Lindsay Rudge PhD Thesis - University of St Andrews

As discussed above, the letter to Radegund possesses a unique value as the
expression of an early medieval nun’s own view of her spiritual life and beliefs. 75 From a
practical point of view, however, it also mentions in passing the way in which a
normative text passed between two communities. Caesaria opens her letter, ‘Having
received your message and read it more than once’. 76 The female religious community as
a potential centre of epistolary activity had been foreseen by Caesarius himself, in
legislating against sending or receiving secret letters and gifts. 77 Knowledge of other
communities and their inhabitants could be widespread. Although the ex-queen
Radegund remained more of a public figure than the average nun, Caesaria’s admonition,
‘I have heard that you fast too much’, reveals the circulation of news (and, perhaps,
gossip) between religious houses. 78 Against this backdrop, then, Caesaria’s letter reveals
ongoing communication between the two houses, as she can confirm to Radegund that ‘I
have done what you requested: I am sending you a copy of the rule which our blessed
father lord Caesarius of happy memory made, so that you may see how you can keep
it’. 79 Caesaria’s easy access to copies of the Regula virginum is evident, and may be a
further indication that the nuns of St John were undertaking such scribal work. Equally
clear is Radegund’s deliberate choice of the Caesarian rule as her preferred option for
Holy Cross.
However, based on an ambiguous statement made by Gregory of Tours, some
scholars have posited a voyage by Radegund and Agnes to Arles, to obtain a copy of the
rule in person. When Maroveus, the bishop of Poitiers, proved less than helpful, Gregory
75
Hagiography written by women, such as Baudonivia’s vita of Radegund, offers its own insights, but there
are very few confirmed examples. See S. Wemple, Women in Frankish Society, 181-187; for an overview
of early medieval female literary activity and involvement, see also J. Nelson, ‘Gender and Genre in
Women Historians of the Early Middle Ages’ in J.-P. Genet (ed.) L’historiographie médiévale en Europe
(Paris: Editions du CNRS, 1991), 149-63; the article also appears in J. Nelson, The Frankish World, 750-
900 (Aldershot: Variorum, 1996) 183-197. An important article by Rosamond McKitterick, ‘Women and
Literacy in the Early Middle Ages’ in eadem, Books, Scribes and Learning in the Frankish Kingdoms, 6 th –
9 th Centuries (Aldershot: Variorum, 1994) 1-43, esp. at 22-36, argues that anonymous vitae of women may
well have had female authors who were not credited.
76
Eng. tr. SWDA, 114.
77
RV 25.
78
‘Pervenit ad me, quod nimis abstineas’, de Vogüé, Œuvres pour les moniales, 486. The use of ‘tu’ rather
than ‘vos’ in the following sentence, Totum rationabiliter fac, si tu mihi vivas et semper possis, further
suggests the personal message to Radegund here: my thanks to Julia Smith for this insight.
79
‘Ego feci quod praecepistis: transmisi exemplar de regula, quam nobis beatae et sanctae recordationis
domnus papa Caesarius fecit’, de Vogüé, Œuvres pour les moniales, 486.
89