written at the request of the congregation of the monastery that Radegund had founded and lived. The author’s name was Baudonivia. Baudonivia did not feel it necessary for Radegund to overcome her sex, so she does not make a point to show the imperfections of the female sex.
The Radegund that Baudonivia portrays is one that does not cause discomfort to her body and used her royal status to help those in need, contrary to Verantius. “Radegund and her retinue passed near a fane where non-christian Franks worshipped, and she ordered it destroyed.” (pg. 63) According to Baudonivia, Radegund continued to use her noble blood even after she retreated to the monastery. Whenever she got wind of a disagreement between kings she wrote letters to them urging them to have peace. Baudonivia believed Radegund knew the good she could do by using her royal status. The miracles that Radegund performs according to Baudonivia are performed on a higher class of people than the hagiography that Verantius portrays. Because of one of her healing miracles a foundation for a basilica of Saint Radegund was formed. This demonstrates the population she was affecting in Baudonivia’s writings.
The audience that each of the hagiographies hoped to adhere to were very different. Verantius was writing for the entire public, specifically men of the church. We know this because of the amount of times he refers to the female sex being weaker and how Radegund overcomes the shortcomings of her sex. He wanted to give her the recognition that she deserved for living such a pious and holy life. And at this time in history, men ruled the church and were skeptical of women. Verantius emphasized Radegund as the stereotypical saint by showing her ability to harm her body, her desire to live a minimalist lifestyle, and her rejection of royal status. He also describes her marriage as being less of a secular marriage but a marriage with God. He wanted to portray her as being married but not in a way that would discredit or make her more of a women.
Baudonivia on the other hand had an audience that was primarily intended for the women of the monastery. In the writings it is said that the women of the monastery did not necessarily see the Radegund that Verantius portrays, instead, “Their Radegund had shaped not merely the physical but also the spiritual and emotional space in which they lived, through which they moved, and in which they prayed.” (pg.66) Baudonivia portrayed Radegund in the way that the women remembered and rejoiced her. They believed her to be a saint and did not need the affirmation of the church.
I found both analysis’ of Saint Radegund very interesting because they seem to portray two very different women. One that lived a pious and minimal life, the other a life that used the gifts God gave her to create a better and more christian world. In my opinion, both showed very holy lives, but the intended audiences were clearly different groups. Whether or not one was more accurate is not known but if we look at the authors we can guess that Verantius’ version was either the most accurate of Radegund’s life or at least the way she wanted to be portrayed to the rest of the world. Baudonivia’s version was written nearly two decades after Radegund’s death so we can suppose that she was acquiring information about Radegund’s life from other nuns and friends within the Poitiers community.
The way that Verantius describes her marriage is very interesting because historically very little is known about the marriage and no children were produced causing one to believe that it was a marriage of little passion and love. Verantius describes the lengths that Radegund would go to in order to leave the marital bed and seek comfort in God, through asking to relieve nature and staying throughout the night. Eventually fleeing her husband’s home to go to the monastery. Doing some research on the Frankish kingdoms, all of Radegund’s family fought over land and was killed except for her cousin/husband. What I found even more interesting was that she was one of six wives, which is not a christian tradition. This could have caused her complete devotion to the christian church and turn to a life faithful only to God.
Whatever the reason for her pious and devout life, one thing is certain, Radegund was a woman who broke the mold and showed that women could live holy lives just as men. She was a very unique figure in the history of the christian church because of the way she obtained sainthood. Most women in that time period who had gained sainthood did it through martyrdom, Radegund however, obtained sainthood the way men did, by living a life worthy of God.
St. Radegund: The Symbolic Life.
Delancey Foster
In Jason Glenn’s “Two lives of St. Radegund”, He tells displays the first two vitae of St. Radegund’s life while also providing context in order to better frame the text.
The first account is written by a “friend and admirer” of St. Radegund’s named Venantius Fortunatus. He was a poet who “moved freely in the elite circles of the Frankish and Gallo-Roman aristocracy. He met Radegund in his twenties and exchanged poetry and letters with her until she died in the mid 560’s. His aim was to “comfortably” sit her beside the great saints of the medieval world. The challenges that he faced were, first that Radegund was a woman. Women were set in a place of praise for their piety and often their martyrdom, but not their monastic or ascetic practices. Venantius Fortunatus goes on to point out the way that, through Christ, women who were normally seen as frail, feeble and weak, could live strong, complementary lives dedicated to the God. The exemplar of this model would be Radegund. And so Venantius set out to conquer not only the idea of her womanhood but also her royal status.
Venantius Fortunatus writes of Radegund’s incomprable desire, even from a young age, for martyrdom. She wanted to be so close to Christ that she would wear a hair shirt under her royal garb, as well as fetter her neck with iron rings. She even went on to burn herself in many forms. Venantius notes that she did not complain about the pain she endured but instead, “willingly suffered bitterness for the sweetness of Christ”. In this way Radegund is painted as saintly even as she is a royal; the way in which she bore pain, whilst still upholding her place as Queen. Similarly, Venantius shows Radegund to be deserving of sainthood because she was “more Christ’s partner than her husband’s companion.” Radegund not only traded her easy, earthly existence for the pain of Christ, but similarly bore the burden of wifedom whilst rather being a monk. “She willingly suffered”… to avoid becoming, “cheap in the eyes of Christ”, Venantius writes. Therefore Venantius Fortunatus’s account of Radegund overcomes her female form, royal status and marriage to affirm that she indeed was holy and lived a Saintly life.
