The Life of St. Liutberga, 9th Century Introduction: Saint Liutberga (d. ca 870) was a nun in the kingdom of Saxony. She was taken out of a convent by a countess name Gisla who traveled in order to supervise her scattered properties. Liutberga, who was already educated, was trained as Gisla’s assistant and traveled with her. Her Life was written shortly after her death by a monk named Halberstadt who had known her later in her life. As you read this consider how this account portrays optional roles for women within medieval society. 1. In his time, the emperor Charles the Great, first to bear the august title of caesar in German lands, subjugated many nations to the kingdom of the Franks. Among them he acquired many of the most noble and prepotent men of the Saxon people of that age with great estates. He subdued some by way of war and [converted] others by the industry of his own ingenuity and great sagacity from pagan rites to the religion of the Christians. One of the first and most noble among these was named Hesse with whom he kept company more than others. He sustained him with great honors because he remained faithful to him in everything. Hesse lacked male children, for his only son died in the flower of his youth leaving his rich substance to his daughters. When he grew very old he distributed the inheritance among his daughters and entered the Lord's service at Fulda and died happily in the monastic habit. 2. One of his daughters, Gisla, born first among the others, took a husband named Unwan by whom she had a son, Bernhart, and two daughters, one called Bilihild and the other Hruothild, both of whom founded monasteriola after the death of their husbands and took the sanctimonial habit: one in Winithohus (Windenhausen) in Saxony, in the country called Harthagewi (Harz) which separated Saxony and Thuringia; the other in Franconia in Salugewe, in the neighborhood of Bochonia in the place called Karolsbach (east of Gemundae at Moenum). Each of the girls ruled their own congregations of virgins respectively (Bilihild at Windenhausen and Hruothild at Karolsbach). Gisla herself in widowhood led a religious life, building many churches and giving alms and caring for pilgrims. I don't know you should discern a virile soul in the feminine sex with sharp ingenuity in carrying out various affairs, or whether you might wonder at the effect of piety. 3. When this matron was travelling on business, because she had to care for possessions in many different places, she arrived at a certain place where the hour forced her to request hospitality. The monastery of virgins there had a guesthouse nearby and the proper buildings they had prepared seemed comfortable enough. One of the maidens serving her caught her eye for that young girl (virgunculam) seemed to excel the others of her age in form and intelligence. With a servant's diligence, she directed them all at a nod with a clever mind. [The matron] silently observed her consideration and way of acting and began to make inquiries about who she was and what family she sprang from, her birth and profession of condition. She answered all this prudently and in order, saying she came of decent parents from Salzburg, explaining their ancestry and condition and expounding her whole way of life. And she would willingly have taken vow except for her tender age. Suddenly [Gisla's] mind was made up and she began to urge her powerfully to go with her and commit herself to her in trust, swearing under divine witness that she would remain with her for all time as beloved as her own daughter born. 4. Believing this promise, [Liutberga] took the road with [Gisla] and, as I believe by consent of divine providence, the will of both of them was fulfilled. Afterward, she asserted that this happened by divine will because she had vowed to be a pilgrim and God, to whom she had given herself in her mind, had made it possible. So that maiden Liutberga went with the matron Gisla touring all her possessions and the maid continued this office with charity as day followed day and became ever more dear not only to those with whom she dealt but among all who knew her. So she lived in the house of her great lady, noble by nature, and all her virtues grew into flower as she matured. She was wise in counsel, truthful in word, honest in her duties, generous in alms, constant in works, excellent in piety, foremost in every benignity, caring for the sick and ending discord. Opening her heart to the misery of the needy, she loved everyone, and everyone loved her. This happy virago overflowing with her many gifts, daily augmented her perfection step by step, more and more pleasing to God as to men. 5. As we said, the virago Liutberga was fit for everything, strong in her ways, particularly tireless in divine praises, psalms and hymns and spiritual canticles according to the apostle in her heart offering to her Lord the devout sacrifices of her mind. To explicate briefly the study of her behavior, whatever she thought might be pleasing to God she embraced with all the love in her heart, and she avoided the enticements of an evil world as a steep cliff. She worked steadily at holy scripture and, meditating daily, became ever more proficient so that her intellect gained a profundity that would have become even more learned had she not been impeded by the imbecility of her sex. 6. She was so greatly skilled in those diverse arts that pertain to woman's work that in places where she was known the people called her Daedala. She remained faithful to her mistress, and yet so merciful that she was called mother of the poor. So it happened that the common people proclaimed her happy fame and she came to the notice of the nobility, the leading men and matrons, and her friends increased and came to love her most heartily. It was wonderful how she was first dear and then became more beloved so that she had friends in every part of the country where she travelled. 