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JACOBS-DISSERTATION-2019.Pdf (6.200Mb) © Copyright by Crescida Jacobs May 2019 Poison, Power, and Perception: A Biography of Mabel of Bellême (1030-1082) ________________ A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Department of History University of Houston ________________ In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy ________________ By Crescida Jacobs May 2019 Poison, Power, and Perception: A Biography of Mabel of Bellême (1030-1082) _________________________ Crescida Jacobs APPROVED: _________________________ Sarah Fishman, Ph.D. History Department Committee Chair _________________________ Catherine Patterson, Ph.D. History Department _________________________ Karl Ittmann, Ph.D. History Department _________________________ Jennifer Wingard, Ph.D. English Department _________________________ Antonio D. Tillits, Ph.D. Dean, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences iii ABSTRACT Poison, Power, and Perception: A Biography of Mabel of Bellême (1030-1082) This dissertation is a biography of an eleventh-century Norman noblewoman named Mabel of Bellême. This study tells how the first lords of Bellême came to power in the ninth century, rose to be masters of the southern and western frontier of Normandy, and how implausible stories about Mabel came to be included in Orderic Vitalis’s twelfth century history of the Norman church. My thesis is that Mabel relied upon the Bellême power initially created in the ninth century by her great-grandfather, Yves, and consolidated Bellême force with Montgomery influence through marriage in c.1050. The Bellême process of fortifying the Norman frontier resulted from the construction of fortresses and churches that maximized influence over the fluid and ill-defined border region. These efforts not only made the region defensible but enabled Mabel and her family to isolate and take control of lands and fortifications held by adversaries along the frontier. Mabel’s actions were likely a combination of overwhelming power, ruthless aggression, and acts of terror- including poisoning of perceived enemies. Using these techniques Mabel came to control a vast region of southwestern Normandy and northeastern Maine. Her reputation and methods were so harsh that, years after her murder, a chronicle writer in St. Évroul embellished her reputation by alleging she envenomed a stranger’s child with her own breastmilk. Mabel did not build her power ex novo. Rather, her ancestors had come to control the region generations earlier through a combination of ducal service and statecraft. iv Indeed Fulcuin (c.890-c.940), Yves de Creil (c.940-980), and Yves de Bellême (c.965- 1005), Mabel’s great-great- grandfather, great- grandfather and grandfather, respectively, played a substantial role in developing the resources that made Mabel’s success possible. Mabel’s father, William II of Bellême, created the fearsome and unpredictable nature of the Bellême that would become the hallmark of their legacy. Of equal importance, however, was timing and geography. The Bellême family was useful to the Norman dukes for holding a volatile frontier against Frankish and Maine aggressors, but, once established in the area, the Bellême became a virtually autonomous and obdurate rulers, annexing their neighbors and creating hostilities that threatened ducal power. Through a marriage alliance with the Norman duke’s kin, Mabel was able to pass her ancestral methods of aggressive state building to her heirs. Mabel’s methods were so embedded in her heirs that her son became the largest landholder in the Anglo-Norman world. He was also the most pernicious. The family power declined after several violent and costly rebellions and wars. Mabel’s family reputation, once synonymous with awesome and terrible power, was almost completely snuffed out by dukes and kings, eager to create grand narratives of their own might. The erasure of the Bellême was almost complete, save a twelfth-century chronicle of the Norman church, written by a monk born in Bellême -Montgomery English lands but exiled for an education in Normandy. His writings about Mabel are the only primary account of Mabel and her family’s actions. Through a close reading of his words, we catch glimpses of how Mabel may have used all types of power. We can also guess about Orderic’s worldviews, motivations, and interests. By telling Mabel’s story, this v dissertation intends to reconstruct and recover the story of a powerful eleventh century Norman woman. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many people assisted me during this study in ways great and small. First thanks goes to my partner, Lisa, whose support and encouragement kept me going long after I would have given up on myself. Many nights I sat with my head in my hands and cried, but she always believed I could complete this task. Second, I thank my sons, David and Jonathan; my love for these boys is boundless. I owe a great debt of gratitude to my dissertation advisor, Dr. Sarah Fishman and to my committee members, Drs. Catherine Patterson, Karl Ittmann, and Jennifer Wingard, for their recommendations and feedback. Dr. David Bates was gracious in replying to numerous emails and for taking time out of his schedule at Leeds in 2017 to speak with me about the necessity of Mabel’s biography. A debt of gratitude goes to the liaisons and Inter Library Loan librarians at the M.D. Anderson library at the University of Houston for their time and technical assistance making maps of medieval Normandy and finding obscure materials. The University of Houston History Department awarded me research grants and scholarships during the culminating semesters of writing, and the Women, Gender, & Sexuality Studies Department at University of Houston was generous with a grant to facilitate my research in Normandy. I also owe many thanks to my fellow graduate students who questioned, listened, and offered feedback on my writing. Thank you to Christie Peters, Maria Corsi, and Justin Tyree. Drs. Richard Armstrong and Francesca Behr helped with the finer points of Latin. Special thanks to Becky Johnson for her technical help and home visits to “fix vii something” and to Shannon O’Brien, who bravely served as my travel companion for two weeks and over two thousand miles of research in Europe. Finally, I need to express my thanks to my late father, Robert H. Jacobs, whose love of history was instilled in me from my earliest days, and to my late grandmother, Cleo Patra Holder Jackson, whose unconditional love guides and supports me to this very day. This was the most difficult task I have ever undertaken, but I hope this project serves as a reminder that we have to remain adamantine in our pursuit of fulfillment. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................................x LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ xii ABBREVIATIONS ......................................................................................................... xiii CHAPTER 1: ELEVENTH-CENTURY ANGLO-NORMAN WOMEN: WHAT THE SOURCES SAY ..................................................................................1 CHAPTER 2: BELLÊME GENEALOGY ........................................................................31 CHAPTER 3: THE LIFE OF MABEL OF BELLÊME ....................................................97 CHAPTER 4: MARRIAGE, MOTHERHOOD, AND MURDER: PRESERVING AND EXPANDING POWER..................................................................152 CHAPTER 5: CONTEXTUALIZING MABEL: A CLOSER LOOK AT THE ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY .................................................................190 CHAPTER 6: AFTER LIFE: THE DEATH AND LEGACY OF MABEL OF BELLÊME ...............................................................................................231 CONCLUSION : AN ORDINARY OR EXTRAORDINARY WOMAN? ....................265 APPENDICES .................................................................................................................269 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................299 ix LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1. Map of Bellême fortresses along border. ....................................................... 34 Figure 2.2. Lords of Bellême (first five generations). ...................................................... 45 Figure 2.3. First generation holdings of Bellême lordship, early ninth century. .............. 49 Figure 2.4. Three-dimensional model of Vieux Bellême with city walls c.1026. ............ 56 Figure 2.5. Village of Vieux Bellême with castle and city walls. .................................... 57 Figure 2.6. Church of the Virgin in Bellême. ................................................................... 58 Figure 2.7. Church of the St. Martin in Vieux Bellême. ................................................... 59 Figure 2.8. Bellême fortresses at the end of the tenth century. ......................................... 62 Figure 2.9. Cloister Garden at Ruin of Notre Dame du Séez. .......................................... 65 Figure 2.10. Diagram of Early Bellême. ........................................................................... 68 Figure 2.11. Signature page from Cartulaire de l’Abbayette, no. 1. ................................ 72 Figure 2.12. The Church of St. Santin de Bellême with burial crypt of Yves and Godhelde. .....................................................................................................
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