Performing women: Gender, self, and representation in late medieval Metz 9781526127242

Table of contents :
Front matter
Contents
List of plates and figures
Preface
Notes and abbreviations
Family tree of Catherine Baudoche and Catherine Gronnaix
Introduction
Acting as Catherine: writing the history of female performers
‘I, Catherine’: biography, documentary culture, and public presence
Performance and the parish: space, memory, and material devotion
Negotiated devotions and performed histories: laywomen in monastic spaces
‘Call me Claude’: female actors, impersonation, and cultural transmission
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index
Plates

Citation preview

PERFORMING WOMEN

Series editors: Anke Bernau, David Matthews and James Paz Series founded by: J. J. Anderson and Gail Ashton Advisory board: Ruth Evans, Patricia C. Ingham, Andrew James Johnston, Chris Jones, Catherine Karkov, Nicola McDonald, Sarah Salih, Larry Scanlon and Stephanie Trigg Manchester Medieval Literature and Culture publishes monographs and essay collections comprising new research informed by current critical methodologies on the literary cultures of the Middle Ages. We are interested in all periods, from the early Middle Ages through to the late, and we include post-medieval engagements with and representations of the medieval period (or ‘medievalism’). ‘Literature’ is taken in a broad sense, to include the many different medieval genres: imaginative, historical, political, scientific, religious. While we welcome contributions on the diverse cultures of medieval Britain and are happy to receive submissions on Anglo-Norman, Anglo-Latin and Celtic writings, we are also open to work on the Middle Ages in Europe more widely, and beyond. Titles available in the series 8. Between earth and heaven: Liminality and the Ascension of Christ in Anglo-Saxon literature Johanna Kramer 9. Transporting Chaucer Helen Barr 10. Sanctity as literature in late medieval Britain Eva von Contzen and Anke Bernau (eds) 11. Reading Robin Hood: Content, form and reception in the outlaw myth Stephen Knight 12. Annotated Chaucer bibliography: 1997–2010 Mark Allen and Stephanie Amsel 13. Roadworks: Medieval Britain, medieval roads Valerie Allen and Ruth Evans (eds) 14. Love, history and emotion in Chaucer and Shakespeare: Troilus and Criseyde and Troilus and Cressida Andrew James Johnston, Russell West-Pavlov and Elisabeth Kempf (eds) 15. The Scottish Legendary: Towards a poetics of hagiographic narration Eva von Contzen 16. Nonhuman voices in Anglo-Saxon literature and material culture James Paz 17. The church as sacred space in Middle English literature and culture Laura Varnam 18. Aspects of knowledge: Preserving and reinventing traditions of learning in the Middle Ages Marilina Cesario and Hugh Magennis (eds) 19. Visions and ruins: Cultural memory and the untimely Middle Ages Joshua Davies 20. Participatory reading in late-medieval England Heather Blatt 21. Affective medievalism: Love, abjection and discontent Thomas A. Prendergast and Stephanie Trigg 22. Performing women: Gender, self, and representation in late medieval Metz Susannah Crowder

Performing women Gender, self, and representation in late medieval Metz SUSANNAH CROWDER

Manchester University Press

Copyright © Susannah Crowder 2018 The right of Susannah Crowder to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Published by Manchester University Press Altrincham Street, Manchester M1 7JA www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 978 1 5261 0640 7 hardback First published 2018 The publisher has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for any external or third-party internet websites referred to in this book, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

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Contents

List of plates and figures page vii Preface ix Notes and list of abbreviations xi Family tree of Catherine Baudoche and Catherine Gronnaix xii Introduction 1 1 Acting as Catherine: writing the history of female performers 22 2 ‘I, Catherine’: biography, documentary culture, and public presence 61 3 Performance and the parish: space, memory, and material devotion 100 4 Negotiated devotions and performed histories: laywomen in monastic spaces 144 5 ‘Call me Claude’: female actors, impersonation, and cultural transmission 190 Conclusion 221 Bibliography 232 Index 257

Plates and figures

Plates 1 Female supplicant before Catherine of Siena, BnF latin 10533, fol. 134v (Bibliothèque nationale de France) 2 Seal of Catherine Gronnaix, BnF Lorraine 231.157 (Bibliothèque nationale de France ) 3 Parish church of St-Martin (Metz), exterior (Susannah Crowder) 4 Sculpted tabernacles and murals depicting scenes from the life of the Virgin, Notre Dame chapel, St-Martin (fab5669 / Wikimedia Commons) 5 Tabernacle detail: Virgo Lactans, Notre Dame chapel, St-Martin (Susannah Crowder) 6 Scenes from the life of the Virgin, St-Martin (Aidan McRae Thomson) 7 Annunciation window, scenes from the life of the Virgin, St-Martin (public domain) 8 Joan of Arc and the coronation of Charles VII, St-Martin (Metz), 1910, detail (public domain) Figures 2.1 ‘Je, Katheryne le Gronnaix’, BnF Lorraine 231.158, with inset detail (Bibliothèque nationale de France) 3.1 Map of Metz (Susannah Crowder, drawn by Don Shewan) 3.2 Interior plan, St-Martin (Susannah Crowder, drawn by Don Shewan) 3.3 Map of Metz, detail of St-Martin area (Susannah Crowder, drawn by Don Shewan)

page 82 104 108 115

viii

List of plates and figures

4.1 Plan of Celestines, 1372, Metz BM 833, p. 2 (Susannah Crowder) 4.2 Plan of Celestines, 1376, Metz BM 833, p. 12 (Susannah Crowder) 4.3 Plan of Celestines, c. 1419, Metz BM 833, pp. 88–9 (Susannah Crowder)