In contrast, Baudonivia, a member of the religious community Radegund founded, not only continues the vitae with her account but compliments it by focusing on the holiness displayed in Radegund’s life at Poitiers. Glenn points out that, although Baudonivia draws from the same hagiography as Fortunatus-one grounded in the lives of holy men-She portrays a holy, yet extremely different Radegund. In Baudonivia’s account she does not overcome her royal ties but instead uses them to serve, as a Saint would, the larger Frankish population. The importance of her text is not Radegund’s self-inflicted pain or womanhood, but the way she uses her power in a righteous way. Baudonivia characterizes Radegund as a powerful intercessor. She tears down pagan temples and makes peace between Frankish Kings. She acquires more wealth for the Frank lands by obtaining relics. Through them, not only can they heal the people, but it also encourages a greater population and money for the church. Furthermore it is important to note the way in which Radegund interacts with many people of a higher class. She is not only a political intermediary but an intermediary between those with financial blessing and the church. Similarly, Radegund’s place as an abyss opened the door to more women of royal blood to follow in her footsteps and serve God with their lives.
Therefore, in conclusion, Venantius Fortunatus and Baudonivia, each portray a Radegund within their writings that through her ascetic practices of mutilation, service, healing, the acquiring of relics and power, was deserving of Sainthood.
When compared with “The lives of Saint Radegund” in Rosenwein, we as readers see a more in depth look at the texts already discussed. By reading these accounts more closely, one may understand just how much of an emphasis was placed upon relics, gender and class status.
The writings all together not only give view or an idea of what kind of person Radegund was, but also an idea of who the public wanted her to be. The time that each document is comprised possesses a certain emphasis on specific things. For example in Fortunatus’s account it was important to establish Radegund as a symbol for religious women to look up to-an ideal to achieve. Similarly in Baudonivia’s text the main importance is obviously placed upon Radegund as a relic collector. Therefore within that time relics were necessary and needed by the church. Therefore to encourage the practice of collecting relics and using them, the account of Radegund puts a tremendous amount of importance about her ability as a relic collector.
Furthermore, this idea of importance, displayed to me the way in which Saints were used as symbols. In my opinion, Radegund is used as an accomplice to a goal. For example, Fortunatus sees that there is the ability to open up the door to women in ministry-to elevate the place that women can hold, not just physically but also in the mind of the people. Therefore he uses Radegund as a Saint who can be seen as an equal to the great male saints before her. Fortunatus writes “she fit comfortably…” the idea of Radegund not only being seen as a male equal in ascetic practices is extreme, let alone the idea of her fitting there comfortably. Therefore in my opinion Fortunatus not only saw the need for the encouragement of women saints but the ability to make Radegund one herself , in order to spur the thought forward till it was universally held.
Finally, the symbol or ideal that Radegund is most overall seen to uphold is the idea of bringing glory to the monastery. She not only gave up wealth to God and the Church, but also used power constructively for it. She was a force for the church and I believe that is the main theme represented by all the given texts.
Glenn, Jason. “Two Lives of Saint Radegund.” In The Middle Ages in Texts and Texture, edited by Jason Glenn, 57-70. University of Toronto Press, 2011.
Rosenwein, Barbara. “The Lives of Saint Radegund.” In Reading the Middle Ages: Sources from Europe, Byzantium, and the Islamic World, edited by Barbara Rosenwein. 47-57. University of Toronto Press, 2010.
In Jason Glenn’s “Two lives of St. Radegund”, He tells displays the first two vitae of St. Radegund’s life while also providing context in order to better frame the text.
The first account is written by a “friend and admirer” of St. Radegund’s named Venantius Fortunatus. He was a poet who “moved freely in the elite circles of the Frankish and Gallo-Roman aristocracy. He met Radegund in his twenties and exchanged poetry and letters with her until she died in the mid 560’s. His aim was to “comfortably” sit her beside the great saints of the medieval world. The challenges that he faced were, first that Radegund was a woman. Women were set in a place of praise for their piety and often their martyrdom, but not their monastic or ascetic practices. Venantius Fortunatus goes on to point out the way that, through Christ, women who were normally seen as frail, feeble and weak, could live strong, complementary lives dedicated to the God. The exemplar of this model would be Radegund. And so Venantius set out to conquer not only the idea of her womanhood but also her royal status.
Venantius Fortunatus writes of Radegund’s incomprable desire, even from a young age, for martyrdom. She wanted to be so close to Christ that she would wear a hair shirt under her royal garb, as well as fetter her neck with iron rings. She even went on to burn herself in many forms. Venantius notes that she did not complain about the pain she endured but instead, “willingly suffered bitterness for the sweetness of Christ”. In this way Radegund is painted as saintly even as she is a royal; the way in which she bore pain, whilst still upholding her place as Queen. Similarly, Venantius shows Radegund to be deserving of sainthood because she was “more Christ’s partner than her husband’s companion.” Radegund not only traded her easy, earthly existence for the pain of Christ, but similarly bore the burden of wifedom whilst rather being a monk. “She willingly suffered”… to avoid becoming, “cheap in the eyes of Christ”, Venantius writes. Therefore Venantius Fortunatus’s account of Radegund overcomes her female form, royal status and marriage to affirm that she indeed was holy and lived a Saintly life.
In contrast, Baudonivia, a member of the religious community Radegund founded, not only continues the vitae with her account but compliments it by focusing on the holiness displayed in Radegund’s life at Poitiers. Glenn points out that, although Baudonivia draws from the same hagiography as Fortunatus-one grounded in the lives of holy men-She portrays a holy, yet extremely different Radegund. In Baudonivia’s account she does not overcome her royal ties but instead uses them to serve, as a Saint would, the larger Frankish population. The importance of her text is not Radegund’s self-inflicted pain or womanhood, but the way she uses her power in a righteous way. Baudonivia characterizes Radegund as a powerful intercessor. She tears down pagan temples and makes peace between Frankish Kings. She acquires more wealth for the Frank lands by obtaining relics. Through them, not only can they heal the people, but it also encourages a greater population and money for the church. Furthermore it is important to note the way in which Radegund interacts with many people of a higher class. She is not only a political intermediary but an intermediary between those with financial blessing and the church. Similarly, Radegund’s place as an abyss opened the door to more women of royal blood to follow in her footsteps and serve God with their lives.
