Susan Flowers  

Kagan, Richard L.  “Introduction.”  Lucrecia’s Dreams Politics and Prophecy in Sixteenth-Century Spain Berkley , Los Angeles , London : University of California Press , 1990.  

Richard L. Kagan, the author of Lucrecia’s Dreams, uses his introduction to provide an outline of his book. His main point is to convince the reader that Lucrecia was not just a typical woman seer of her time and is worth looking into. He gives some information on Lucrecia that he later expands upon in the rest of his work. But primarily he focuses on other women seers and relates them to Lucrecia. Lucrecia was a woman who lived during the Spanish Inquisition under the rule of Philip II. She was tried by the Inquisition for her prophetic dreams that criticized the government, especially the king, and predicted the fall of Spain . It is noted in the introduction that women seers were common during this time period. The themes of these dreams were mostly religious but some, like Lucrecia’s, did include political themes. This is the first way in which Lucrecia differs from other “spiritual mothers” who avoided “secular politics.” Women who declared that they had prophetic dreams concerning politics, especially when they became a direct and serious threat to the government, were generally punished. Lucrecia, however, didn’t seem to condone her own dreaming, leaving the reader to wonder exactly why she would allow her dreams to be transcribed and thus open herself up for governmental punishment. Most “spiritual mothers” lived very religious lives. This is not so for Lucrecia who, while in prison, had a child out of wedlock. Kagan points out that Lucrecia never claimed that her dreams were celestial nor did she claim to have any other “miraculous spiritual experience” (8). Thus, he deduces that Lucrecia does not fit into a category with the “spiritual mothers” (7) and other “holy women” (7). Kagan attempts to associate Lucrecia with the street prophets of the day but in the end he decides that she does not fit well into this category either. Kagan concludes the introduction by asking the reader the questions: “How, then, we must ask, did this young woman embark on such an unprecedented and politically dangerous career? And why did she do so?” (8). In asking these questions Kagan is trying to convince the reader to continue reading his work. He proves his point well that Lucrecia is an unusual character of her time and that she is worthy of investigation. However, in the end it is up to the reader to decide whether or not they are interested in reading about Lucrecia and her dreams.  

The introduction is well written. Kagan provides many examples to prove his point which provide the reader with information that is both relative to the work and good to know even if the reader were not to continue in his or her reading. Kagan also provides an insightful look into the lives of early women prophets. In doing so, he provides a base for which readers, even those who are not interested in Lucrecia, can build from. Readers are given a helpful start in researching other topics or persons involved in the area of female seers.

Malka, Jeff. “Who are the Sephardim? A Brief History (cont.)” Sephardim and their History part 2. Sephardic Genealogy Resources. 15 Sept. 2003 http://www.orthohelp.com/geneal/seph_wh2.htm.  

“Who are the Sephardim?” includes a three part article about the conversos, their expulsion, the inquisition, and a brief summary of the conversos whereabouts after their expulsion. The author, Jeff Malka, doesn’t overtly give his opinion in the article but through his historical depiction of Jews and Christians in Medieval Spain, he leads the reader in formulating a specific opinion, whether this was his intention or not, I am not sure. But it is my opinion that Malka wishes to convey that the mistreatment of Jews was more a result of politics than of religious differences. Conversos were Jewish converts to Christianity. The article gives several reasons why a Jew may have become a converso, such as the desire to escape persecution and gain wealth. The hope in forcing Jews to convert was that in doing so, Spain ’s problems would be solved. This was not the case. Old Christian peasants became jealous of the Jews’ success and thus the persecution of Jews, even of those who had converted, became worse. Malka next describes the beginning of the Inquisition. He leads the reader to see that Queen Isabella was under the influence of Torquemada, her confessor. Torquemada, perhaps for religious reasons, convinced Isabella to get rid of the Jews. Although Torquemada may have wanted to destroy Jews because of his beliefs, Malka makes it clear that Isabella began the Inquisition for political reasons. The article talks about the struggles between Jews and Christians and Jews and Conversos. It was very much a fight to save oneself in many cases, not the religious purification that the Christians claimed. After the Inquisition came the expulsion of the Jews from Spain and, eventually, from Portugal . Jews were forced to flee Spain or convert to Catholicism. Thus there are many people around the world of converso descent.  

I found this article to be very well organized and very informative. As a good article should be, it doesn’t answer every question; in some areas it actually poses more questions than it answers. I very much agree with the author’s approach––presenting the anti-Semitic treatment of Jews as being more political than religious. Malka invites readers to look more in-depth into the topics mentioned in the article, acknowledging that he simply touches on the larger issues. I will most likely take his advice and look more in-depth into the subject matters addressed.

Rieder, M. Paula. “The Implications of Exclusion: The Regulation of Churching in Medieval Northern France .” Essays in Medieval Studies The Illinois Medieval Association. September 29, 2003 <http://www.luc.edu/publications/medieval/vol115/15ch7.html>.  

“The Implications of Exclusion: The Regulation of Churching in Medieval Northern France” explains certain regulations regarding the “churching” of women in Medieval times and the consequences of those regulations. “Churching” is the ritualistic purification of a person. In the case of this article, it is the purification of a woman after she has given birth. Rieder explains the development of regulating churching and how this created a church hierarchy. Clergy, such as Bishop Nicholas Gellent of Angers , were upset with the fact that women who had children outside of wedlock were being churched. Thus steps were taken to make sure that women who had had illegitimate sexual relations were to be purified only by a cleric with a license to do so and were to accept the punishment for their sin. These regulations, according to Rieder, created a society in which women in the church could be recognized for giving birth within wedlock (as was proper.) Rieder also suggests that the clergy put these laws in place in an attempt to prevent women from adultery, incest, and other forbidden practices.  

