A Mirror for Princesses: the Portrayal of Queenship in Three French Vernacular Chronicles, C. 1260
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A MIRROR FOR PRINCESSES: THE PORTRAYAL OF QUEENSHIP IN THREE FRENCH VERNACULAR CHRONICLES, C. 1260 - C. 1310 A thesis submitted to the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History Thandiwe Parker May 2018 Senior Supervisor: Dr. Chris Jones (University of Canterbury, History) Associate Supervisor: Associate Professor Kim Phillips (University of Auckland, History) 2 3 Abstract France in the thirteenth century offers a significant example of the changing role of queens in government: power was centralised and the queen’s political role was reduced. The transformation of French government in this period has been the subject of many studies, yet medieval perceptions of the queen’s role remain under-explored. This thesis examines three French vernacular chronicles written between c.1260-c.1310 in order to deepen our understanding of attitudes towards Capetian queens and queenship during this key period of change. The Minstrel of Reims gives a fictionalised version of recent French history in his Récits; John of Joinville, a nobleman, provides an eyewitness account in the Vie de Saint Louis; and Primat gives a monk’s perspective on France’s broader history in his Roman. The chronicles, written for royal or noble audiences, were intended, in part, to encourage good behaviour by presenting models of desirable and undesirable actions. This thesis explores the presentation of queenship in these texts via four areas: familial relations, piety, sexual agency, and government and influence. It demonstrates that each chronicler minimised the involvement of queens in political affairs. Instead, each chronicler placed emphasis on the queen’s role as a mother and as a loyal and pious wife. In so doing, each writer revealed his support for the administrative changes to the office of queenship. The thesis thus demonstrates that the vernacular French chroniclers each presented a model of queenship that acted in the interests of the Capetian royal family. It establishes that these chroniclers showed that a queen, following the expectations of her position, would help ensure the peace and stability of the kingdom. This, in turn, ensured the strength and legitimacy of Capetian rule by establishing and solidifying contemporary expectations of queenship for an aristocratic and royal audience. 4 5 Table of Contents Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................... 7 Notes on the Text ....................................................................................................................... 9 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 11 Chapter 1: Expectations Regarding Familial Relationships ...................................................................... 29 Filial Relations ............................................................................................................ 32 Grieving ...................................................................................................................... 36 Marital Relations ......................................................................................................... 41 Chapter 2: Portrayals of Queenship and Piety ........................................................................................... 47 Devotion to the Saints ................................................................................................. 48 Sin ............................................................................................................................... 51 Religious Influence ..................................................................................................... 56 Chapter 3: Views on Queenship and Sexual Agency ................................................................................ 63 Infidelity ..................................................................................................................... 65 Marriage and Autonomy ............................................................................................. 73 Sexuality and Purity .................................................................................................... 78 Chapter 4: Perceptions of Queenship and Government ............................................................................ 85 Influence ..................................................................................................................... 86 Exercising Actual Power ............................................................................................. 90 International Family Connections ............................................................................... 99 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 105 Bibliography ......................................................................................................................... 109 6 7 Acknowledgments I owe a great deal of gratitude to the many people who have supported and advised me throughout this process. Thank you, first of all, to the University of Canterbury for awarding me a UC Master’s Scholarship which helped fund this thesis. Thank you also to the Interloans staff at the Puaka – James Hight library for their help in sourcing many books. A huge thank you to my supervisory team. I am extremely grateful to my primary supervisor, Chris Jones. He inspired me over three years ago to venture down the path of medieval history, and it has been a wonderful and challenging journey. His advice, patience, time, support, and constant encouragement over the years, and particularly with this thesis, have been invaluable. My thanks also extend to my associate supervisor, Kim Phillips, who has provided invaluable advice and knowledge throughout this project which widened my horizons and strengthened this work. Thank you to my friends. I must thank, in particular, Lisa Rolston and Derek R. Whaley whose medieval knowledge and eyes were called upon in various stages of this thesis. Thanks also to Troy Gillan for his useful look over the later stages of this work. Thanks to Kate Pickworth, Olivia Barron, and Brad Rea for keeping my spirits high in the office. My gratitude also extends to my friends outside the History Department for reminding me of life outside my office desk, in particular, Madi Williams, Kent Stewart, Kathryn Mason, Alexis Keeman, and Fresca Dashfield. A special thank you to Frank Wills for his unwavering support and encouragement. And lastly, I must thank my family. Thank you to my extended family, the Masons, for housing me, feeding me, and supporting me throughout this venture. My deepest thanks go to my family, Keven, Ali, and Alex for their ongoing support and encouragement in my academic journey. A special acknowledgement must be made for my mum, Ali, who has read everything I have ever written with unwavering enthusiasm; I could not have achieved this without her. 8 9 Notes on the Text Anglicisation of Names The names included in this thesis have been anglicised where possible, following the names assigned in the English translations consulted in this thesis. Robert Levine’s translations of Primat’s Roman des rois occasionally includes variant spellings of names. In these instances, the first iteration of the name included by Levine is employed. A footnote highlights one case where a name has been changed for clarity. Biblical Citations All references to the Bible are taken from the Vulgate, following: A. Kinney and S. Edgar (ed.), The Vulgate Bible: The New Testament, 6 vols, Douay-Rheims edn, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 2010-2013. 10 11 Introduction Our holy mother and lady, Madame Isabelle, was of royal lineage and was the daughter of the very noble king Louis of France, who was the son of king Philip, and the daughter of the very noble queen of France, Madame the queen Blanche ... She was pledged by her family to contract a marriage with the son of the emperor of Rome ... but she never wanted to assent to corporal marriage, because she had chosen the enduring husband, our Lord Jesus Christ, in perfect virginity.1 Isabelle of France (d. 1270), the sister of Louis IX (r. 1226-1270) and daughter of Blanche of Castile (d. 1252), refused to bow before tradition and expectation. She rejected marriage outright and dedicated her life to God. Isabelle’s remarkable decision has, in recent years, led many scholars to examine her life and its legacy; indeed, she is one of the most extensively studied Capetian royal women.2 However, the authors of the vernacular chronicles studied in this thesis, which were written during the late-thirteenth and early-fourteenth centuries, did not deem her life worthy of much attention. This thesis examines three French vernacular chronicles, a section of the Grandes Chroniques de France known as the Roman des rois, the Vie de Saint Louis, and the Récits d’un ménestrel de Reims, yet it is only in the Récits that Isabelle makes even a fleeting appearance. Instead, the authors of these texts, comprising a nobleman, a monk, and an entertainer, were concerned with royal women who played a more traditional role: those who married, produced heirs, and influenced the running of the kingdom. Isabelle fulfilled none of these traditional expectations. Although these chroniclers differed in many