Therefore, in conclusion, Venantius Fortunatus and Baudonivia, each portray a Radegund within their writings that through her ascetic practices of mutilation, service, healing, the acquiring of relics and power, was deserving of Sainthood.
When compared with “The lives of Saint Radegund” in Rosenwein, we as readers see a more in depth look at the texts already discussed. By reading these accounts more closely, one may understand just how much of an emphasis was placed upon relics, gender and class status.
The writings all together not only give view or an idea of what kind of person Radegund was, but also an idea of who the public wanted her to be. The time that each document is comprised possesses a certain emphasis on specific things. For example in Fortunatus’s account it was important to establish Radegund as a symbol for religious women to look up to-an ideal to achieve. Similarly in Baudonivia’s text the main importance is obviously placed upon Radegund as a relic collector. Therefore within that time relics were necessary and needed by the church. Therefore to encourage the practice of collecting relics and using them, the account of Radegund puts a tremendous amount of importance about her ability as a relic collector.
Furthermore, this idea of importance, displayed to me the way in which Saints were used as symbols. In my opinion, Radegund is used as an accomplice to a goal. For example, Fortunatus sees that there is the ability to open up the door to women in ministry-to elevate the place that women can hold, not just physically but also in the mind of the people. Therefore he uses Radegund as a Saint who can be seen as an equal to the great male saints before her. Fortunatus writes “she fit comfortably…” the idea of Radegund not only being seen as a male equal in ascetic practices is extreme, let alone the idea of her fitting there comfortably. Therefore in my opinion Fortunatus not only saw the need for the encouragement of women saints but the ability to make Radegund one herself , in order to spur the thought forward till it was universally held.
Finally, the symbol or ideal that Radegund is most overall seen to uphold is the idea of bringing glory to the monastery. She not only gave up wealth to God and the Church, but also used power constructively for it. She was a force for the church and I believe that is the main theme represented by all the given texts.
Glenn, Jason. “Two Lives of Saint Radegund.” In The Middle Ages in Texts and Texture, edited by Jason Glenn, 57-70. University of Toronto Press, 2011.
Rosenwein, Barbara. “The Lives of Saint Radegund.” In Reading the Middle Ages: Sources from Europe, Byzantium, and the Islamic World, edited by Barbara Rosenwein. 47-57. University of Toronto Press, 2010.
St. Radegund: Queen and Monacha
Kate Rodman
St. Radegund was born a princess of Thuringia, a kingdom on the border of the Frankish empire, in 520 AD. When still a child she was captured by Clothar I, the Frankish king, when he invaded Thuringia and she later became his wife. At a young age her dedication to Christianity was apparent; she is described as leading other children in the singing of psalms and discussing her desire to become a martyr. After her marriage she would donate clothes, food and money frequently. She did not enjoy being married and instead sought to join a monastery. Eventually she became a monacha, a female monk. While in her monastery she performed many acts, some based on earthly kindness and others stemming from spiritual gifts.
Radegund’s deeds led to her being highly respected throughout the Christian community. This admiration led to the writing of a hagiography on her life by Venantius Fortunatus, a well-known poet of the Frankish aristocracy. He had met Radegund at Poitiers during his travels and hey communicated via letters and poems. After her death in 587 AD, he wrote the first portion of the vita on her life. Fortunatus wrote this hagiography a format typical of early Christian saints. However, Radegund was not a typical saint. Not only was she a woman she was also a princess. This meant Fortunatus heavily emphasized her deeds and acts that were similar to those performed by traditional male saints. Possibly due Fortunatus focus on only certain aspects of her life a supplement was written twenty years later by a Baudovinia, a member of her monastery. While Fortunatus concentrated on Radegund’s piety and ascetic lifestyle, Baudovinia spoke of the female saint’s activeness in the world. She particularly focused on Radegund’s relic gathering which were very valued during her time.
Fortunatus desired his vita to be similar to those written on male saints. This may be due to his classical training, but more likely he wanted to write a hagiography that was acceptable to the Christian church. During this time period females were considered weak of body, mind and will. In his first passage Fortunatus states in reference to women “Christ makes them strong who were born weak” (1.12.1). Due to this low perception of women Fortunatus had to make Radegund suitable to the church of the 6th century. According to Jason Glenn, women of the time were more respected for their deaths as martyrs than any deeds they may perform during their lives (Glenn, 58). Therefore Fortunatus believed he had to persuade his audience of her pious life. Baudonivia took a different approach to Radegund’s gender. This author doesn’t mention the weakness of women, but instead portrays the female saint as a leader. On multiple occasions she refers to Radegund as leading “her flock” (1.12), a common biblical reference to humans that need guidance in seeking God. She also describes her as being very involved in worldly events. She even goes as far as to compare Radegund to Helena, Constantine’s mother, a respected woman in the Eastern Church and a dignified queen.
Like Helena, Radegund was a queen and this is another quality that the Fortunatus and Baudonivia represented differently in their works. Like her femininity, Fortunatus sought to distance Radegund from her royal heritage. He discusses her dislike of any ornate garb, and that when she did have to dress in royal finery she would where a hair cloth underneath. To juxtapose her royalty he claims “she washed the heads of men, acting like a servant”(1.12) . By depicting her as a servant he wants his readers to understand that she overcame, and made sure to avoid, the pleasures that were afforded to her. Baudovinia on the other hand, embraced Radegund’s royalty as a benefit to the community and church. She discusses the queen’s regular communications with important political men, including bishops and kings. Through her rank the saint was able to gather important religious relics that were highly prized at this time. In the 6th century relics were a symbol of holy power and drew people to whatever church may hold them. In this way Radegund was a celebrity of sorts, drawing respect and potential followers to her monastery.
