Writing Normandy Writing Normandy brings together eighteen articles by historian Felice Lifshitz, some of which are published here for the first time. The articles examine the various ways in which local and regional narratives about the past were created and revised in Normandy during the central Middle Ages. These narratives are analyzed through a combination of both cultural studies and manuscript studies in order to assess how they functioned, who they benefitted, and the various contexts in which they were transmitted. The essays pay particular attention to the narratives built around venerated saints and secular rulers, and in doing so bring together narratives that have traditionally been discussed separately by scholars. The book will appeal to scholars and students of cultural history and medieval history, as well as those interested in manuscript studies. Felice Lifshitz is Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies, and of Religious Studies at the University of Alberta, Canada. Her publications include G ender in Historical Film and Television (2018), co-edited with Carol Donelon and Siobhan Craig, and Religious Women in Early Carolingian Francia: A Study of Manuscript Transmission and Monastic Culture (2014). VARIORUM COLLECTED STUDIES Writing Normandy Felice Lifshitz Writing Normandy Stories of Saints and Rulers First published 2021 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business This edition © 2021 Felice Lifshitz The right of Felice Lifshitz to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or regis- tered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation with- out intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN: 978-0-367-13953-7 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-429-02934-9 (ebk) Typeset in Times New Roman by Apex CoVantage, LLC VARIORUM COLLECTED STUDIES SERIES CS1095 T his book is dedicated to the memory of Caroline Allen Pripps Marin. May she rest in power and in peace. CONTENTS List of abbreviations xiii Preface xvi Part I: “Hagiography” and historical representation 1 1 Beyond positivism and genre: “hagiographical” texts as historical narrative 3 Viator 25 (1994): 95–113, republished here with permission of the University of California Press. 2 Still useless after all these years: the concept of “hagiography” in the twenty-first century 26 Part II: Historiographic discourse and saintly relics: the archbishops and Rouen 47 3 The “Privilege of St. Romanus”: provincial independence and hagiographical legends at Rouen 49 Analecta Bollandiana 107 (1989):161–170, republished here with permission of the Société des Bollandistes. 4 The Acta Archiepiscoporum Rotomagensium : a monastery or cathedral product? 57 Analecta Bollandiana 108 (1990): 337–347, republished here with permission of the Société des Bollandistes. 5 Eight men in: Rouennais traditions of archiepiscopal sanctity 67 The Haskins Society Journal: Studies in Medieval History , vol. 2, ed. Robert B. Patterson (London: Hambledon Continuum, 1990), pp. 63–74, used by permission of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. ix