Saint Christina Of Markyate

Saint Christina of Markyate’s story provides more than the religious experiences of a hermit, it presents twelfth-century life in, mostly, the Huntington area of England in a very detailed manner. Baptized as Theodora, Christina of Markyate’s path of religious devotion is claimed to have begun in her early teen years with a vow of chastity (35). This vow was only known to one other person, a close friend named Sueno, until her parents attempted to arrange a marriage for her. Being described as attractive and intelligent, as well as coming from a wealthy family, this was not uncommon for women in Christina’s lifetime. Upon declining the first suitor, a bishop, her hardships begin and, at times, seem as though they were both unlikely to end and

The text is presented in a very matter of fact way that even though there are religious quotes throughout and thanks to God, Christina is rarely put on a pedestal. There are few moments outside of the opening of the story in which she is painted as an angelic being that is more than human. In fact, the presentation of her mother’s pregnancy being given a sign that she was carrying a religious child almost does not fit the narrative because few treated Christina worse than her mother, Beatrix. The image of a dove surrounded by light seeking shelter in Beatrix’s tunic reads, presently, as a bit ludicrous (2). However, when analyzing the document and accounting for the level of religious superstition in the twelfth century, whether this event occurred or not, similar situations are ascribed to most religious figures, most notably with Mary’s pregnancy with Jesus. Additionally, the detail with which the writer describes Christina’s visions and physical illnesses during her trials left room for critical analysis of what were likely undiagnosed medical conditions (31-33). Even still, the manuscript does not overtly paint her as more than a very religious woman. In fact, no one is free of the writer’s criticism of their behavior, not even Christina, whose dialogue is at times quite

While it was likely commissioned for and or by St. Albans, the author presents simple facts about religious marital law and hermitage, as well as how one takes vows of celibacy. There is no critique of Christina’s teenage vow only being shared with Sueno. Throughout the manuscript, whenever Christina’s parents acted against the vow, the author’s presentation is almost a narrative checklist of behaviors against her with a missing critique outside of their acts having been led by Satan, and even this does not occur every time (47-49, 67-69, 73-75). Even these rare mentions could simply be brushed aside as the common perspective of anyone in twelfth century against a person trying to rid their daughter of her virginity by any means possible. Rather, the author presented every event in a chronological order and explained the whys and wherefores as they went along. Furthermore, the seemingly insignificant details throughout the manuscript broaden the scope of the text for historians beyond Christina and