As typical to hagiographies of male saints, both authors describe amazing gifts bestowed upon Radegund by God. In the bible healing is one of the gifts of the spirit (1 Cor. 12:9), and it an ability common amongst saint writings, such as that of St. Martin. Both vita mention her healing those who sought her out, “whenever the infirm invoked her, they would be healed of whatever illnesses imprisoned them” (1.13). She was said to return sight to the blind and cure disease. Healing was not her only gift, like St. Antony Radegund was able to dispel demons, “when the saint raised her blessed right hand in the sign of the cross, the whole multitude of demons fled” (1.13) According another gift bestowed on her by God was the obedience of animals, similar to St. Francis of Assisi. This abundance of gifts is similar to many other hagiographies. It’s important to note, that while Radegund did not fit the typical profile of a saint during the 6th century Church, both authors still tried to place her in that mold. These writings hint at the strict expectations of the Church during this time, even though they write on different aspects of her life both authors feel pressured to present a certain type of saint.
Other common saintly attributes discussed by Fortunatus include diet and self-mortification. He pays much detail to the food that Radegund would consume. According to him at royal banquets she would ignore rich foods and only eat legumes, and that she would secretly eat her plain meal underneath the appealing foods was expected to eat. “She ate nothing but legumes and green vegetables: not fruit nor fish nor eggs” (1.12), Radegund eats so plainly to avoid any earthly pleasure she might receive from regular foods. This diet is much more extreme than the ones seen in male monks of the time, such as that of the Benedictian monks described in The Benedictine Rule. This refusal of any earthly pleasure is used to strengthen Fortunatus’ stance that Radegund went to great extremes to overcome her womanly disadvantages. In his first passage Fortunatus points out that another way for women to seek God is “through mortifying themselves in the world” (1.12). Radegund does this by branding her body with a brass plate in the shape of the cross, which likely symbolizes her desire to share in Christ’s suffering.
Each author shares a different perspective on Radegund, but both agree that she performed many deeds for the church. She helped the poor, healed the sick and gathered valuable relics. While no hagiography gives a completely true picture of the subject, we can appreciate that Radegund accomplished many things and despite being a women she proved herself to be worthy of respect in the 6th century.
Citations:
Glenn, Jason. “Two Lives of Saint Radegund.” In The Middle Ages in Texts and Texture, edited by Jason Glenn, 57-70. University of Toronto Press, 2011.
Rosenwein, Barbara. “The Lives of Saint Radegund.” In Reading the Middle Ages: Sources from Europe, Byzantium, and the Islamic World, edited by Barbara Rosenwein. 47-57. University of Toronto Press, 2010.
St. Radegund was born a princess of Thuringia, a kingdom on the border of the Frankish empire, in 520 AD. When still a child she was captured by Clothar I, the Frankish king, when he invaded Thuringia and she later became his wife. At a young age her dedication to Christianity was apparent; she is described as leading other children in the singing of psalms and discussing her desire to become a martyr. After her marriage she would donate clothes, food and money frequently. She did not enjoy being married and instead sought to join a monastery. Eventually she became a monacha, a female monk. While in her monastery she performed many acts, some based on earthly kindness and others stemming from spiritual gifts.
Radegund’s deeds led to her being highly respected throughout the Christian community. This admiration led to the writing of a hagiography on her life by Venantius Fortunatus, a well-known poet of the Frankish aristocracy. He had met Radegund at Poitiers during his travels and hey communicated via letters and poems. After her death in 587 AD, he wrote the first portion of the vita on her life. Fortunatus wrote this hagiography a format typical of early Christian saints. However, Radegund was not a typical saint. Not only was she a woman she was also a princess. This meant Fortunatus heavily emphasized her deeds and acts that were similar to those performed by traditional male saints. Possibly due Fortunatus focus on only certain aspects of her life a supplement was written twenty years later by a Baudovinia, a member of her monastery. While Fortunatus concentrated on Radegund’s piety and ascetic lifestyle, Baudovinia spoke of the female saint’s activeness in the world. She particularly focused on Radegund’s relic gathering which were very valued during her time.
Fortunatus desired his vita to be similar to those written on male saints. This may be due to his classical training, but more likely he wanted to write a hagiography that was acceptable to the Christian church. During this time period females were considered weak of body, mind and will. In his first passage Fortunatus states in reference to women “Christ makes them strong who were born weak” (1.12.1). Due to this low perception of women Fortunatus had to make Radegund suitable to the church of the 6th century. According to Jason Glenn, women of the time were more respected for their deaths as martyrs than any deeds they may perform during their lives (Glenn, 58). Therefore Fortunatus believed he had to persuade his audience of her pious life. Baudonivia took a different approach to Radegund’s gender. This author doesn’t mention the weakness of women, but instead portrays the female saint as a leader. On multiple occasions she refers to Radegund as leading “her flock” (1.12), a common biblical reference to humans that need guidance in seeking God. She also describes her as being very involved in worldly events. She even goes as far as to compare Radegund to Helena, Constantine’s mother, a respected woman in the Eastern Church and a dignified queen.
Like Helena, Radegund was a queen and this is another quality that the Fortunatus and Baudonivia represented differently in their works. Like her femininity, Fortunatus sought to distance Radegund from her royal heritage. He discusses her dislike of any ornate garb, and that when she did have to dress in royal finery she would where a hair cloth underneath. To juxtapose her royalty he claims “she washed the heads of men, acting like a servant”(1.12) . By depicting her as a servant he wants his readers to understand that she overcame, and made sure to avoid, the pleasures that were afforded to her. Baudovinia on the other hand, embraced Radegund’s royalty as a benefit to the community and church. She discusses the queen’s regular communications with important political men, including bishops and kings. Through her rank the saint was able to gather important religious relics that were highly prized at this time. In the 6th century relics were a symbol of holy power and drew people to whatever church may hold them. In this way Radegund was a celebrity of sorts, drawing respect and potential followers to her monastery.
