Mother of God This page intentionally left blank M I R I RU B I N Mother of God A History of the Virgin Mary Yale University Press New Haven & London Disclaimer: Some images in the printed version of this book are not available for inclusion in the eBook. Published 2009 in the United States by Yale University Press Published 2009 in the United Kingdom by Allen Lane, an imprint of PenguinBooks Copyright © 2009 by Miri Rubin. All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publishers. Set in PostScript Adobe Sabon Typeset by Rowland Phototypesetting Ltd, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk Printed in the United States. Library of Congress Catalog Number: 2008939283 ISBN 978-0-300-10500-1 (hardcover : alk. paper) A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper). It contains 30 percent postconsumer waste (PCW) and is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Contents ListofIllustrations viii ListofMaps xi Acknowledgements xviii WritingaboutMary:AnIntroduction xxi part i From Temple Maiden to the Bearer of God: To the Year 431 1 TheEarliestGlimpsesofMary 3 2 MaryinaChristianEmpire 17 3 VersionsofMary 34 4 MaryoftheImperialState 43 part ii From the Eastern Mediterranean to the Irish Sea: To the Year 1000 5 MaryoftheChristianEmpire 53 6 BeyondtheGreekWorld 83 7 TheEmergenceofEuropeanMary 100 v contents part iii The Emergence of Mary’s Hegemony: 1000–1200 8 MaryoftheCloister 121 9 MaryofPolemicandEncounter 158 10 AbundanceandUbiquity 177 part iv Mary, Local and Familiar: 1200–1400 11 MaryinLiturgy,SongandPrayer 191 12 Mary,theFriars,andtheMotherTongue 197 13 TeachingMaryinParishandHome 217 14 Mary’sMiraclesasRewardandasPunishment 228 15 MaryattheFootoftheCross 243 16 MaryandWomen,MaryandMen 256 part v Mary as Queen and Reformer: 1400–1500 17 MarytheSublime 285 18 Mary:UnlikeAnyOther 303 19 MaryofParishPracticeandFamilyLife 313 20 Mary:AWorldofDevotionalPossibilities 332 part vi Mary Reformed, Mary Global: 1500 and Beyond 21 MaryofReformandReformation 355 22 FromEuropetotheRestoftheWorld 379 23 MaryinaWorldofNeighbouringDiversity 400 vi contents AfterMary:AConclusion 413 AFewCommentsonScholarshipandReading 425 Notes 428 Index 511 vii List of Illustrations 1 TheRoyalMail’s2005ChristmasstampsfeaturingimagesofMary fromEurope,Africa,AsiaandtheAmericas.(©RoyalMailGroup Ltd,2008) 2 StatueofMarybyDavidWynneintheLadyChapelatElycathedral. (©Elycathedral,Cambridgeshire) 3 Imageofabreastfeedingwomanhersoninthepresenceofaprophet onthewalloftheCatacombofPriscilla.(CatacombofPriscilla,Via Salaria,Rome;©PhotoScala,Florence) 4 Sixth–seventh-century painting of Mary and her son enclosed in a mandorla. (Private collection, wax encaustic painting on linen, placed upon a panel measuring 53.5 x 29.5 cm; photo: Temple Gallery) 5 EgyptianrepresentationofMaryasamotherfeedinghersonatthe breast, in a manner reminiscent of statues of the goddess Isis. (Antinoe Papyrus, PSI XV 1574; 10 x 10.5 cm © Istituto Papiro- logico G.Vitelli, Universita` degli Studidi Firenze,Italy, Trisnegistis no.68875) 6 Seventh-century niche decoration from the Egyptian monastery of Bawit.(TheArtArchive/CopticMuseum,Cairo/GianniDagliOrti) 7 TheimageofMaryintheGelloneSacramentary,c.790–804.(Paris, Bibliothe`queNationaledeFrance,msLat.12048,fol.1verso) 8 Mosaic decoration in the church of Hagia Sofia c.843–67. (Hagia Sofia,Istanbul;©akg-images/ErichLessing) 9 GoldenMadonnamadeforthearistocraticwomenattachedtoEssen cathedralaroundtheyear1000.(Essen,Domstift;74cmhigh,ona pedestal27cmhigh©Ullsteinbild/Topfoto) 10 Collectary made at Reichenau abbey, c.1010–30. (Hildesheim, Dombibliothek688,fol.77;22x16.5cm) viii list of illustrations 11 StatueoftheVirginMaryatRocamadourshrine,eleventh–twelfth century. (Sanctuary ofthe Blessed Virgin Mary,Rocamadour, Lot; ©RogerMechan/fots) 12 StatueofMaryseatedwiththesoninherlap.(MaredeDe´udeGer; 52.5 cm high, 20.5cm wide and 14.5 cm deep © MNAC–Museu Nacianal d’Art de Catalunya, Barcelona; photographers: Calveras/ Merida/Sagrista) 13 Carvingaddedtothefac¸adeofPoitierscathedralc.1250.(Cathedral of Saint-Pierre, Poitiers, Vienne; © akg-images/Jean-Paul Dumontier) 14 Brass canteen inlaid with silver made in Syria or northern Iraq c.1250.(FreerGalleryofArt,SmithsonianInstitution,Washington, DC;45.2x36.7cm) 15 ImagefromtheLambethApocalypseofc.1260ofamonkatwork, making a statue of Mary and her son. (Lambeth Palace, ms 209, fol. 2v; painted vellum 20 x 27.2 cm; © Lambeth Palace Library, London/TheBridgemanArtLibrary) 16 Altar decoration, the church of Santa Maria de Cardet. (Cardet Frontal;96x160cm;©MNAC–MuseuNacionald’ArtdeCatalu- nya,Barcelona;photographers:Calveras/Merida/Sagrista) 17 Mary’s funeral depicted on the south wall of Chalgrove parish church, before 1329. (Parish church of St Mary, Chalgrove, Oxfordshire) 18 Image of Mary in the current east window of the parish church of EatonBishop,c.1320.(ParishchurchofStMichaelandAllAngels, EatonBishop,Herefordshire;photoDavidRoss) 19 Illumination of the German mystic Henry Suso (c.1300–1366). (Bibliothe`que Nationale et Universitaire de Strasbourg, ms 2929, fol.8v;21.4x14.2cm) 20 Mary as Mother of Mercy (mater misericordia) painted in the interior of a statue of Mary and her son, c.1400. (Germanisches Museum,Nuremberg/TheBridgemanArtLibrary) 21 Ethiopian painting representing Mary and her son and Christ’s Passion.(Museumfu¨rVo¨lkerkunde,Munich,18x20cm) 22 Altarpiece depicting the meeting of Mary and Elizabeth from the villageofCsego¨ldinSzatma´rCounty,easternHungary.(Kereszteny Muzeum,Esztergom,86x72cm;photoAttilaMudrale) 23 Panel of c.1500 depicting Mary feeding her son by David Gerard ix