Lindsay Rudge PhD Thesis - University of St Andrews

form of monastic life for women and for the christianisation of his city, Caesaria was
equally active in designing a way of life to suit her own needs.
When considering the possible sources for Caesaria’s life, the hints from which an
idea of her activities and importance could be gleaned, the passage above suggests a
conundrum. Caesarius’ vita was written by five clerics of his acquaintance. The first
book, from which this extract is taken, was chiefly the work of Cyprianus, bishop of
Toulon (c.517-c.545), assisted by Firminus of Uzès (c.534-c.552) and Viventius, of an
uncertain see. However, the composition of the vita was initiated by the monastery of St
John, under the leadership of Caesaria II, and this background coloured the work
throughout. 101 As the Prologue puts it, ‘You, Caesaria, whom we honour as a virgin,
together with the choir of fellow nuns entrusted to you, have been asking that we fulfill
our obligation to recall and to write an account from the very beginning of the life and
way of life of your founder, saint Caesarius of blessed memory... this work can stand in
place of his presence for your – and even more his – monastery.’ 102 To a large degree, the
work was written to accord with the nuns’ perspective and to serve their needs. The
community’s view of the first Caesaria is, therefore, likely to be well reflected by the
vita, and the association of Caesaria in the early stages of development of the monastery,
evoked by the preceding extract, must be what the nuns remembered. And yet, the vita is
about Caesarius; formally, he is celebrated as the founder of the monastery; Caesaria is a
supporting player, who appears and disappears as the trajectory of Caesarius’ story
demands. The existence of a seventeenth-century vita of Caesaria merely perpetuates her
liminality; as will be seen below, it is largely derived from the vita Caesarii. 103 The needs
of the community suggest why Caesaria has no story – no history – of her own.
Immediately after Caesarius’ death, they were faced with the problem of losing their
main source of financial support. Caesarius had cut himself off from his family when he
moved to Lérins; the only resources he himself possessed were those of his see. His
concerns for the future of the monastery are attested to by his correspondence with pope
101 See in particular Klingshirn, ‘Caesarius’ monastery for women’.
102 V.Caes 1.1, tr. Klingshirn Life, Testament, Letters 9.
103 Soixante homélies de Saint Caesaire, archevêque d'Arles, traduites en françois, suivies de la Vie de
sainte Cesarée et de celle de sainte Rusticule, abbesses du monastère fondé par ce St. archevêque.
Published in Arles by François Mesnier, 1648.
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