As typical to hagiographies of male saints, both authors describe amazing gifts bestowed upon Radegund by God. In the bible healing is one of the gifts of the spirit (1 Cor. 12:9), and it an ability common amongst saint writings, such as that of St. Martin. Both vita mention her healing those who sought her out, “whenever the infirm invoked her, they would be healed of whatever illnesses imprisoned them” (1.13). She was said to return sight to the blind and cure disease. Healing was not her only gift, like St. Antony Radegund was able to dispel demons, “when the saint raised her blessed right hand in the sign of the cross, the whole multitude of demons fled” (1.13) According another gift bestowed on her by God was the obedience of animals, similar to St. Francis of Assisi. This abundance of gifts is similar to many other hagiographies. It’s important to note, that while Radegund did not fit the typical profile of a saint during the 6th century Church, both authors still tried to place her in that mold. These writings hint at the strict expectations of the Church during this time, even though they write on different aspects of her life both authors feel pressured to present a certain type of saint.
Other common saintly attributes discussed by Fortunatus include diet and self-mortification. He pays much detail to the food that Radegund would consume. According to him at royal banquets she would ignore rich foods and only eat legumes, and that she would secretly eat her plain meal underneath the appealing foods was expected to eat. “She ate nothing but legumes and green vegetables: not fruit nor fish nor eggs” (1.12), Radegund eats so plainly to avoid any earthly pleasure she might receive from regular foods. This diet is much more extreme than the ones seen in male monks of the time, such as that of the Benedictian monks described in The Benedictine Rule. This refusal of any earthly pleasure is used to strengthen Fortunatus’ stance that Radegund went to great extremes to overcome her womanly disadvantages. In his first passage Fortunatus points out that another way for women to seek God is “through mortifying themselves in the world” (1.12). Radegund does this by branding her body with a brass plate in the shape of the cross, which likely symbolizes her desire to share in Christ’s suffering.
Each author shares a different perspective on Radegund, but both agree that she performed many deeds for the church. She helped the poor, healed the sick and gathered valuable relics. While no hagiography gives a completely true picture of the subject, we can appreciate that Radegund accomplished many things and despite being a women she proved herself to be worthy of respect in the 6th century.
Citations:
Glenn, Jason. “Two Lives of Saint Radegund.” In The Middle Ages in Texts and Texture, edited by Jason Glenn, 57-70. University of Toronto Press, 2011.
Rosenwein, Barbara. “The Lives of Saint Radegund.” In Reading the Middle Ages: Sources from Europe, Byzantium, and the Islamic World, edited by Barbara Rosenwein. 47-57. University of Toronto Press, 2010.
Lloyd Lamoureux
Rel 322/ Reis
March, 12, 2014
St. Radegund as a Model for Holiness in Sixth Communities
The two documents that collectively make up the lives of St. Radegund collectively form a unique hagiography, that of a female saint. Radegund is distinct from many other saints, especially of late antiquity and the early medieval period in that she was not only a woman but in fact a queen. The two hagiographies available of St. Radegund provide a complementary picture of her life as a saint and, like most hagiographies provide a great deal of information about the social context of the period and region. The first Hagiography, written by the Italian scholar Venantius Fortunatus is primarily concerned with establishing that holiness of Radegund in spite of her sex and social location. The second Hagiography, written by one of Radegund’s disciples several years after her death provides a somewhat different but extremely complementary history of Radegund’s life. Freed by Venantius’ work from the need to establish Radegund’s piety Baudonivia was able to provide more detail regarding the actual saintly works of Radegund.
The focus of Venantius’ account lies on the extreme asceticism of Radegund and attempts to firmly establish her as similar to previously canonized saints despite her female sex and high social status. At the time most saints were men and as such a female saint was a significant occurrence. Thus Venantius opens his hagiography with an account of how the existence of such a female saint is evidence of the strength of god that even those so disadvantaged as Radegund can become holy through the grace of God. He quickly takes on the conventions of past hagiographies asserting that Radegund, in much the same manner as previous saints displayed her piety from an early age stating that she “would often converse with the other children there about her desire to be a martyr if the chance came in her time” (1.12). He continues to spend a great deal of the hagiography directly concerned with how Radegund overcame the substantial obstacles presented to her quest for holiness. He details the manner in which she negotiates the worldly reality of her husband being a king. So strong was her resolve to mortification and to refuse the realities of her physical life that Venantius recounts the popular notion from the time that, “the king has yoked himself to a monacha (female monk) rather than a queen” (1.12). This anecdote not only provides proof of Radegund’s piety and devotion to god but also suggests a model for the hierarchy of medieval power. By canonizing Radegund’s decision to eschew her husband, King Lothar and submit herself to an ascetic life Venantius is establishing God as the higher power than the king.
Baudonivia concerns her account with somewhat different material. Partly thanks to the existence of Venantius’ account and partly due to her different perspective Baudonivia is free to focus more on the deeds of Radegund and less on her pedigree as an ascetic saint. As a member of Radegund’s order and a woman Baudonivia seems to find her asceticism less remarkable than the good that she was able to do, particularly her desire to acquire relics and the benefit of such actions to the community. Additionally Baudonivia is far less interested in the impact of Radegund’s royal status on her role as a saint. This can once again be partly explained by the existence of Venantius’ account but there is another explanation. Much of Radegund’s order was made up of similarly elite women, furthermore the provenance of Baudonivia is unknown and as such she may well have been yet another devotee hailing from the social elite. Writing from such a position Radegund’s ability to be both queen and saint would not have appeared as remarkable due to its familiarity. Baudonivia even goes so far as to describe the ways in which Radegund was able to use her worldly station to further Gods work, using her power to convert pagans and bring relics into her community. This experience of having lived in the abbey in close proximity to Radegund sharply colors this later account of her life with the grief felt in the community thus personifying her far more than the account of Venantius as well as other Hagiographies of the period.
