How Has Christina Challenged The System Of Power In Medieval Religion?

The lives of female saints throughout the middle ages was full of obstacles placed before them by those in power, mostly men. For many saints, maintaining their virginity and their oath to God was a daily battle against those who hoped to bring them down. One such saint, Christina of Markyate, fought against the authority of men, including her father, Bishops of the Church, and her husband. Christina is one example of how far a woman had to go to uphold the values she held dear. From Christina’s hagiography one can see how a female saint challenged the system of power in medieval society by refusing to consummate her marriage, repeatedly disobeying her father, and fighting head-on against the Catholic Bishops who repeatedly tried to force her

back within the power system of the time.
The true origins of Christina of Markyate’s hagiography are unclear, leading to unanswered questions and a shroud of mystery around the production of such a tale. The composer of Christina’s story remains anonymous to this day; however, it is believed that the author was someone from the St. Albans monastery in Hertfordshire who had a close relationship with Christina during her life. The details written out in Christina’s hagiography appeared to come directly from the women herself, suggesting that the author repeatedly met with Christina in person and trusted enough to be told about her trials and visions. In addition, the composer refers to St. Albans as “our monastery,” supporting the idea behind his location being that of St. Albans. There is some speculation based on who lived at the monastery at the time the hagiography is said to be written, but it is difficult to narrow the possibilities down to one sole person.
It could be assumed that Christina’s story was meant to create a cult following the same way other hagiographies tried to achieve, though her tale lacks some tropes normally found in other hagiography. The writer does showcase Christina’s miraculous actions, such as her visions and amazing escapes; however does not support her personal story with examples from the lives of other saints, nor does he focus solely on Christina’s supernatural signs of holiness. Instead, the story reads more like --. Without the name of the author or a prologue, of which would normally explain the author’s reasoning for composing the story, it’s difficult to know the true reason why Christina’s life was recorded.
Others, such as translator, C.H. Talbot, who edited and translated Christina’s hagiography in 1959, infer that the saint’s life was record for the benefit of the nuns at Markyate as Christina had been the founder. Either way, without a clear author, or even a prologue that provides the date that the story was written, it is hard to truly know the reasoning behind Christian’s hagiography; however, that does not prevent the story from showcasing the power dynamics felt between men and women during the 12th century.
According to the hagiography, Christina was born to a wealthy family in Huntingdon and was dedicated to God from a young age.

She spoke to God late at night, and showed an interested in lives of monks at the St. Albans monastery, which she often visited with her parents. While Christina devoted much of her time and thought to her faith, the people around her, including her family, mocked her dedication throughout her early years. Sometime between 1111 and 1112, during a visit to St. Albans when Christina was around the age of sixteen, she swore an oath of chastity and virginity to God. A man named Sueno, described as “a man advanced in age, conspicuous for his good life, and influential in his teachings,” confirmed Christina’s vow. Sueno was a key religious advisor to Christina during this time as he offered her encouraging words about both “the difficulty of preserving it [virginity], and the glory of having preserved it intact.” Besides Sueno, there is nothing written in her hagiography suggesting that anyone else knew about Christina’s vow to

God.
In 1115 when Burthred, a young nobleman, gained Christina’s parents’ consent to marry Christina, her vow of chastity was put to the test. The bishop of Durham supported the engagement in an attempt to get revenge against Christina for refusing his sexual advances. Christina outright refused the idea of marriage and provided her vow of virginity as the reason behind her resistance; however, her family mocked her and “made fun of her rashness.” When Christina still refused the engagement, her family tried to change her mind by offering gifts, making promises, and even threatening her; however, nothing convinced her to freely change her mind about the engagement. It was not until her family “attacked” her in a church that Christina consented to the marriage. The author of Christina’s hag- confesses that they did not know the true details of what happened that day, but that it was enough to force Christina to yield.
During the 11th and 12th century, Church reformers made a strong attempt to redefine the fundamental principles of marriage and put bring marital unions under the direct control of the Church. The principles were divided into seven rules:
First, marriage must be monogamous; second, marriage should be indissoluble; third, marital unions should be contracted freely by the parties themselves, not by their parents or families; fourth, marriage represents the only legally protected type of sexual relationship, and therefore concubinage must be eliminated, even among the laity; fifth, and as a corollary of the fourth principle, all sexual activity outside of marriage must be punished by legal sanctions; sixth, all sexual activity, marital and nonmarital, falls solely under ecclesiastical jurisdiction; and seventh, marriage must become exogamous, and intermarriage within related groups of families should therefore be eliminated.

