The Hidden History of Women’s Ordination This page intentionally left blank The Hidden History of Women’s Ordination Female Clergy in the Medieval West gary macy 1 2007 3 OxfordUniversityPress,Inc.,publishesworksthatfurther OxfordUniversity’sobjectiveofexcellence inresearch,scholarship,andeducation. Oxford NewYork Auckland CapeTown DaresSalaam HongKong Karachi KualaLumpur Madrid Melbourne MexicoCity Nairobi NewDelhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto Withofficesin Argentina Austria Brazil Chile CzechRepublic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore SouthKorea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Copyright#2008byOxfordUniversityPress,Inc. PublishedbyOxfordUniversityPress,Inc. 198MadisonAvenue,NewYork,NewYork10016 www.oup.com OxfordisaregisteredtrademarkofOxfordUniversityPress Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced, storedinaretrievalsystem,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans, electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recording,orotherwise, withoutthepriorpermissionofOxfordUniversityPress. LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Macy,Gary. Thehiddenhistoryofwomen’sordination:femaleclergyinthe medievalWest/GaryMacy. p. cm. Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. ISBN978-0-19-518970-4 1. Ordinationofwomen—Europe—History—To1500. 2. Ordination— Historyofdoctrines—MiddleAges,600–1500. I. Title. BV676.M332007 262'.1408209—dc22 2007004478 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica onacid-freepaper Ad omnes clericas praeteritas praesentes futurasque This page intentionally left blank Preface The factthat women were ordained for the first twelvehundred yearsofChristianitywillsurprisemanypeople.Itsurprisedmewhen I first discoveredit. Some of the people interestedin learning about this deliberately hidden history will be scholars, specialists such as myself.Given the heated debates over the ordination of women in severalChristian communities, however,thetopic is likely to be of interest to many nonspecialists as well. These two audiences, however, have different needs. Scholars will quite rightly demand to know on what grounds I am making the claims and interpretations that the book offers. Such argumen- tation requires accurate bibliographic references to and quotations from both the original sources as well as the secondary sources cited in the book. I have provided these necessary proofs in the original language. They are relegated, however, to the notes. For most readers, this specialized information is inaccessible. Many don’t read the Latin of the primary sources, and the second- ary studies are often obscure texts difficult to obtain and decipher. For those readers I have tried to provide either a translation or para- phrase in the text of most of the Latin quotations cited. All the trans- lations are mine unless indicated otherwise. Whenever possible, I have also directed readers to English translations of the Latin docu- ments used in the study. When English translations are available forthesecondarysourcesthatIcite,Iprovideaninitialreferencetothe source in its original language and then cite the English translation. viii preface Thisdoublereferencingcanbecumbersome,Iadmit.Itseemedthebest way,though,tomakethebookasaccessibleaspossibletoeveryoneinterested in the topic whatever their training in history and languages. Nevertheless, I readilyadmitanulteriormotiveandthatisadesiretosharemyownsheerjoy of discovery. Not only do I want to introduce such fascinating sources to the wider audience they deserve, but I would also like to infect the uninfected reader with the delightful addiction of scholarship. Come on in, I would like tosuggest,thewaterisfine.Andifyouaren’tyettrainedtofacetheheavysurf ofdeeperwaters,well,therearemarvelousdiscoveriestobemadeintidepools aswell.Theoceanoflearningisvast,beautiful,mysterious,andonceyouput your foot in the water, you may find it hard to resist its charms. One further convention used in this book needs explanation. In ordinary American English usage, the terms ‘‘continence’’ ‘‘chastity,’’ and ‘‘celibacy’’ are practicallyinterchangeable.Allgenerallyrefertoabstentionfromsexualactivity, particularly abstention from sexual intercourse. For the purposes of this study