Chapter 4 Matilda of Saxony’s Luxury Objects in Motion: Salving the Wounds of Conflict

Jitske Jasperse

Charm and the womb have long been considered the mobile assets of medi- eval women.1 But women also knew how to set things into motion through the possession and donation of precious objects. When Duchess Matilda of Saxony (1156–1189), eldest daughter of King II (d. 1189) and (d. 1204), came to Saxony to marry Duke Henry the Lion (d. 1195), she was loaded with gifts to ensure that her move would matter (Fig. 4.1). The study of journeys of the medieval elite in the Central Middle Ages has, among other things, provided insight into the diplomatic contacts between rulers and the related practices of gift giving and strategies of representation in which moveable goods play an important role.2 By tracing Matilda’s movements and the precious items connected to her—including a gospel book, a psalter, and liturgical vestments—the first part of this article demonstrates that marriage was a conduit for the long-distance travels of sumptuous goods, which were instrumental in displaying and communicating Matilda’s status and wealth at her new court.3

1 I would like to express my gratitude to Tracy Chapman Hamilton, Mariah Proctor-Tiffany, and Annika Rulkens for their elucidating and stimulating comments. And a heartfelt thanks is owed to Aidan Norrie for improving my English. The final version was written during my postdoctoral fellowship at the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid (Juan de la Cierva-Formación, FJCI-2014–22406), within the framework of a National Excellence in Research Grant, “The Medieval Treasury across Frontiers and Generations: The Kingdom of León-Castilla in the Context of Muslim-Christian Interchange, c. 1050–1200” (PI, Therese Martin, Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitivity, HAR2015–68614-P). 2 Brigitte Buettner, “Past Presents: New Year’s Gifts at the Valois Courts, ca. 1400,” The Art Bulletin 83, no. 4 (2001): 598–625; Mariah Proctor-Tiffany “Transported as a Rare Object of Distinction: The Gift-Giving of Clémence of Hungary, Queen of France,” Journal of Medieval History 41, no. 2 (2015): 208–28; Sybille Schröder, Macht und Gabe: Materielle Kultur am Hof Heinrichs II. von England (Husum: Matthiesen Verlag, 2004); Jennifer C. Ward, English Noblewomen in the Later Middle Ages, 2nd ed. (Abingdon: Routledge, 2013), 70–92, esp. 85–92; Benjamin Linley Wild, “A Gift Inventory from the Reign of Henry III,” English Historical Review 125, no. 514 (June 2010): 529–69. 3 For the idea of marriage as an important way of dispersing luxury items, see Therese Martin, “Caskets of Silver and Ivory from Diverse Parts of the World: Strategic Collecting for an

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