ROMANCING THE OTHER: NON-CHRISTIAN AND INTERFAITH MARRIAGE IN LATE MIDDLE ENGLISH LITERATURE, 1300-1450 DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Jennifer Mary Gianfalla, M.A. ***** The Ohio State University 2009 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Professor Lisa J. Kiser, Advisor Professor Richard Firth Green Professor Karen A. Winstead ____________________________ Advisor English Graduate Program ABSTRACT This dissertation makes a significant contribution to postcolonial medieval studies by examining how fourteenth- and fifteenth-century Middle English authors use representations of non-Christian and interfaith marriages to enter a wider Christian European discourse centered around the threat of the religious Other. Because such marriages are not well documented historically in medieval England, my dissertation argues that their portrayal is not a reflection of actual practice, but rather a fantasy that allows these authors to engage actively in maintaining and defending the dominance of Christianity and the Catholic Church. As my readings show, these texts serve to bolster the Church’s campaign against non-Christians by moving this campaign to marriage’s domestic sphere. Marriage is thus not only politically important, as it enables alliances to be forged among kingdoms and nations; it is now also religiously important, as it becomes a means for the culture to fantasize about the extent to which Christianity can dominate. The texts I examine cover an extensive period of the later Middle Ages, ranging from 1300 to 1450; the period of one hundred fifty years indicates that authors maintained an interest in conversion as a consequence of marriage and suggests that this motif was pervasive. The romances I examine include both canonical and non-canonical texts, many of which are anonymous. In chapter one, John Metham’s 1449 text Amoryus ii and Cleopes permits me to discuss how aristocratic marriage is imagined (and expected) to have consequences on the populace of the spouses’ kingdom(s)—most importantly, the consequence of conversion. Metham’s text thus paves the way for my subsequent studies of interfaith marriage in the rest of the romances. Chapter two investigates how authors apply similar attitudes toward interfaith marriage to both Christian and Saracen figures. Though it seems at first that these authors attempt to show that Saracens share the same ideas and fears as Christians, their texts ultimately undermine any portrayal of a real Saracen figure because the Saracen figures’ actions are always responses to the threat of Christianity. Finally, by looking at the Constance legends and popular romances featuring Saracen princesses, chapters three and four analyze the varying role of women in the evangelization process through their participation in interfaith marriages and argue for a reassessment of gender roles and a rereading of the Constance figure. iii Dedicated to my parents and grandparents, Joseph and Catherine Gianfalla and William and Dolores Gannon iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My work on this project has been aided by the generous contributions of many individuals. First, I must thank my advisor, Lisa J. Kiser, for the many roles she has taken on throughout this project, including mentor and intellectual guide. I appreciate her enthusiasm for my project and her belief that it will make a significant contribution to the field. Her advice has inspired me, and my work has benefited in important ways through her influence. I especially appreciate her willingness to discuss so many aspects of medieval marriage and its literary portrayals with me over the last several years, as many of the ideas set forth in this dissertation arose from our discussions. I must also thank Karen Winstead and Richard Firth Green, my dissertation committee members, for their careful reading of my work and thoughtful comments. Their guidance on many of the legal and literary aspects of medieval marriage has been extremely helpful throughout my work on this project. My interest in medieval marriage was first piqued in Alastair Minnis’ 2004 course on medieval marriage at The Ohio State University, so I thank him for introducing me to the subject of non-Christian and interfaith marriage and encouraging my work on it. Finally, last but never least, I must thank my family, including my parents, Joseph and Catherine Gianfalla, my sister Michelle, my grandmother, Dee Gannon, and my fiancé, James Macpherson, for their relentless support and encouragement. v VITA March 28, 1981………………………….Born – New Haven, Connecticut 2005……………………………………..M.A. – English, The Ohio State University 2003……………………………………..B.A. – English, summa cum laude, The Pennsylvania State University 