Laymen, especially nobles, resisted the new rules as it shifted the source of power surrounding marriage away from them. In a society where political alliances were created through marriage contracts and informal unions the idea of making marriage monogamous, eliminating sexual activity outside of marriage, and making marriage a permeant, indissoluble contract pushed too far. Surprisingly even with the protests from nobles, monarchs and other laymen, the Church reformers’ rules were implemented and they created a new unified system for marriage. There is clear evidence of how changes, and how they affected society, within Christina’s hag- through the actions of Christina’s parents and family members. Instead of forcing or demanding Christina marry Burthred, her parents attempt to convince her to agree to the engagement, suggesting that they no longer had the power to create a marriage contract without her consent. While these rules gave Christina some control over her life by giving her power over her marital status, she was still under the power structure of her parents as she lived in their house. As she continued to rebel against traditions, her parents turned to members of the Church and their holy power to shift the balance in their favor.
After the wedding, Christina refused to “submit to the physical embraces of any man,” and the marriage was not consummated. When her family learned over her continuous resistance, they made repeated attempts to force the issue. They tried the usual methods of offering compliments, gifts, promises and threatens, but when she did not give in, they moved to more drastic tactics. First, they cut her off from the religious world, refusing to allow her to visit the monastery or the small chapel and restricting her from speaking with any religious people. When this still did not break Christina of her vow, her parents made a strong attempt to get the girl drunk and allowed her husband into her bedroom.
Burthred found his wife sitting on waiting for him and she then proceeded to recite the tale of St. Cecilia and her husband Valerian. The couple talked for most of the night, but the marriage was still never commutated. When others found out, they warned Burthred “not to be misled by her[Christina’s] deceitful tricks and naive words no he lose his manliness.” The criticism of his manhood led Burthred to entered Christina’s bedroom twice more, but Christina avoids him each time, first by hanging from a nail in the wall and then by jumping over a seemly impossible tall fence.
It is unique that while Christina repeatedly avoided her husband’s advances, the power struggle between Christina and Burthred was not the major power struggle outlined during their time together. Burthred’s repeated attempts to force Christina into bed are fueled by the words of others, often Christina’s parents, through attacks on his character. When the young maiden asked for Burthred’s consent to be released from the marriage, he agreed. dissolve the marriage, he agrees until Christina’s parents set upon with “unbelievable fury,” and forcefully change his mind. Burtherd’s actions highlight that the real power struggle was between Christina and her parents.
Frustrated by her refusal Christina’s father, Autti, took her before a prior and his canons for help. With the sacrament of marriage firmly under the Church’s control, it was a logical next step for Autti to seek the advice and assistance of Church officials to help get his religious daughter back under his control. Autti relays his anger to the clergy men:
Yet, no matter how she was led into it, if she resists our authority and rejects it, we shall be the laughing-stock of our neighbors, a mockery and derision to those who are round about. Wherefore, I beseech you, plead with her to have pity on us: let her marry in the Lord and take away our reproach. Why must she depart from tradition? Why should she bring this dishonor on her father? Let her do now what we wish and she can have all that we possess.

Autti believed that Christina should give into the marriage and recognize his parental power over her life. He also expressed a deep concern about the family’s overall reputation as Christina was breaking with the traditions of the nobility by refusing to finalize the marriage contract.
Yet even before the prior, who questioned Christina’s reasoning and challenged her vow to God, the woman refused to yield and the issue was then brought before Bishop Robert of Lincoln.

After the prior and others took the case to the Bishop, who ruled in Christina’s favor, Autti then bribed the man to change his mind. According to the hag-, Christina’s parents “hoped that she would have children who would be like her in character,” and the fact that Christina had taken a vow of chastity and refused to consummate her marriage made them believe “that they would lose her and all that they could hope to gain through her.” They repeatedly make clear attempts to force their daughter to consummate her marriage, yet all of them fail. The author of the hag- equals these events to supernatural intervention; however, Christina’s resistance to her parents’ authority and dramatic escape from the traditions of nobility showcase how difficult and dangerous it was to move against society’s expectations about parental authority and marriage. Her hag- provides an inside look at the trials one would have to subject themselves to in an attempt to move beyond the power structure and gain control for

themselves.