While Venantius excellently details through Radegund what was considered exemplary behavior for a holy figure in the sixth century Baudonivia does a much better job of illuminating precisely what medieval communities, not scholars wanted and needed from their holy figures. Radegund provided an extremely tangible conduit to religion both through her accessibility within the community and through her work as a collector of relics. Not only did this quest provide a great deal of reason for her community to love her but it created a strong link between her and one of the few existing female saints in Helena mother of Constantine. By establishing this link to yet another royal woman saint Baudonivia reinforces the work of Venantius in legitimizing her sainthood.
In sixth century Gaul Radegund would have fulfilled an important social role. By being both saint and Queen she would have literally and figuratively married the power of the church to that of kings. This would have been especially valuable as at the time the region was not entirely Christian. Thus Radegund, by association with the worldly power of King Lothar would have represented a powerful evangelical force. Her active role in creating a religious community and gathering relics as documented by Baudonivia would have contributed significantly to such and effect.
The respective hagiographies of Venantius and Baudonivia very effectively illuminate different and complementary aspects of the life of St. Radegund thus creating a complete picture of what was expected of and respected in holy figures of the day. Venantius provides the scholarly perspective, tying her to past saints and establishing her asceticism and disregard for worldly affairs. At the same time Baudonivia provides a more personal account that illuminates what the community would have desired in holy figures, specifically the tangibility and direct service to the community that Radegund offered through her practice as a collector of relics. Thus both accounts work together to give a remarkably complete picture of what it meant to be a holy figure in the 6th century and how this related to Radegund’s sex and high social standing.
Works cited
Glenn, Jason. “Two Lives of Saint Radegund.” In The Middle Ages in Texts and Texture, edited by Jason Glenn, 57-70. University of Toronto Press, 2011.
Rosenwein, Barbara. “The Lives of Saint Radegund.” In Reading the Middle Ages: Sources from Europe, Byzantium, and the Islamic World, edited by Barbara Rosenwein. 47-57. University of Toronto Press, 2010.
Rel 322/ Reis
March, 12, 2014
St. Radegund as a Model for Holiness in Sixth Communities
The two documents that collectively make up the lives of St. Radegund collectively form a unique hagiography, that of a female saint. Radegund is distinct from many other saints, especially of late antiquity and the early medieval period in that she was not only a woman but in fact a queen. The two hagiographies available of St. Radegund provide a complementary picture of her life as a saint and, like most hagiographies provide a great deal of information about the social context of the period and region. The first Hagiography, written by the Italian scholar Venantius Fortunatus is primarily concerned with establishing that holiness of Radegund in spite of her sex and social location. The second Hagiography, written by one of Radegund’s disciples several years after her death provides a somewhat different but extremely complementary history of Radegund’s life. Freed by Venantius’ work from the need to establish Radegund’s piety Baudonivia was able to provide more detail regarding the actual saintly works of Radegund.
The focus of Venantius’ account lies on the extreme asceticism of Radegund and attempts to firmly establish her as similar to previously canonized saints despite her female sex and high social status. At the time most saints were men and as such a female saint was a significant occurrence. Thus Venantius opens his hagiography with an account of how the existence of such a female saint is evidence of the strength of god that even those so disadvantaged as Radegund can become holy through the grace of God. He quickly takes on the conventions of past hagiographies asserting that Radegund, in much the same manner as previous saints displayed her piety from an early age stating that she “would often converse with the other children there about her desire to be a martyr if the chance came in her time” (1.12). He continues to spend a great deal of the hagiography directly concerned with how Radegund overcame the substantial obstacles presented to her quest for holiness. He details the manner in which she negotiates the worldly reality of her husband being a king. So strong was her resolve to mortification and to refuse the realities of her physical life that Venantius recounts the popular notion from the time that, “the king has yoked himself to a monacha (female monk) rather than a queen” (1.12). This anecdote not only provides proof of Radegund’s piety and devotion to god but also suggests a model for the hierarchy of medieval power. By canonizing Radegund’s decision to eschew her husband, King Lothar and submit herself to an ascetic life Venantius is establishing God as the higher power than the king.
Baudonivia concerns her account with somewhat different material. Partly thanks to the existence of Venantius’ account and partly due to her different perspective Baudonivia is free to focus more on the deeds of Radegund and less on her pedigree as an ascetic saint. As a member of Radegund’s order and a woman Baudonivia seems to find her asceticism less remarkable than the good that she was able to do, particularly her desire to acquire relics and the benefit of such actions to the community. Additionally Baudonivia is far less interested in the impact of Radegund’s royal status on her role as a saint. This can once again be partly explained by the existence of Venantius’ account but there is another explanation. Much of Radegund’s order was made up of similarly elite women, furthermore the provenance of Baudonivia is unknown and as such she may well have been yet another devotee hailing from the social elite. Writing from such a position Radegund’s ability to be both queen and saint would not have appeared as remarkable due to its familiarity. Baudonivia even goes so far as to describe the ways in which Radegund was able to use her worldly station to further Gods work, using her power to convert pagans and bring relics into her community. This experience of having lived in the abbey in close proximity to Radegund sharply colors this later account of her life with the grief felt in the community thus personifying her far more than the account of Venantius as well as other Hagiographies of the period.
While Venantius excellently details through Radegund what was considered exemplary behavior for a holy figure in the sixth century Baudonivia does a much better job of illuminating precisely what medieval communities, not scholars wanted and needed from their holy figures. Radegund provided an extremely tangible conduit to religion both through her accessibility within the community and through her work as a collector of relics. Not only did this quest provide a great deal of reason for her community to love her but it created a strong link between her and one of the few existing female saints in Helena mother of Constantine. By establishing this link to yet another royal woman saint Baudonivia reinforces the work of Venantius in legitimizing her sainthood.
