Constructing the Past in Eleventh-Century Flanders: Hagiography at Saint-Winnoc
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
CONSTRUCTING THE PAST IN ELEVENTH-CENTURY FLANDERS: HAGIOGRAPHY AT SAINT-WINNOC DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By David J. Defries, M.A. * * * * * The Ohio State University 2004 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Professor Joseph H. Lynch Professor Karen A. Winstead ____________________________ Professor Frank T. Coulson Adviser History Graduate Program ABSTRACT At the heart of much scholarship on the Central Middle Ages (c. 950- 1150) in western Europe is a debate about the rapidity and nature of change after the disintegration of the Carolingian empire. On the one hand, there is the traditional “mutationist” position, represented by such scholars as Marc Bloch, Jean-Pierre Poly, Eric Bournazel, Georges Duby, and T.N. Bisson. Scholars who adopt this position argue that a revolution, a radical and sharp break with the past, occurred in the structure of western European society around the turn of the millenium. On the other hand, a diverse group, including Dominique Barthélemy, Susan Reynolds, Timothy Reuter and Chris Wickham, has either argued for less rapid change or questioned key aspects of the traditional position. In Phantoms of Remembrance, Patrick Geary has suggested that the debate over the mutationist interpretation has ceased to bear positive fruit, and that the important question in studying the Central Middle Ages is “why and how generations perceived discontinuity, and how these perceptions continued to influence the patterns of thought for a thousand years.” According to Geary, ii although people in the eleventh century were surrounded with the residue of the previous two centuries, they were unable to make sense of the structures that had given this residue its coherence. Nevertheless, people in the period still attempted to make sense of the past, shaping it to fit contemporary needs. This process is important because it determined both the information people chose to make available to future generations and the form it would take. Put simply, how they chose to remember their past influences how we remember it. My dissertation examines how the hagiography produced for the eleventh-century, Flemish abbey of Saint-Winnoc remembers the past. More specifically, it approaches these texts from three perspectives. First, it identifies the literary strategies their authors employed to construct the past. Second, it examines how these strategies would have operated in the historical context in which they were composed. Finally, it points to some of the ontological, epistemological and ideological implications of recording the past in hagiographic narratives. iii Dedicated to my parents iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to thank my adviser, Professor Joseph Lynch, for his guidance and encouragement which have made this dissertation possible. I must also thank him for his boundless patience in reading repeated drafts. I wish to thank the members of my committee, Professors Karen Winstead and Frank Coulson, for their attention and advice. This dissertation is much the better for their scrutiny and comments. I am grateful to Professor Thomas Head for his comments and guidance, as well as for the access he provided to some of his unpublished research. Dr. John Blair made possible a visit to the archaeological dig at Bishopstone, England, and illuminated the English context for the cult of St. Lewinna. I must also thank Christopher Whittick, Pam Combes and Dr. Gabor Thomas for welcoming me and providing expert commentary on East Sussex. Dr. Brigitte Meijns provided useful comments on chapters of canons in Flanders. She made my exploration of the Dutch scholarship much easier. I thank my colleagues, Ryan Crisp, William Batchelder, John Curry and Russ Coil for stimulating discussions and critical reviews over the years. v I wish to thank M. Declerq, mayor of Bergues, who provided access to the manuscript Bergues, bibliothèque municipale, ms. 19, and M. Guillemin, curateur du musée et bibliothécaire de la bibliothèque ancienne, who graciously interrupted his other duties to make the manuscript available for examination. Heartfelt thanks go to my parents, without whose love and financial support this dissertation would have been inconceivable. Finally, I must thank Wendy A. Matlock for supporting all my efforts these many years. I would have given up long ago if not for her. vi VITA 24 April, 1972……………………............Born – Horsham, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. 1994………………………………….……B.A. History, University of Richmond B.A. Classical Civilizations, University of Richmond 1998……………………………………….M.A. History, The Ohio State University 1996-Present……………………...............Graduate Teaching and Research Associate, The Ohio State University FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: History (Medieval European) Minor Fields: History (Byzantine) History (Medieval Islamic) vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT........................................................................................................ ii DEDICATION................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS................................................................................ v VITA................................................................................................................... vii LIST OF MAPS.................................................................................................. xi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS............................................................................ xii QUOTATIONS AND TRANSLATIONS...................................................... xiv NOMENCLATURE......................................................................................... xv CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION.................................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction..................................................................................... 1 1.2 Virtus virtutem comitatur................................................................ 7 1.3 Hagiography in the Central Middle Ages.................................. 15 1.4 The Hagiography from Saint-Winnoc......................................... 24 1.5 Modern Scholarship and Methodology...................................... 28 1.6 Outline............................................................................................. 32 CHAPTER 2: SAINT-WINNOC..................................................................... 36 2.1 Introduction..................................................................................... 36 2.2 The Early Principality of Flanders............................................... 38 2.3 Monastic Competition at Ghent................................................... 58 2.4 The Principality Reformed............................................................ 66 2.5 Saint-Winnoc................................................................................... 83 2.6 Drogo of Saint-Winnoc.................................................................. 91 2.7 Conclusion....................................................................................... 104 CHAPTER 3: OSWALD................................................................................... 106 3.1 Introduction..................................................................................... 106 3.2 Bede’s Oswald................................................................................. 109 3.3 Drogo’s Oswald.............................................................................. 126 3.4 The Road to Zion............................................................................ 130 3.5 Rex iustus.......................................................................................... 138 3.6 Rex et sacerdos.................................................................................. 149 3.7 In Defense of Flanders................................................................... 163 viii 3.8 Conclusion....................................................................................... 185 CHAPTER 4: LEWINNA................................................................................. 186 4.1 Introduction..................................................................................... 186 4.2 Lewinna’s Cult................................................................................ 188 4.3 Rites of Passage............................................................................... 194 4.4 Translatio: From England to Flanders.......................................... 197 4.5 Passage............................................................................................. 229 4.6 Vita et Passio: Forgetting England................................................ 231 4.7 Delatio: Through Flanders............................................................. 238 4.8 Four Miracles at Bergues............................................................... 254 4.9 Patron Saint..................................................................................... 261 CHAPTER 5: WINNOC AT WORMHOUT................................................. 265 5.1 Introduction..................................................................................... 265 5.2 The Monastic Cell at Wormhout.................................................. 266 5.2.1 The Vitae Audomari, Bertini, Winnoci............................. 268 5.2.2 The Vita antiqua s. Winnoci............................................