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Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographicaliy in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9” black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. ProQuest Information and Leaming 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Artxir, Ml 48106-1346 USA 800-521-0600 UMI WANDERING WOMEN AND HOLY MATRONS: WOMEN AS PILGRIMS IN THE LATER MIDDLE AGES, 1300-1500 C. E. A DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for The Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of the Ohio State University By Leigh Ann Craig, M.A. ***** The Ohio State University 2001 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Professor Joseph H. Lynch, Adviser Professor Barbara Hanawalt 0 Adviser Professor David Cressy Department of History UMI Number 3031191 UMI UMI Microform 3031191 Cnpyright 2002 by Bell & Howell Information and Leaming Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Bell & Howell Information and Leaming Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 ABSTRACT My dissertation is an examination of women’s experience of pilgrimage between 1300 and 1500 C. E. I argue that women were able to find a place in the process of pilgrimage, although in order to do so they were required to work within both practical and social constraints, and to offer new interpretations of their own roles. Late medieval literary sources voiced serious doubts about female pilgrims. They presented a stereotypical figure I have dubbed the Wandering Woman, whose pilgrimages were used as opportunities to indulge her natural vices. The authors of such works, which ranged from secular poetry to sermon exemple, feared that women who left the controlled sphere of the home would indulge in lechery, greed, and deceit. Nevertheless, women did participate in pilgrimage to the shrines of the saints. Female pilgrims appear often in the miracle stories associated with such shrines, but they adopted a unique role. Women often approached a saint to request a miracle for someone else, rather than themselves. Thus, their role as the caretaker of the family’s well-being became a justification for their physical mobility. The penitential and devotional benefits of the pilgrimage to Rome and Jerusalem were not so easily transferred to another. Under these circumstances male ii pilgrims rejected women, insisted they remain as invisible as possible, and even left them behind when they were overly vocal. But even in this worst-case scenario women were able to achieve their spiritual goal, by remaining as invisible as possible, traveling in groups, and acting as caregivers to their fellow-pilgrims. I finish with a case-study of women’s participation in the cult and pilgrimage of King Henry VI of England (d. 1471), who was buried at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor. The author of Henry’s miracles portrays these women, like the saint they sought out, as intercessors with the divine. In tandem with the churchmen who wrote down their miracle stories, the female pilgrims to Windsor created an image of their activities which opposed the Wandering Woman: the Holy Matron, whose faith and devotional behaviors had the power to heal. m For My Husband IV ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I owe a tremendous debt to my adviser, Joseph H. Lynch, for his seemingly endless patience with me, his enthusiasm, and his generosity with his time, knowledge, and skills. In nurturing my work, he has given me a priceless gift. I am also indebted to other scholars have offered their time, expertise, and encouragement along the way, including Barbara Hanawalt, David Cressy, Eve Levin, Miri Rubin, Bruce Barker-Benfteld, and Frank Coulson. Several organizations have offered monetary support for my work over the years, including (at The Ohio State University) the Department of History, The Graduate School, the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, and the Offtce of International Studies. The Richard III Society also supported my work. The work could not have been completed without this financial support, and I am grateful. My fellow graduate students have listened to and read my half-baked ideas as they developed; they have commiserated with me, encouraged me, challenged me, and ultimately made me a better historian and a better person. I cannot name them all here, but I am deeply grateful to have been a part of such an intellectually vibrant community. Special thanks go to the past and present denizens o f322 Dulles Hall. Finally, it has been my family who invested the most in supporting me as an individual and a scholar. I ofier my thanks, and my love, to my infinitely patient husband, Joe, who had to tolerate all the ups and downs of research; to my beautiful daughter, Anneke, sunshine on my rainy days; to my sister, Cari, who went so far as to move from another state to help make overseas research possible; to my parents. Sue and John, who flatly refuse to stop believing in me; and to my chosen brothers and sisters (Sara, Kim and Al, Gary, Chris and Ali, Stefan, Rob and Val, Anna and Casey, Jennifer, Kathleen, Don, and Christienne) who kept me laughing when the temptation to take myself too seriously got out of hand. VITA November 11,1972 ..................................Bom - Pontiac, Michigan 1994..........................................................B.A., Michigan State University 1994-95 ..................................................... Graduate Fellow, The Ohio State University 1996-2001 ................................................ Graduate Teaching, Research, and Advising Associate, The Ohio State University 1996 .......................................................... M.A., The Ohio State University SCHOLARLY PUBLICATIONS “Gender Outside Marriage: Reconsidering Medieval Widowhood and Virginity,” a review of Cindy L. Carlson and Angela Jane Weisl, eds. Constructions o f Widowhood and Virginity in the Middle Ages." Journal o f Women‘s History 12:4 (2001): 205- 207. FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: History Area of Specialization: Medieval Europe VI TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract....................................................................................................................... ii Dedication .................................................................................................................. iv Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................... v Vita.............................................................................................................................. vi List of Tables.............................................................................................................. ix List of Figures.............................................................................................................. x Chapters: 1. Introduction .........................................................................................................I 2. “She Coude Muchel of Wandringe by the Weye:” Cultural Perceptions of Female Pilgrims........................................................ 26 3. “Having Confidence in the Merits of the Saint:” Women and the Pilgrimage to the Shrines of the Saints ..................................87 4. “Stronger than Men and Braver than Knights:” Women and the Pilgrimage to Jerusalem and Rome .....................................139 5. “Hope Hathe Me Mayde to Seke Yis Place:” Women and the Pilgrimage to King Henry VI of England ............................192 6. Conclusions ...................................................................................................248 Appendix A: Tables................................................................................................254 v u Appendix B: Figures..............................................................................................275 Bibliography...........................................................................................................287 vm LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1 Suppliants of St. Mary Magdalen at St. -Maximin de Provence: Gender and the Type of Miracle Requested ...................................................255 2 Suppliants of St. Mary Magdalen at St.-Maximin de Provence: Gender and the Subject of the Miracle .......................................................... 256 3 Suppliants of St. Mary Magdalen at St.-Maximin de Provence: Gender and Types of Pilgrimage Vows .........................................................257