_________________________________________________________________________Swansea University E-Theses "Aldhelm's "De Virginitate": From patristic background to Anglo- Saxon audience." Askwith, Tereli How to cite: _________________________________________________________________________ Askwith, Tereli (2009) "Aldhelm's "De Virginitate": From patristic background to Anglo-Saxon audience.". thesis, Swansea University. http://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa42869 Use policy: _________________________________________________________________________ This item is brought to you by Swansea University. Any person downloading material is agreeing to abide by the terms of the repository licence: copies of full text items may be used or reproduced in any format or medium, without prior permission for personal research or study, educational or non-commercial purposes only. The copyright for any work remains with the original author unless otherwise specified. The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holder. Permission for multiple reproductions should be obtained from the original author. Authors are personally responsible for adhering to copyright and publisher restrictions when uploading content to the repository. Please link to the metadata record in the Swansea University repository, Cronfa (link given in the citation reference above.) http://www.swansea.ac.uk/library/researchsupport/ris-support/ Swansea University ALDHELM’S DE VIRGINITATE- FROM PATRISTIC BACKGROUND TO ANGLO-SAXON AUDIENCE Tereli Askwith Submitted to Swansea University in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Vol. I 2009 ProQuest Number: 10821259 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10821259 Published by ProQuest LLC(2018). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 lib r a r y DECLARATION This work has not previously been accepted in substance for any degree and is not being concurrently submitted in candidature for any degree. S igned ........................................................................................................... D ate £ ................................................................................................. 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ALDHELM’S DE VIRGINITATE - FROM PATRISTIC BACKGROUND TO ANGLO-SAXON AUDIENCE ABSTRACT This thesis is a study of Aldhelm’s De Virginitate, considering its historical, social and literary background. De Virginitate was a paean to virginity in prose and verse. Although Aldhelm’s obtuse Latin makes it a difficult to understand, it was one of the most influential texts in Anglo-Saxon England, and vital in understanding the development of ecclesiastical influence in the period. This study discusses the development of a discourse of virginity from the Bible into late antiquity. It then considers the Aldhelm’s use of his source material, his adoption and adaptation of certain themes and tropes. Primarily using gender and queer theory to analyse Aldhelm’s text, it examines the way in which he constructed a performative virginity that would contain his addressed audience of nuns. Whilst commentators have discussed Aldhelm’s innovations in promoting chastity in deference to his audience, most of whom were not virgins, they have not fully considered the similarities between De Virginitate and Aldhelm’s source material. This thesis argues that despite Aldhelm’s innovation, De Virginitate is part of the movement within Anglo-Saxon England to constrain and enclose women within the monastic system. Throughout, Aldhelm stresses the need for female dependence on male ecclesiastical authority, and warns against independence and pride. Thus despite acknowledging the ontological status of his addressed audience as non-virginal, Aldhelm’s message is as orthodox as his late antique sources - female autonomy was dangerous to the individual and the community. CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1-30 CHAPTER ONE - ALDHELM IN CONTEXT - ANGLO-SAXON CHRISTIANITY 31-68 CHAPTER TWO- THE CONSTRUCTION OF VIRGINITY IN THE CHURCH FATHERS 69-134 CHAPTER THREE- VIRGINITY, GENDER AND SANCTITY 135-176 CHAPTER FOUR - ALDHELM’S HAGIOGRAPHIC AND GENDERED VIRGINITY 177-223 CHAPTER FIVE - GENDERED VIRGINITY - THE TYPICAL AND THE TRANSGRESSIVE 224-282 CHAPTER SEX- ALDHELM’S PSYCHOMACHIA 283-328 CONCLUSION- ALDHELM, PATRISTIC VIRGINITY AND THE DOUBLE MONASTERY 329-357 BIBLIOGRAPHY- 358-388 INTRODUCTION Aldhelm’s De Virginitate was one of the most popular texts in early medieval Europe, studied throughout western Christendom. Yet, by the later middle ages it had fallen out of favour, and only recently have scholars begun again to consider it in any detail.1 This thesis aims to place the construction of virginity and gender in De Virginitate in a literary, social and historical context. It takes an interdisciplinary approach, informed by literary and historical studies through the framework of gender and queer theory, specifically Judith Butler’s ideas of performativity and identity construction. This thesis will undertake a reading of De Virginitate that focuses on virginity and gender, how Aldhelm understands these concepts and presents them to his audience. De Virginitate is unique in many ways, but has not received the attention it merits, largely because of its obtuse Latin. In this thesis I hope to demonstrate why De Virginitate is so important to our understanding of the tensions surrounding both ideas about virginity and gender as they were formulated in early Christian Anglo-Saxon England, and the rise of a more patriarchal church, increasingly focused on female enclosure. Hence this thesis will focus on different aspects ofDe Virginitate using gender and queer theory, as they relate to these issues. It will begin with an outline of the historical and theoretical background that has informed my interpretation of De Virginitate, briefly reviewing Anglo-Saxon historiography as it particularly applies to the study of gender in history and literature. It will also offer a background to the theory deployed in analysing the text, and discuss why I have chosen this theoretical stance. This thesis will then outline Aldhelm’s background and work within his 1 Whilst working on De Virginitate , I became aware o f Emma Pettit’s PhD thesis, but was unable to read it before completing my own thesis. However I was able to consult her article, ‘Holiness and Masculinity in Aldhelm’s Opus Geminatum De virginitate’, in Holiness and Masculinity in the Middle Ages, ed. by P. H. Cullum and K. J. Lewis (Cardiff: University o f Wales Press, 2004); See below for a brief review o f the secondary literature. 1 historical situation, including the likely audience for De Virginitate. This is necessary as Aldhelm is neither well-known nor easily accessible to many modem readers. In discussing the text itself, this thesis will outline the sources, imagery and ideas on which Aldhelm drew and from which he formulated his ideas about virginity and gender. De Virginitate particularly lends itself to such a study as it offers male as well as female examples of virginity, enabling a wider reading of virginity. This allows the student to compare the manner in which Aldhelm chooses to gender virginity, what qualities he considers as suitable for a female virgin, and whether they differ from those attributed to the male. In doing this it will also compare the differences between the late antique ideal of virginity and Aldhelm’s construction. I intend to look in depth at the prose and verse rendering of De Virginitate, particularly Aldhelm’s literary formation of a gendered Christian virginity. Thus this study will examine how Aldhelm differentiates between virginity and chastity, and uses implied gender differences to portray these qualities. Beginning with virginity itself as theorised by the Church Fathers, and subsequently re-interpreted by Aldhelm in deference to his audience, it will then consider gender and sanctity through the hagiographical element of the text, and finally the martial virginity of Aldhelm’s psychomachia. This thesis will also reflect on the importance of Aldhelm’s work