Rachel Marzean  

Goodman, Barbara A.  “The Female Spell-caster in Middle English Romances: Heretical Outsider or Political Insider?”  Essays in Medieval Studies 15 (1998): 45-54.  22 Oct 2003 . <http://www.luc.edu/publications/medieval/vol15/goodman. htmld>      

This article discusses the potential relationship between heresy and spell-casting as it appears in the Middle English Romance.  On examining a group of romances and historical evidence, Goodman  states that the two were typically seen as related in the Middle Ages and that the gender difference among the accusations of heresy and witchcraft usually figured into this connection.  Women were the ones typically suspected to be involved in witchcraft, as was seen with various written works from the time in which only one male was accused of practicing sorcery.  They were seen as weaker in both mind and body so witchcraft could have been a way for them to assert their power, especially among the noble women.  An example presented by the article is that of Joan of Navarre, Henry V’s stepmother, who imagined a gruesome death for him with the intention of making it a reality.  These were the actions of intelligent women who wanted to be treated as equals, but did not receive due privilege so they would accumulate power by using sorcery.  This argument also relates to females trying to prevent the patrilineal descent line of the males in the family, a tradition followed by royalty.  Goodman provides stories of women who brought harm upon their heirs to gain power and try to further their ancestral line, or matrilineal descent group.                      

Heresy was linked to witchcraft by the practice of necromancy, which was “explicitly demonic magic.”  Those practicing necromancy could have fit the profile for heretics, but that was not always the case.  The article describes some women who would have been labeled heretics, such as Lollard women, but they may have been involved only because their family was.  This type of heresy was far different from the spell-casting activities that the women practiced alone, although both share the Church-contradicting characteristic that would have qualified them for heresy.  Whatever the similarities that existed between heresy and spell-casting, including a punishment of death by burning, the article stressed that they were not formally labeled as one and the same. The author supports her position very well, with many examples from written works; so many, in fact, that her argument was mainly based on analyzing the message put forth by medieval authors about spell-casting and heresy in relation to women.  I would agree with her that the two were characteristically similar, and I would say that spell-casting could be lumped in with heresy, instead of remaining a separate category, especially concerning necromancy.  The prevalence of women spell-casters was an interesting point, but it seemed somewhat controversial in that the people accusing the women were most often men so it seems as if male spell-casters could have existed with just as much incidence, but simply lived without accusation.  The occurrence of spell-casting in general is controversial because many of the accused were not guilty of their crimes.  Women did, however, have a motive for it, as they were vying for equal power so it makes sense that women would be accused of spell-casting more than men.  This article might be relevant to a study of witchcraft in the Middle Ages, especially with a focus on how it was portrayed in written works and possibly on a study of the history of heresy.

Graybill, Robert V.  “Courts of Love: Challenge to Feudalism.”  Essays in Medieval

Studies  5 (1988): 93-100. 22 Oct. 2003 .  <http://www.luc.edu/publications/

medieval/vol5/graybill.html>  

This article claims that the creation of courtly love started a decline in the system of feudalism in medieval Europe .  It proposes that although the feudal political system, especially its judicial courts, was relatively strong, it was challenged by love, which, “had to have its own system of authority, its own court” (Graybill 93).  Courtly love was not, however, originally intended to defeat feudalism, but to control improper adulterous behavior caused by arranged marriages or turn those behaviors into ones that could be seen as socially acceptable. Graybill says that some noble ladies established love “courts,” although many others disagree with this assumption.  However, he says that these social gatherings would have been just the kind of social activity that 12^th century women would have enjoyed.  The power in these courts was not one of legal authority, but a kind of social power to encourage, advise, or shame its members.  Those who argued against the occurrence of these courts of love say that since they were assumed to be held and conducted mainly by women, this would not have been allowed at that time, and, therefore, would never had taken place to the extent that Graybill claims.  According to him, the courts of love assisted in the decline of feudalism because the vassals would split their loyalty between their ruling lord and his lady, causing a conflict in devotion.  Also, after a vassal first went against his lord by seducing his lady, it would be no small feat to do so again.  This led to a decrease in power of the feudal lords, and, therefore, a breakdown of the feudal system itself.   

Although Graybill explains how the “courts of love” were a challenge to feudalism, the article seemed to cover the general history of courtly love more than was necessary for general background information.  Also, the article’s organization was confusing in that the background information was presented after the author’s main point, and information about the effects of courtly love on religion was also thrown in out of nowhere.  I thought the author presented an interesting argument in citing courtly love as one of the causes of the decline of feudalism, but I also think that it did not play as much of a role as he made it seem.  So many changes contributed to the decline of feudalism that it would be hard to put a great stress on the importance of just one.  As for the existence of “love courts,” I don’t know whether they truly existed or not.  It’s possible that the same types of situations occurred without that formal label, such as during parties and salons.  It would have been difficult, however, for women to organize such gatherings primarily because it would require them to exercise a great deal of power that they would not have been allowed.  This article would not be especially useful in a study of feudalism, despite its title, because it did not ultimately focus on that as its main point.  It may be helpful to provide an understanding of the workings of courtly love though.  Also, it says something about the role of women in medieval Europe , such as how much power they held in feudal society.

Haliczer, Stephan. “The Jew As Witch: Displaced Aggression and the Myth of the Santo Nino de La Guardia.”  Cultural Encounters: The Impact of the Inquisition in Spain and the New World., Eds. Mary Elizabeth Perry and Anne J. Cruz..  Berkeley : University of California Press, 1991. 146-155.   

