Suzan Folkerts
Voorbeeld op schrift. De
overlevering en toe-eigening van de
vita van Christina Mirabilis in de
late middeleeuwen
Published by Uitgeverij Verloren,
Hilversum, 2010, ISBN 9789087041670
Summary
This study is entitled: ‘Written Example.
The Transmission and Appropriation of
the Vita of Christina Mirabilis in the
Later Middle Ages’. It focuses on the
reception of the Vita of Christina
Mirabilis (‘The Astonishing’) in the
thirteenth to fifteenth centuries.
Christina was a laywoman who acted as a prophetess and penitential preacher. She was
considered a saint by her contemporaries and her hagiographer Thomas of Cantimpré.
She and other thirteenth-century laywomen like Mary of Oignies belonged to a group of
so-called mulieres religiosae. Their Vitae have been studied over the past decennia as
examples of the new spiritual movements, lay piety, mysticism, and the history of the
beguines. The focus has been on gender aspects, especially the interaction between the
male hagiographers and the female saints, although some attention has been given to
holy lay brothers like Arnulf of Villers as well. This study approaches the Vitae of
Christina and other mulieres religiosae as not so much those of female saints but as those of
lay saints in order to include the Vitae of their male counterparts. The central question is:
who transmitted and read the Vitae of Christina and other lay saints and how does the
reception and appropriation of the Vita of Christina manifest itself in manuscripts?
To answer these questions, the manuscripts are taken as the main source material (no
early prints of the Vita of Christina are known). According to the authors of the
collection Imagining the Book,1 hand-written books can be considered as platforms which
were used by scribes, readers and others to act and interact with the text and one
another. Each copy of the text is unique, not only because of their various wordings, but
also because each manuscript is composed differently and contains a different
compilation of texts. The meaning of a text changed when its context of surrounding
texts changed. The Vita of Christina was transmitted in eighteen Latin manuscripts and
seven vernacular manuscripts. The Latin Vita was translated into Middle English, Middle
French, and – on three occasions – Middle Dutch.
To begin with, the Vita of Christina is introduced. Since this study concentrates not so
much on the context of origin as on the context of transmission and reception, more
Stephen KELLY and John J. THOMPSON (ed.), Imagining the Book. Medieval Texts and Cultures of
Northern Europe 7 (Turnhout: Brepols, 2005).
1
attention is given to the type(s) of saintliness and the hagiographical themes in the Vita
than to its historical context and author. The themes treated are penitence, mediation for
the souls in purgatory, and the authority of lay saints as prophets. In addition to the Vita
of Christina, the Vitae of Arnulf of Villers, Mary of Oignies, and Ida of Nivelles receive
special attention. Also, a comparison is made between these Vitae and the Vita of
Lidwina of Schiedam, a fifteenth-century counterpart of the thirteenth-century lay saints,
in order to explain the popularity of the themes in the later Middle Ages. Lay saints
served as examples of the vita apostolica and as mirrors of humility for priests.
Secondly, the manuscript transmission of the Vitae of lay saints from the Southern Low
Countries is examined. Of 112 manuscripts, 33 stem from the period prior to 1375 and
72 from the period 1375-1525. The first group is dominated by manuscripts of Cistercian
provenance, while the second primarily features manuscripts from reformed religious
orders or reform movements like the Devotio Moderna. The Vitae of Mary of Oignies
and Christina Mirabilis, women who were not bound to a religious order, were the most
successfully transmitted. Another remarkable finding is that nearly all Latin manuscripts
have a male religious provenance. We can state that Vitae of lay saints, mostly females,
were read by clergymen, not by female religious (vernacular versions had a more diverse
public). The figures regarding the spread of Christina’s Vita exhibit the same pattern. A
collation of copies of her Vita confirms a division into two groups according to period
and context. The fifteenth-century copies originating from the reform movements differ
in several aspects from the older copies from Cistercian circles.
Thirdly, five manuscripts are analysed in detail in order to formulate conclusions about
the transmission and appropriation of the Vita of Christina. The Cistercian interest in
Christina’s Vita is studied by means of a manuscript dating from 1320 from the
monastery of Villers. This manuscript contains texts on Cistercian spirituality and the
history of their own community. It can be defined as a memoria manuscript. Other
manuscripts analysed all date from the fifteenth century. A legendary from Rooklooster
in Brabant, a convent of canons regular of the Devotio Moderna, serves as an example of
historiographical and hagiographical works in which saints were used to attest to the
holiness of the land and inhabitants of the duchy of Brabant. In this and another
legendary from the same monastery, namely Johannes Gielemans’ Hagiologium
Brabantinorum, Christina was adopted as a Brabant saint. Another group of manuscripts
consists of legendaries and miscellanies, which primarily contain Vitae of ‘new’ saints.
These saints are seen as representatives of the new spirituality and the religious reform
movements of the later Middle Ages. A manuscript from the Carthusian monastery of
Beatusberg near Koblenz is treated in detail, as it not only placed the Vita of Christina in
the context of other new saints but also in the context of two other lay saints, namely
Mary of Oignies and Arnulf of Villers. In this manuscript, the Vita of Mary was
transformed into an example collection, which shows that hagiography was used as
example literature.
Another manuscript in which the Vita of Christina was appropriated by a new public is a
collection from the monastery of Clairlieu near Hoei of the Order of the Holy Cross.
This manuscript had a share in the formation and confirmation of the spiritual identity of
the Brothers of the Holy Cross. It contains texts on the origin of the order as well as all
kinds of theological works. The Vita of Christina, copied no less than two times in this
codex, became a part of the identity of the Brothers of the Holy Cross. The last
manuscript analysed is a Middle Dutch codex from Neerbosch, a convent of canonesses
regular of the Chapter of Windesheim. It contains a translation of the Vita of Christina
that was unknown until now. Research has revealed that its author made use of the Vita
of Mary of Oignies and Henricus Bate’s Speculum naturale, which contains a shortened
version of the Vita by Thomas of Cantimpré. The manuscript as a whole was designed as
an example collection with a focus on purgatory. The Vitae of Christina and Mary were
used as example literature, just like the aforementioned manuscript from Beatusberg.
In conclusion, the Vita of Christina Mirabilis had different functions and meanings in
different socio-religious contexts. It played a part in forming regional and spiritual
identities and was used as example literature, especially with respect to purgatory. For
clerics, the Vita of Christina was a mirror with which they could reflect on their office.
One of the most important conclusions is that Christina was not so much an example for
other religious women as she was for religious men.