7. By time she was mature the venerable matron Gisla had become infirm and the day of her death drew near. She called her son Bernard and told him: "My son, don't neglect your mother's words but give heed to my last precepts. I leave you with full substance and diverse possessions, buildings and ornaments which should suffice to sustain you in this life if God wills. May you always remember to strive for the restoration of the church and recuperation of the derelict and take care of your sisters sollicitously, showing them the diligence of benign supervision and brotherly love. For custody easily suffers a little defect in women, if every manly vigilance has not been given in good time to their tuition. And one other thing I commend to you one way and the other, from the faith of your mother, and require by most urgent petition and maternal affection; it is that you will give fitting honor to my beloved daughter Liutberga whom I have adopted by promise of faith as my own daughter and that you will procure her fitting honor and hold her in love joined among the number of your sisters and heed her counsel and commit to her care any precious things you possess; because I have always held her in the highest trust." And grasping his hand she commended her in trust to her son and kissing him and saluting all in peace, ended her life. And she was buried with honors in the time of the emperor Louis, father of Lothar and Pepin and Louis and Charles, and she left her son Bernhard as heir. 8. For a long time, Liutberg remained in the house of her lord according to the disposition of his mother. She had the governance of the things [Gisla] had possessed so that the rule of the house constituted a burden for her. His lordship held her in maternal love and sincere honor and she all the domestics of both sexes loved her as a mother and so did the whole familia.. Bernhard took as wife a daughter of the great count Lothar, named Reginhild, who bore him two sons, one named for his father and the other named Otwin. And the she burned with so much love for the venerable Liutberga that she was not readily deceived by her appearance at that time. As from maternal example she copied her good habits and honest gravity of manners, and provided [everyone] daily with many things from her generosity. And after she had been confined for a long time in sickness, still in youthful immaturity, her life ended and she left her husband and her sons in a storm of sorrow. 9. And Bernhard not able to sustain his youthful life without the consolation of a wife, took another of the noblest birth, a wife of the greatest beauty and propriety, and with this wealth lessened the sorrow of the first wound. She was called Helmburg, from whom four sons and two daughters were born, of whom the eldest was named Unwan, then Adalbert, the third Asic, the fourth Ediram, names drawn from her relatives, and two daughters named Gisla and Bilihild. And the mother and children grew strong under the care of venerable Liutberga and showed her the highest devotion of love so much that she was called genetrix rather than nutrix. 10. Bernhard, having many possessions from both his parents, and many properties in various places, could not easily tolerate the absence of the venerable woman because she was the faithful guardian and dispensatrix of his things. But wherever she was staying, she never omitted to visit the house of God by day and night and attend divine services assiduously and keep vigils in the night till dawn, She was so strenuous in never permitting any detriment pertaining to the divine work that everyone began thought it a great miracle. She had great learning and exacted from her body the labor of a man, not an imbecile. Divine help gave constancy to her soul, rising toward the heavens without doubt. She never bent beneath the weight of her burdens but daily contended among the men of the palaestrum against the allurements of the world and the temptations of the flesh, incentives to bodily lust and mental petulance, smooth blandishments against her chastity, and maintained sobriety to extirpate the roots of evil delight. 11. Having made fasts and vigils, worn down with labor, as we noted, she began to consume her body with inedia. The color of her face changed and her physical vigor languished. Pallor began to replace the living color of her countenance and her skin adhered to her bones stretching her emaciated aspect, for the more she progressed, from the parts from the night by which she was most sharply tested, the more she kept watch. Therefore it soon became her custom, if she were staying somewhere where there was no church known to her, she would [seek one out] to keep vigil all night with only a little boy or girl. She would generally hear mass or take communion before going on her way. She thus governed her lord's house not only with words but with the example of virtue. 12. Seeing her thus grow pale and emaciated, the count paid heed to her saying to those who stood by: "What infirmity grips our beloved mother Liutberga?" He was answered that the cause of this was not illness but rather inedia and wakefulness and constant affliction of her body. She was continually going by night to distant churches that were difficult of access with no company but a little boy or little girl. Every night, she was wandering in her bare feet. Stupefied, the count called her to him and addressed him in his accustomed respectful and soft manner, saying: "Dearest, mother, who has always led the way in gravity and honesty of life, not only in words but in making yourself a mirror, do you now take so precipitous a way as though striving to reach a premature death before the time predestined by God? There is an armed and frightful man hereabouts, a pagan or one false to the name of Christian, who day and night unnerves the hearts even of the strong because of his thieving. For there is so much danger from his fury that, unless you leap into the teeth of ravening beasts or the jaws of the wolves, you will find nothing worse. Our worst enemies, not sorrowing, could say nothing except that this [behavior] springs from evil and superstition. So all the fame of your beautiful life will be reduced to nothing." 