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Elizabeth of Spalbeek, Christina the Astonishing, and Performative Self-Abjection in Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Douce 114 Wilfrid Laurier University Scholars Commons @ Laurier Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive) 2018 "A meruelous thinge!": Elizabeth of Spalbeek, Christina the Astonishing, and Performative Self-Abjection in Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Douce 114 Murrielle Michaud [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.wlu.ca/etd Part of the Christianity Commons, Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons, Literature in English, British Isles Commons, Medieval History Commons, and the Medieval Studies Commons Recommended Citation Michaud, Murrielle, ""A meruelous thinge!": Elizabeth of Spalbeek, Christina the Astonishing, and Performative Self-Abjection in Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Douce 114" (2018). Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive). 2014. https://scholars.wlu.ca/etd/2014 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive) by an authorized administrator of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact [email protected]. “A MERUELOUS THINGE!”: ELIZABETH OF SPALBEEK, CHRISTINA THE ASTONISHING, AND PERFORMATIVE SELF-ABJECTION IN OXFORD, BODLEIAN LIBRARY MS DOUCE 114 by Murrielle Gaétane Michaud B.A. (Hons.), University of Western Ontario, 2002 M.A., Wilfrid Laurier University, 2010 M.A., Wilfrid Laurier University, 2011 THESIS Submitted to the Department of English and Film Studies In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Wilfrid Laurier University 2018 © Murrielle Gaétane Michaud 2018 This research was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. i ABSTRACT Contributing to the spirited discussion regarding feminist and pro-feminine readings of Middle English hagiography, this dissertation challenges the tradition of grouping accounts of medieval holy women into a single genre that relies on stereotypes of meekness and obedience. I argue that fifteenth-century England saw a pro-feminine literary movement extolling the virtues of women who engaged in what I term “performative self-abjection,” a form of vicious self-renunciation and grotesque asceticism based on Julia Kristeva's model of the abject. The corollary of women's performative self-abjection is ex-gratia spiritual authority, public recognition, and independence, emphasized in the English corpus of fifteenth-century women’s hagiography. Performative self-abjection is exemplified in the vitae of Elizabeth of Spalbeek and Christina the Astonishing in the Oxford, Bodleian Library MS Douce 114; their extreme demonstrative affective piety made them unimpeachable in their religious authority as they taught, preached, gave absolution, and lived freely as solitary mulieres religiosae. Translation, redaction, and mouvance over the course of roughly one hundred years altered the ostensible purpose of these lives. Focusing on outrageous dramatics and minimizing scriptural contextualization, these texts evolve into works of subversion rather than conscription in relation to the church. Using Foucault’s approach to literary transformation and history, I argue that these texts constitute a previously unacknowledged “second wave” of women’s hagiography, distinct from Lynda Coon’s notion of the patchwork saint stories found in the early church’s “sacred fictions.” Finding commonality in the third wave feminist theory of R. Claire Snyder, these biographies employ tools of the male-dominated literary tradition in order to subvert the ii patriarchal church’s order while appearing to conform to its agenda. These works signify a quiet literary revolution aimed at vernacular women readers, and demonstrate an influential connection to the contemporaneous “Lyf of S. Elyzabeth” by Osbern of Bokenham and The Booke of Margery Kempe, texts long considered anomalous and frequently characterized as works without influence. The subversion inherent in performative self-abjection is initiated in physical action and, in the case of Oxford, Bodleian Library MS Douce 114, resurrected through literature. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My graduate study in the Department of English and Film Studies at Wilfrid Laurier University has been the most extraordinary experience of my life. It is with great enthusiasm that I extend my sincere thanks to my Laurier family, a wonderful group of people who have continually supported me throughout my doctoral program. First, I must express my deep gratitude to Dr. Robin Waugh, my dissertation supervisor and advisor, whose unwavering patience and generosity encouraged me to work harder, think more, and believe in myself. His knowledge, guidance, and insight were gifts that have enriched my entire academic experience. I have been incredibly fortunate to have such a benevolent mentor. I would also like to express my profound appreciation for my committee, all of whom shared advice and encouragement: Dr. Chris Nighman, who always made time to discuss the intricacies of Latin and thoughtfully reviewed my work; Dr. Andrea Austin, who enhanced my research with her insightful contributions; the Rev. Dr. Robert Kelly, who has been a constant during my graduate studies, sharing his wisdom and humour. Thanks to Dr. Kofi Campbell for his assistance with my introduction. A special thanks to Dr. Jennifer N. Brown, author of my source text, Three Women of Liège: A Critical Edition of and Commentary on the Middle English Lives of Elizabeth of Spalbeek, Christina Mirabilis, and Marie d’Oignies, for serving as my external reader. It has been a privilege to experience the unfailing support of so many kind people in the department: Senior Administrative Assistant Joanne Buchan, who is always a source of helpful information and good cheer; Dr. Jing Jing Chang, whose efficacy is iv unmatched; Dr. Tamas Dobozy, who frequently assisted and advised me; Dr. Philippa Gates, who regularly encouraged me; Dr. Tanis MacDonald, who was always willing to help; Dr. Cindy McMann, mentor and cheerleader; Dr. Katherine Spring, champion and supporter; Dr. James Weldon, who helped get me get started in the study of Medieval Literature. I am also grateful for the kind assistance of the staff of the Department of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies: Cherie Mongeon, Deborah Russell, and Helen Paret, who smoothed the path so I could concentrate on my studies. Thanks to Wilfrid Laurier University, the Province of Ontario (Ontario Graduate Scholarship Fund), the Government of Canada’s Social Science and Humanities Research Council, and the Hagiography Society for the funding to make my education possible. Parts of my research were presented at the International Congress on Medieval Studies at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan, May 8th of 2014 and May 12th of 2015. I gratefully acknowledge the comments and suggestions I received at these presentations regarding my investigation into Middle English hagiography. Special thanks to Harold Westra, for his constant encouragement and assistance throughout my graduate studies journey. I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the generous support I have received on this journey. Thank you all. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1: “fideles aliquae mulieres” …………………………………………………….1 Chapter 2: Elizabeth of Spalbeek’s Theatre of Cruelty………………………………….60 Chapter 3: The Lives and Deaths of Christina the Astonishing...………………………131 Chapter 4: Performative Self-Abjection and Women’s “souerayne deuocyone”………207 1 Chapter 1 The Blossoming of Mysticism and the The Golden Age of Devotional Literature “The use made of the book by privileged readers constitutes it as a secret of which they are the “true” interpreters. It interposes a frontier between the text and its readers that can be crossed only if one has a passport delivered by these official interpreters, who transform their own reading (which is also a legitimate one) into an orthodox ‘literality’ that makes other (equally legitimate) readings either heretical (not ‘in conformity’ with the meaning of the text) or insignificant (to be forgotten).” -Michel de Certeau, The Practice of Everyday Life (172) “. it seems to me that our curiosity has been blunted by a particular model of the nature of religious sentiment...long after the issue of the rise of the cult of saints has been removed from its confessional setting in post-Reformation polemics, scholars of every and of no denomination still find themselves united in a common reticence and incomprehension when faced with this phenomenon. Plainly, some solid and seemingly unmovable cultural furniture has piled up somewhere in that capacious lumber room, the back of our mind. If we can identify and shift some of it, we may find ourselves able to approach the Christian cult of saints from a different direction.” -Peter Brown, The Cult of the Saints: Its Rise and Function in Latin Christianity (12-13) The late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries was a “golden age” for devotional literature in England (ca. 1340-1450), according to Nicholas Watson (“Censorship” 823- 4). This golden age produced a body of subversive texts recounting the lives of female saints who had lived and acted during what Bernard McGinn refers to as “The Flowering of Mysticism” circa 1200 to 1350 (2). Although literary scholars and historians have traditionally categorized all medieval hagiography as a single genre, I propose that these transgressive Middle English accounts of female saints must be set apart from early church hagiography as a distinct sub-genre. This
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