In sixth century Gaul Radegund would have fulfilled an important social role. By being both saint and Queen she would have literally and figuratively married the power of the church to that of kings. This would have been especially valuable as at the time the region was not entirely Christian. Thus Radegund, by association with the worldly power of King Lothar would have represented a powerful evangelical force. Her active role in creating a religious community and gathering relics as documented by Baudonivia would have contributed significantly to such and effect.
The respective hagiographies of Venantius and Baudonivia very effectively illuminate different and complementary aspects of the life of St. Radegund thus creating a complete picture of what was expected of and respected in holy figures of the day. Venantius provides the scholarly perspective, tying her to past saints and establishing her asceticism and disregard for worldly affairs. At the same time Baudonivia provides a more personal account that illuminates what the community would have desired in holy figures, specifically the tangibility and direct service to the community that Radegund offered through her practice as a collector of relics. Thus both accounts work together to give a remarkably complete picture of what it meant to be a holy figure in the 6th century and how this related to Radegund’s sex and high social standing.
Works cited
Glenn, Jason. “Two Lives of Saint Radegund.” In The Middle Ages in Texts and Texture, edited by Jason Glenn, 57-70. University of Toronto Press, 2011.
Rosenwein, Barbara. “The Lives of Saint Radegund.” In Reading the Middle Ages: Sources from Europe, Byzantium, and the Islamic World, edited by Barbara Rosenwein. 47-57. University of Toronto Press, 2010.
by Elaine B.
As a result of the Frank’s invasion of Thuringia in 531, Radegund’s father, King Bertechar, was killed, and Radegund was taken captive by King Clothar. A princess by birth, Radegund became a prize for the conquering King Clothar who took her as a wife seven years later (Glenn 57). The title of queen was not of importance to Radegund; she was, according to her hagiographers, Venantius Fortunatus (before c.600) and Baudonivia (c.600), drawn to a life of holiness from an early age and devoted her life to that pursuit. Fortunatus focused his account on Radegund’s acts of selfless service to others and her ascetic practices while Baudonivia emphasizes Radegund’s efforts to obtain relics for the benefit of her monastery and those it served and the miracles attributed to her (Rosenwein 47-57).
Fortunatus, based on the details included in his account, must have had an intimate friendship with Radegund. He details her desire to avoid sexual relations with her captor turned husband, the King responsible for the slaughter of her family, in order to remain true to her celestial prince (Rosenwein 48). Radegund’s avoidance of her husband resulted in strife, but was Radegund persisted in her efforts to maintain her acts of piety. Fortunatus attributes Radegund’s desire to live the monastic life as simply due to her commitment to God, but a thoughtful reader cannot help but consider the distaste, perhaps even revulsion, she may have had at the thought of sexual intimacy with the man associated with, and perhaps directly responsible for, the death of her family. Radegund’s practice of leaving her husband’s bedchamber to lie on the cold ground in prayer in order to avoid sexual relations with him “provoked him to harsher irritation” but she “bore her husband’s outbursts modestly” (Rosenwein 49). Despite the difficulties with her husband, Radegund made every effort to piously serve those in need.
Fortunatus details the ways in which Radegund devoted herself to caring for the physical needs of others, whether it was providing food, nursing care or baths. In as much as she sought to relieve the suffering of those in need, she delighted in her own physical sufferings and took on the most vile and difficult tasks. Even before establishing the monastery at Poitiers, Radegund engaged in ascetic practices. She wore a hair shirt under her robes, she restricted her diet, modeling it after the three boys, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who, according to the Book of Daniel, thrived while avoiding the rich foods from the king’s table. While generous with the giving of tithes, alms and material possessions, Radegund also gave of her time and used her social standing to serve others; Fortunatus touts her influence with her husband’s advisers in saving the condemned criminals from death (Rosenwein 48-50). Unfortunately, her position as queen did not save her innocent brother who is believed to have lost his life at the hand of, or and least with the complicity of, King Clothar (Glenn 57).
After the death of her brother, Radegund sought to withdraw to the monastic life and was consecrated as a deaconess by the Bishop Medard at Noyon. Once free to devote herself to a life of suffering and sacrifice, she was, according to Fortunatus, like the revered Saint Martin (Rosenwein 50). Fortunatus’ emphasis on the ascetic practices of Radegund, including his detailed and romanticized description of her self-mutilation by shackling, branding, and burning, was likely his way of demonstrating – by her endurance of physical torment – the strength of her faith (Rosenwein 53) or perhaps it is a tribute to unrequited love. As a skilled writer and an admirer of Radegund, Fortunatus sought to portray her using the classic Christian hagiographic traditions (Glenn 58), and because of his skill and admiration, the intention behind his vita could be questionable. Additionally, soon after Radegund’s death, Fortunatus became bishop of Poitier’s; it would have benefited him to have written a hagiography exemplifying the monastery’s founder, Radegund.
In the hagiography by Baudonivia, it seems her only motive is the edification of Radegund and her monastery. Baudonivia provides accounts the Radegund’s acquisition of relics, and how she used her resources and connections from her life as royalty to complete the task. Baudonivia compares Radegund to Saint Helena, the mother of Constantine, because of her efforts to obtain a portion of the cross of the crucifixion. Radegund’s desire for the relics is to have them to provide protection for those who will come to the monastery after her passing (Rosenwein 56).
The other areas of focus by Baudonivia are the miracles of healing, controlling the forces of nature, and casting out demons, all of which are attributed to Radegund. Baudonivia tells of when Reoval, a secular, was sent to procure a relic in Jerusalem, received confirmation of Radegund’s holiness by being able to collect the relic after he invoked her name in prayer. The sick also invoked her name and received healing, and the men lost at sea cried out her name and a dove, whose feathers calmed the sea, appeared (Rosenwein 57).
Baudonivia tells of Radegund’s commitment to extended prayer, fasting, and almsgiving; however, she does not mention the extreme ascetic practices so esteemed by Fortunatus, and there is no mention of self-mutilation. Baudonivia’s vita allows a gentler, more feminine portrayal of Radegund, one that is imbued with imagery evoking Christ’s holiness instead of the imitation of Christ’s suffering found in Fortunatus’ vita. Whether the hagiographies are taken together or separately, a portrait of a complex Christian woman emerges.