148 149 150

Preface

When I began my pursuit of the female actor and patron of the 1468 Catherine of Siena jeu, nearly a decade ago, my goals were modest: to identify these women and, with luck, to uncover some hidden bit of their history.1 What I found was extraordinary. As I delved into the archives, libraries, and spaces of the city of Metz, a group of performers whom I came to call ‘the Catherines’ welcomed me. From financial documents that recorded their voices to well-caressed devotional sculpture, I found traces of these women everywhere: proof that the actor, the patron, and their peers had shaped not just the jeu, but a wide variety of public performances. The following pages represent an unfolding process of discovery that was both thrilling and moving, and I owe thanks to many people who provided assistance and encouragement along the way. In Metz, Pierre-Édouard Wagner, Dominique Ribeyre, and the staff of the Bibliothèque-Médiathèque offered invaluable guidance and aid. Archivists at the Archives départementales de la Moselle and the Archives municipales de Metz supported my progress during lengthy visits; Luc Defrene assisted with follow-up questions. In Paris, the experts of the manuscript department of the Bibliothèque nationale de France and the Archives nationales were helpful and patient. The Groupe d’étude du théâtre médiéval of the Laboratoire de médiévistique occidentale de Paris, at the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS), provided a warm welcome. Friends and colleagues also made essential contributions: Jay Gates, Amy Green, María Julia Rossi, Kathleen Smith, Karl Steel, and the anonymous readers of Manchester University Press gave critical feedback on early versions and draft chapters. The friendly and expert guidance of the MUP staff facilitated a positive experience throughout. Suggestions from Bob Clark, Michèle Gaillard, Jackie Jenkins, Pamela Sheingorn, Jill Stevenson, and Carol Symes improved elements of the project. Colleagues in the Medieval Theater

x Preface

Working Group of the American Society for Theatre Research (ASTR) and the Société internationale pour l’étude du théâtre médiéval (SITM) provided helpful ideas, as did co-presenters and audience members at numerous panels, especially those at the Newberry Library, the Sewanee Medieval Colloquium, and the Université Paul Verlaine – Metz (now Université de Lorraine). Richard Haw and my other colleagues in the Interdisciplinary Studies Department served as reliable sources of good cheer. Support for the project was provided by a PSC-CUNY Award, jointly funded by the Professional Staff Congress and the City University of New York, and the Birgit Baldwin Fellowship in French Medieval History of the Medieval Academy of America. Funding for this work also was provided by a grant from the Office for the Advancement of Research at John Jay College. Finally, I owe special thanks to my entire family. Extra recognition is due to my sister Gwynne, who demonstrated her support through a million small encouragements, and to Sunny and Misha, who showed heroic patience and surprising enthusiasm for their greedy ‘sibling’. Last but not least, my profound gratitude and love to David, whose infectious curiosity and unselfishness lift my every effort: here are the good parts. Note 1 I developed and shared my approach to the Catherines in numerous conference presentations, first outlining my archival findings on Catherine Baudoche and the Saint Catherine actor at the 2008 International Congress on Medieval Studies, in Kalamazoo, MI. I discuss the Catherines briefly in S. Crowder, ‘Gender and the Local Expression of Authority in Philippe de Vigneulles’s Metz’, Cahiers de Recherches Médiévales et Humanistes, 22 (2011), 181–91, parts of which are reproduced in Chapter 1.

Notes and abbreviations

Note on names: In cases where the documentation contains multiple variants of a personal name, I have standardised for consistency. For well-known religious and historical figures, I employ the French nomenclature: ‘Notre Dame’ instead of ‘Our Lady’; Saint Michel for Saint Michael. All medieval dates are given old style. AD de la Meuse AD de la Moselle AN BnF Metz BM Metz AM MGH SRG

Archives départementales de la Meuse Archives départementales de la Moselle Archives nationales de France Bibliothèque nationale de France Bibliothèque-Médiathèque de Metz Archives municipales de Metz Monumenta Germaniae historica. Scriptores rerum Germanicarum in usum scholarum MGH SS Monumenta Germaniae historica. Scriptores (in Folio) MGH DiplFranc Monumenta Germaniae historica. Diplomata regum Francorum e stripe Merovingica

Family tree of Catherine Baudoche and Catherine Gronnaix Isabel Boylawe d. 1348

Mahoult le Hungre d. 1401

Thiebault Gronnaix

Catherine Gronnaix (translated to Celesnes in 1444)

Bertrand le Hungre d. 1397

Jehan le Hungre l’aîné

Jehan le Hungre le jeune d. 1400

Perree Deu Amy

Jacomin le Hungre d. 1433 KEY For clarity, not all siblings and spouses are included. bold : the Catherines of this book betr : betrothed : second marriage < : before > : aer

Catherine Baudoche

Jehan Baudoche d. 1393

Selisiae Renguillon

Marguerite Noiron

Nicole Baudoche d. 1435

? Laurent Gronnaix b.