only,however,thewordswillhavedistinctmeanings,asindeedtheydoinmost Christian theology. ‘‘Celibacy’’ will refer to the technical state of being unmar- ried. ‘‘Continence’’ will mean abstention from sexual activity, while ‘‘chastity’’ will mean moral sexual practice within one’s state of life. So, for instance, a marriedpersonischasteifsheorheperformsintercourseonlywithherorhis ownspouse,howeversheorheisnotcontinent,andcertainlynotcelibate. The distinction is important for this study since some clergy during the MiddleAgeswerechaste,butnotcelibateorcontinent.Theseweretheclergy who were married and continued to have conjugal relations. Some married clergy, as we will see, took vows of continence but remained married. These coupleswouldnotbecelibatebutwouldbebothchasteandcontinent.Ifthey broke their vows, and resumed conjugal relations, they would still be chaste but not continent. After the twelfth century, neither deacons nor priests nor bishops could contract a valid marriage. They were celibate by definition but were not necessary either continent or chaste, although they were certainly supposed to be so. Since celibacy was always recognized as a merely disci- plinarylawofthechurch,butnotadivinecommand,clergycouldbeexempted from this law. Since they had taken no vows of chastity, as had clergy in re- ligiousorders,theywereasfreeasanyotherChristiantoliveachaste,andsex- ually active, married life once the law was lifted. Celibacy, chastity, and continence,therefore,arecarefullydistinguishedforthepurposesofthebook. The difference is a bit tricky, but it seemed the best way to make the dis- tinctions the medievals themselves were making. Withthesefewcaveatsoutoftheway,Iwouldliketoexpressthegratitude Iowesomanypeoplewhohavemadethisprojectpossible.First,Iwouldlike preface ix tothanktheNationalHumanitiesCenterandtheLuceFoundation.Thebulk of this book was written while Senior Luce Fellow at the Center. I could not have had a more pleasant environment in which to work. The staff at the Center was professional, extremely helpful, and graciously welcoming. My thanks to everyone there. ParticularthanksareduetoJoAnnMcNamaraandElizabethClark,who read what I thought was the finished text of the book. Their many thought- ful and challenging suggestions strengthened the book. Without their help, thestudywouldhavebeenmuchthepoorer.Ifthetextmanagestoriseabove theusual boringscholarly recitation,itisinpartduetoPaul St.Amour, who readanearlydraftofthebook.Hiscommentshelpedmeseealivelynarrative in my drudging research. At different stages of the project, numerous scholars offered critiques, references to sources, challenges, and encouragement. I owe them all more than I can say. Marcia Colish, Giles Constable, Mark Zier, Constant Mews, DavidLuscombe,AlastairMinnis,AnneClark,MichaelClanchy,MarieAnne Mayeski,J.FrankHenderson,WilliamW.Bassett,DonaldLogan,andTeresa Berger deserve special mention here. Allstudiesrelyontheworkofothers,andthisdoesmorethanmost.The early scholarship of Franz Gillmann, Joan Morris, and Ida Raming laid the foundations for this book. Without their work this book would not exist. In truth,thisstudyonlyexpandsandstrengthenstheargumentstheymadequite some time ago. The notes and discussions will make it apparent how much I have also relied on more recent studies, especially those of the historians Jo Ann McNamara, Marie Anne Mayeski, Maureen Miller, Robert Swanson, Prudence Allen, Anne Barstow, Ute Eisen, John Hilary Martin, Alastair Minnis, Giorgio Otranto, and Suzanne Wemple, as well as the theologians, YvesCongar,Pierre-MarieGy,LudwigOtt,andPeterHu¨nermann.ThestoryI tell is more a report of their findings than any original work of my own. IalsoneedtothankJaneVia,atrueclerica,aminister,scholar,andfriend ofmanyyears,who notonlyencouragedme tofinish this work,but also told meinnouncertaintermsthatIbetterfinishit.Thenthereareallmyfriends inSanDiegowholistenedpatientlyandendlesslytopresentationsofdifferent stages of my research. Mostly,however,Iwanttothankmywife,Saralynn,forherwisepatience inputtingupwiththealternativelywhining,exuberant,moaning,manic,and petulant irrationality that always accompanies my research and writing. AspecialthanksisalsoduetoCynthiaReadandthewonderfulpeopleat Oxford University Presswithout whom the book would never have appeared.