References
Glenn, Jason. “Two Lives of Saint Radegund.” In The Middle Ages in Texts and Texture, edited by Jason Glenn, 57-70. University of Toronto Press, 2011.
Rosenwein, Barbara. “The Lives of Saint Radegund.” In Reading the Middle Ages: Sources from Europe, Byzantium, and the Islamic World, edited by Barbara Rosenwein. 47-57. University of Toronto Press, 2010.
As a result of the Frank’s invasion of Thuringia in 531, Radegund’s father, King Bertechar, was killed, and Radegund was taken captive by King Clothar. A princess by birth, Radegund became a prize for the conquering King Clothar who took her as a wife seven years later (Glenn 57). The title of queen was not of importance to Radegund; she was, according to her hagiographers, Venantius Fortunatus (before c.600) and Baudonivia (c.600), drawn to a life of holiness from an early age and devoted her life to that pursuit. Fortunatus focused his account on Radegund’s acts of selfless service to others and her ascetic practices while Baudonivia emphasizes Radegund’s efforts to obtain relics for the benefit of her monastery and those it served and the miracles attributed to her (Rosenwein 47-57).
Fortunatus, based on the details included in his account, must have had an intimate friendship with Radegund. He details her desire to avoid sexual relations with her captor turned husband, the King responsible for the slaughter of her family, in order to remain true to her celestial prince (Rosenwein 48). Radegund’s avoidance of her husband resulted in strife, but was Radegund persisted in her efforts to maintain her acts of piety. Fortunatus attributes Radegund’s desire to live the monastic life as simply due to her commitment to God, but a thoughtful reader cannot help but consider the distaste, perhaps even revulsion, she may have had at the thought of sexual intimacy with the man associated with, and perhaps directly responsible for, the death of her family. Radegund’s practice of leaving her husband’s bedchamber to lie on the cold ground in prayer in order to avoid sexual relations with him “provoked him to harsher irritation” but she “bore her husband’s outbursts modestly” (Rosenwein 49). Despite the difficulties with her husband, Radegund made every effort to piously serve those in need.
Fortunatus details the ways in which Radegund devoted herself to caring for the physical needs of others, whether it was providing food, nursing care or baths. In as much as she sought to relieve the suffering of those in need, she delighted in her own physical sufferings and took on the most vile and difficult tasks. Even before establishing the monastery at Poitiers, Radegund engaged in ascetic practices. She wore a hair shirt under her robes, she restricted her diet, modeling it after the three boys, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who, according to the Book of Daniel, thrived while avoiding the rich foods from the king’s table. While generous with the giving of tithes, alms and material possessions, Radegund also gave of her time and used her social standing to serve others; Fortunatus touts her influence with her husband’s advisers in saving the condemned criminals from death (Rosenwein 48-50). Unfortunately, her position as queen did not save her innocent brother who is believed to have lost his life at the hand of, or and least with the complicity of, King Clothar (Glenn 57).
After the death of her brother, Radegund sought to withdraw to the monastic life and was consecrated as a deaconess by the Bishop Medard at Noyon. Once free to devote herself to a life of suffering and sacrifice, she was, according to Fortunatus, like the revered Saint Martin (Rosenwein 50). Fortunatus’ emphasis on the ascetic practices of Radegund, including his detailed and romanticized description of her self-mutilation by shackling, branding, and burning, was likely his way of demonstrating – by her endurance of physical torment – the strength of her faith (Rosenwein 53) or perhaps it is a tribute to unrequited love. As a skilled writer and an admirer of Radegund, Fortunatus sought to portray her using the classic Christian hagiographic traditions (Glenn 58), and because of his skill and admiration, the intention behind his vita could be questionable. Additionally, soon after Radegund’s death, Fortunatus became bishop of Poitier’s; it would have benefited him to have written a hagiography exemplifying the monastery’s founder, Radegund.
In the hagiography by Baudonivia, it seems her only motive is the edification of Radegund and her monastery. Baudonivia provides accounts the Radegund’s acquisition of relics, and how she used her resources and connections from her life as royalty to complete the task. Baudonivia compares Radegund to Saint Helena, the mother of Constantine, because of her efforts to obtain a portion of the cross of the crucifixion. Radegund’s desire for the relics is to have them to provide protection for those who will come to the monastery after her passing (Rosenwein 56).
The other areas of focus by Baudonivia are the miracles of healing, controlling the forces of nature, and casting out demons, all of which are attributed to Radegund. Baudonivia tells of when Reoval, a secular, was sent to procure a relic in Jerusalem, received confirmation of Radegund’s holiness by being able to collect the relic after he invoked her name in prayer. The sick also invoked her name and received healing, and the men lost at sea cried out her name and a dove, whose feathers calmed the sea, appeared (Rosenwein 57).
Baudonivia tells of Radegund’s commitment to extended prayer, fasting, and almsgiving; however, she does not mention the extreme ascetic practices so esteemed by Fortunatus, and there is no mention of self-mutilation. Baudonivia’s vita allows a gentler, more feminine portrayal of Radegund, one that is imbued with imagery evoking Christ’s holiness instead of the imitation of Christ’s suffering found in Fortunatus’ vita. Whether the hagiographies are taken together or separately, a portrait of a complex Christian woman emerges.
References
Glenn, Jason. “Two Lives of Saint Radegund.” In The Middle Ages in Texts and Texture, edited by Jason Glenn, 57-70. University of Toronto Press, 2011.
Rosenwein, Barbara. “The Lives of Saint Radegund.” In Reading the Middle Ages: Sources from Europe, Byzantium, and the Islamic World, edited by Barbara Rosenwein. 47-57. University of Toronto Press, 2010.