2004-Present……………………………Graduate Teaching Associate, English, The Ohio State University 2007-2008………………………………Distinguished University Fellowship, The Ohio State University 2003-2004………………………………Distinguished University Fellowship, The Ohio State University FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: English vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………ii Dedication………………………………………………………………………………...iv Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………..v Vita……………………………………………………………………………………......vi Chapters: 1. Introduction………………………………………………………………………..1 2. Consent and the Making of Aristocratic Marriage (and its Consequences) in John Metham’s Amoryus and Cleopes………………………………………...17 3. “She wile, for me sake, / Cristendome at thee take”: Interfaith Marriage and Erotic Conversion in Bevis of Hampton and the King of Tars…………………...76 4. Marriage, Conversion-by-Example and Women’s Learning: Evangelism and Conduct Learning in Chaucer’s and Gower’s Constance Narratives……....148 5. Their Fathers’ Daughters: Erotic Conversion and the Troubling Behavior of Saracen Princesses in Three Middle English Saracen Romances…..…………..219 6. Conclusion…..………………………………………………………………….266 Bibliography..…………………………………………………………………………..277 vii INTRODUCTION Discussions of marriage in Middle English romance often focus on the central role that marriage plays in the creation of the hero’s legacy. His marriage frequently permits him to either establish or, in some cases, regain a kingdom, in which he will leave behind heirs who will rule for him after his death. Marriages therefore frequently take place near the end of the romance narrative, as they serve as a fitting conclusion to the hero’s tale. Thus, as we see in a text like King Horn, the hero is rewarded with marriage upon the successful achievement of his knightly goals: Horn com to Suddenne Among al his kenne; Rymenhild he makede his quene; So hit mighte wel beon. (1531-4)1 Horn’s marriage to Rymenhild at the end of the text is the logical conclusion to his development as a hero; we know early on in the text of his desire to wed Rymenhild, and the plot follows his progression as a suitable knight-warrior who ultimately is able to defeat his nemesis and marry into a kingdom, thereby reclaiming in a sense the patrimony he lost at the beginning of the text. King Horn’s position as the oldest Middle English romance and its author’s adoption of the marriage-at-the-end motif suggests an early interest in the idea of marriage (and through marriage, access to a kingdom) as a just 1 King Horn, Four Romances of England, ed. Ronald B. Herzman, Graham Drake, and Eve Salisbury (Kalamazoo, MI: TEAMS, 1999). 1 reward for the romance hero. Subsequent Middle English romances adopted the very same motif, and as a result, marriage as a logical conclusion to the hero’s exploits became an expectation of the reader of romance, as Helen Cooper has claimed: Usually, the very familiarity of romance conventions ensures that the reader has a fair idea of what is to happen, even if the author does not outline the plot in advance, and even if the hero has different ideas. The reader will always know more than the protagonists (that they will survive their adventures, marry their beloved, win back their kingdom), but that knowledge is a shared assumption between author and audience that bypasses the characters themselves.2 Cooper acknowledges that marriage is not only an obvious characteristic of romance, but also an integral component in the romance’s conclusion of “happily ever after.” Indeed, Cooper claims that “Almost all romances are narratives either of courtship leading to marriage, or of the trials that part a loving married couple.”3 Overwhelmingly, then, marriage serves as a formulaic conclusion to the hero’s development and a reward for his prowess. But marriages are not always merely a logical conclusion to the hero’s tale; sometimes they are integral to the hero’s exploits and therefore take a central role in the texts even well before the narratives’ conclusions. Such is the case with the romances I will consider in this dissertation. Why does marriage play such a central role throughout each of these narratives, and how does its purpose differ from marriages which serve only as logical conclusions to a hero’s adventure? The answer, I will suggest, is in the religious dimensions present in the unions described in them, namely the religious 2 Helen Cooper, The English Romance in Time: Transforming Motifs from Geoffrey of Monmouth to the Death of Shakespeare (Oxford and NY: Oxford UP, 2004): 47. 3 Cooper, The English Romance in Time, 28. 2 difference of the potential spouses and the possibilities Christian heroes (and, in some cases, heroines) see in interfaith marriages. Although