Rieder’s main point, and I agree with her, is that churching created a split society between honorable and dishonorable women because the churching was public and thus those who became pregnant as a result of a sinful relationship were easily recognized. Rieder feels that this split society had its benefits as well as its draw backs and she supports both opinions very well. Rieder critiques the society that churching created basing most of her ideas on historical fact. The article is informative and easy to folow. It supports the idea that chastity was a woman’s sole source of power during Medieval times.

Starr-Lebeau, Gretchen. “Mari Sanchez and Ines Gonzalez Conflict and Cooperation among Crypto-Jews.” Women in the Inquisition. Ed. Mary E. Giles . Baltimore , Maryland : The John Hopkins University Press, 1999. 19-41.  

“The joint histories of Mari Sanchez and Ines Gonzalez demonstrate the unity and division that existed among New Christians and the changing relationship between New and Old Christians” (41). “Religious, personal, political, and social differences divided conversos as much as they helped distinguish New from Old Christians” (41). Together, these quotes summarize the article “Mari Sanchez and Ines Gonzalez: Conflicting and Cooperation among Crypto-Jews” and state Gretchen Starr-Lebeau’s thesis. Although it may seem obvious to a person of modern times that the Inquisition unified and divided people(s) and that it (the Inquisition) was not based solely on religion, it is necessary to have proof of these consequences of the Inquisition. This is what Starr-Lebeau does in her article. She provides a specific example in which the Inquisition tore a community apart as a result of many differences, both religious and non-religious. Conflict and Cooperation among Crypto-Jews is a partial biography of Mari Sanchez and her daughter Ines Gomez. After the death of Sanchez’s husband, the Inquisition arrives at her hometown, Guadalupe. The author makes it a point to show the reader that before the Inquisition reached Guadalupe, there were difficulties between the friars of the local monastery and the local merchants. However, Starr-Lebeau points out that these conflicts are not generally based on religious views. New and Old Christians work pretty much side by side in peace. It isn’t until the Inquisition that Old Christians seem to notice the Jewish practices of some New Christians. Sanchez is put on trial and it is from this point that we see the tensions arise between Old and New Christians. Many of Sanchez’s old friends, both Old Christians and conversos like herself, testify against her. Even Ines Gonzalez testifies against her mother. The author tries not to assume the reason behind certain peoples’ testimonies against Sanchez, but she does give a range of possibilities which demonstrate that religion was most likely not always the cause. At the end of the article Sanchez is sentenced to execution. The author concludes the article with the fact that the Inquisition in Guadalupe exiled or executed most of its New Christian inhabitants “leaving clearer than ever the distinctions between New and Old Christians” (41). Starr-Lebeau proves well that the Inquisition brought divisions. On page 41 she summarizes her opinion and it is here that she states her thesis. In putting her thesis at the end of her work, the author allows the readers to get all the facts and essentially come to their own conclusion before they read the authors thesis. This could be considered a risky endeavor but as stated in the opening paragraph, it is almost common knowledge that the Inquisition brought division. Thus, there is little chance that the reader would conclude anything but what the author intended.           

The article is well written. The biography is very informative and provides a lot of support for the author’s thesis. And even though the author’s thesis may seem like an obvious fact at first glance, when one reads the Conflict and Cooperation among Crypto-Jews it becomes clear why the author felt the need to justify her opinion with the story of Mari Sanchez and Ines Gonzalez.

Vitto, Cindy L. “Controlling the Feminine Voice in Cleanness and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. “ In Parentheses: Papers in Medieval Studies  1999 ( 2 September 2003 .) http://www.york.ca/inpar/inpar001_vitto.pdf.  

In “Controlling the Feminine Voice in Cleanness and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,” Vitto’s main goal is to reveal to the reader the underlyinging theme of the belittlement of women in Medieval culture. Vitto talks about the parallelism between the two pieces by the unknown Gawain-poet in an attempt to show repetition of a theme. This theme is that in Medieval culture, women who spoke often were thought to be detrimental to the society (of men.) Vitto uses the Biblical themes of the poems, especially that of Cleanness to provoke the idea that the belief that women should spend little time talking, was first found in the Bible. “Controlling the Feminine Voice” provides an in-depth look into the oppression of women in Medieval times. Both poems mentioned suggest that the less a woman talks, the less trouble she will make. In Cleanness as women in Biblical times speak more openly, society becomes less moral and in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Lady Bercilak uses her speech to tempt Gawain. Vitto also suggests that poets (especially those in the Middle Ages) greatly respected language. And that the Gawain-poet knew the dangers of language and felt that language was even more dangerous when coming from a woman.  

Vitto’s article is quite helpful in discerning two very important medieval poems and I agree with her point about the oppression of women. She uses gender criticism as well as historical criticism to make her point clear. Unfortunately, if one has not been pre-exposed to the poems, it will be rather difficult for that person to understand some of what Vitto is writing about. She quotes the poems in their original, Middle English, making it difficult to understand the meaning at times if not impossible. I would suggest trying to read some of both Cleanness and Sir Gawain and the Green Knights (translated into Modern English of course) before reading this article. I found that such background knowledge of the poems is quite helpful. Because of this I found the article to be very insightful and interesting. I would definitely recommend it to someone interested in the treatment of women during this time period.