This article attempts to prove that Spain largely avoided the great witch hunts that were taking place elsewhere in Europe at the time.  This lack of witch persecution was attributed to the Spanish Inquisition, which, it said, set up the Spanish legal system for the treatment of those events.  The Holy Office also discouraged massive witch hunts. It goes on to say that although Spain was very similar to the other European countries in that time socially and economically, another “target of displaced aggression” drew attention away from the persecution of witches, and this target was the Jews.  The Jews were seen as Spain ’s greatest enemy and even “conversos,” as Jews who had converted to Christianity were labeled, were distrusted, and they received all of the mistreatment formerly reserved for those of the Jewish faith. The myth of La Guardia involved Jews using the blood of Christians in their Passover rituals and enacting the crucifixion of Christ to mock Christians.  This was then viewed as a Jewish plot to overturn the Christians and, especially, the inquisitors.  At the same time that a small group of Jews were being persecuted for this, the leaders of Spain were preparing a position on witchcraft for the Inquisition to follow, and they decided that, since many accusations turned out to be imaginary, “witches” would be tried by the Holy Office instead, which led to a less extreme witch hunt than in other areas of Europe, according to the article.   

The author seems very well-versed in the status of Jews in Spain and how they were viewed throughout history.  He defended his position well, as there was a lot of factual information, and the specific story concerning the myth of La Guardia was very appropriate for the article and useful in proving that Jews were supplements for witches in Spain during the time of the Inquisition.  I didn’t necessarily agree with his point however.  With very limited knowledge of the Inquisition in Spain , I thought that the witch hunts in Spain were of approximately the same intensity of those elsewhere in Europe , so I was surprised when the article contradicted this.  He did support it well though, and the article was clear and concise so I would trust his opinion.  This article would be helpful in the research of the treatment of Jews throughout history or the prevalence of witch hunts in Spain , especially in comparison with those in the rest of Europe . 

Levack, Brian P. “Introduction.”  In New Perspectives on Witchcraft, Magic, and Demonology: Gender and Witchcraft.  New York/London: Routledge, 2001. vii-x.  

The introduction discusses the perceived prevalence of witchcraft accusations against women in early modern Europe and whether this truly reflected a gender bias against them as a group by historians because they have not taken into account the role of gender in their analysis of the subject.  Levack proposes that women were traditionally accused because of the misogyny of judges, moral weakness, carnal lust, and the clerical hatred of women, but more recent historical studies have provided new interpretations.  Recent studies reject, for example, the misogyny of judges’ idea because most accusations were made by villagers, not political leaders.  Women were more at risk for this because they performed tasks related to magic (traditional folk healing) as part of their everyday life, such as cooking and healing.  Also, women were persecuted because they were, “marginal members of society,” especially those who were poor and unmarried.  The writing argues that significant numbers of men were accused of witchcraft early on, especially in relation to the crime of heresy but that overall substantially more women were accused.  Finally, the introduction explains that women accused others of their own gender and of, “giving shape to their own confessions.”  So while some reasons are given to explain why women were accused, it is shown that women were not the soul “victims.”   

This introduction is a very informative, yet opinionated, summary of the gender issues involved in witchcraft that make the book seem like it would be a very useful study on the subject.  The author makes good points about males also being accused of witchcraft and some of the reasons for the accusations being false.  I think that women are too often stereotypically seen to be the only sex capable of witchcraft, and misogyny is suspected as the cause of too many events, since women were natural targets because of their lower status and role in society.

Rieder, Paula M.  “The Implications of Exclusion: The Regulation of Churching in

Medieval Northern France .”  Essays in Medieval Studies 15 (1998): 71-80. 

27 Oct. 2003 .  <http://www.luc.edu/publications/medieval/vol15/rieder.html>.    

This article was about the churching, or religious purification of women that took place after they gave birth to cleanse them from the sin of intercourse and the process of childbirth.  It details the regulations against certain kinds of women taking place in the churching.  There was a major emphasis on only legitimately married women being allowed churching.  “Fornicators, adulteresses, lay and clerical concubines, and women guilty of incest,” could not participate in this activity, as declared by statutes created by local bishops (73). Rieder also writes about the implications of some women being excluded from churching.  First of all, it encouraged women to be loyal wives and good mothers and rewarded them for decent behavior.  She said that churching was a privilege for women since they were for a brief time, in an elevated position.  The restriction of churching also proved the church’s discipline and strengthened their positions on scandalous behavior.  Rieder claims that there were also negative effects of the restrictions on churching.  It confirmed male domination since all the women allowed churching had earned the right by submission to men.  Also, the women excluded from churching would have suffered severe ostracization since the whole community would then know their sins.     

The article conveys the idea that churching was a fairly important ritual in medieval society, which seemed odd since the author also mentions that it was hardly ever researched or acknowledged in any way by historians.  It seems as if it would have been a significant process for women though, which could be why not much attention has been paid to it, due to the male-dominated historical perspective.  The implications that it held for women, especially those that were excluded from receiving churching sounded fairly severe; that just shows, however, how frequently medieval societies found ways to discriminate against women.  The isolation of the excluded women reminds one of the Jews being marked with the star, for example, because everyone would know that the women had committed sexual indiscretions. This article was very informative and could be useful in a study of early medieval church regulations, since it clearly details a statute of local bishops.  It could also serve as proof for the discrimination against women or the unequal treatment of them, since men were not required to undergo churching for their sexual sins, even though they played just as much of a part as the women.  Therefore, men were not excluded from any sort of religious purification since they were somehow seen to not need it.  This just furthers male domination over women in medieval society.