13. To which venerable Liutberga replied with submissive voice, "My lord, I do not seek to pay heed to the garrulity of wicked men who always rashly make mock of pious and sober living and threaten good deeds with ravening jaws and tear men to pieces with poisoned tongues. For that malignity sprang from the first born of our first parents, Cain, who in turn propagated the wicked, sewing evil seed in depraved hearts far and wide throughout the world. But having no malice toward them, we put our care in the Lord's hand, like the prophet and he feeds us. Nor will he throw the just to the flood but will keep them from the works of the wicked. And so it is written: "If God is for us, who can be against us?" And so speaks the psalmist: "The lord is my shepherd, I shall not fear what man may do to me." And elsewhere: "The lord is my shepherd and I shall despise my enemies." And: "Good is it to confide in the Lord, rather than in man. For the help of man is vain." And innumerable other pages of scripture show the right way to the heavenly fatherland can be lost by inoffensive feet, repulsed afar by terror of the enemy so that even the faithful psalmist presumes to say trustingly, "I trust in the Lord, who has said to my soul, Cross the mountain," and the same prophet exults as a victor, glorifying the Lord: "You have given over my enemies to me and have thrown down those who hate me." So should we not raise our eyes from this brief and uncertain life? Where is the power of the great? Where the wealth of the rich? Where are the innumerable armies of the strong? Where the flowing luxury made by kings? And the insatiable desires of their servants? Where are those who constantly thirsted, piling up gold and silver wherever they could? They are the ones who become more thirsty the more they drink. They build up treasure and do not know for whom; taken by rapine and theft, its lovers follow money into perdition. We do not fear them, saying with the Lord: "Do not fear them who kill the body for they cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can lose body and soul in Gehenna." And elsewhere the Savior says: "Who loves his soul for my sake will keep it in eternal life." Why should I fear death for my Lord's sake? Who keeps watch except our Lord order it saying: "Watch and pray lest you fall into temptation." And he who orders us to watch, orders us to pray: "Pray that your flight be not in winter nor on the sabbath." And about fasting it is written: "In your day of fasting you will find your will." And what more could be our will than that God will give us grace and we mortals may deserve immortality in his kingdom? 14. This and other words of the same sort guided the count's disturbed spirit to tranquility and the swelling fury which had begun to grow in him was sedated by this medicine. Turning to her he said: "Your statements, if I may speak thus, are more from divinity than from yourself. You have so much obliged my spirit by the justice of your desires that I can deny you nothing. I pray that you may fulfill your vow for whose name, in the face of so many difficulties, you have not flinched from going forward. And whatever it may suit your will to require of me, you shall ask." When she heard this offer, her soul was so overcome that she would have thrown herself at his feet if he had not prevented her. She said: "Then, my lord, with a heart overflowing for your piety, I willingly ask this favor, and as a reward conceded from divinity, I will never cease to thank you for your strength if the petition of your servant is conceded." And he said to her: "Speak, I pray; hide nothing that is in your soul. Trust what I have said already: I will concede any reasonable petition you make, life and health and God permitting." Then she drew a long sigh from within and soon bursting into tears said: "I am a great sinner, lord, bound in many chains so that even at the boundaries of age I live a delicate and erroneous life in this world of voluptuous desires; here and there in the course of my wanderings, I made promises of the most binding nature to the Lord which then have been ignored and forgotten. Now I ask of your piety that I may cease wandering and spend the rest of my life in penance for my sins and for the benefit of them who need my mercy. For I believe that you and your mother of happy memory will thus gain more. The Lord has said, "What you do for one of the least of these you do for me." And James said, "Who changes her life from the error of sins, her soul will be saved from death and bury a multitude of sins." 15. Then responding with a pleasant face, he said: "And where can we find a place of such quietude where you may hide safely without the turbulent racket of this world or the floods of the age?" Then she said: "I have prepared a place for myself as the days of my littleness approach. There if your piety would order a little cell built, it would suffice for my habitation and produce abundance for my days far from the wealth, delight and joys of the world." Admiring the constancy of the woman and the virile fidelity of her soul, after a long silence, he said: "Do I understand that you would attempt to sustain life in this isolated place in solitude and seclusion from others in the common life? Surely these are counsels for priests and for our bishop rather than for layfolk." And she answered: "My lord, I have never thought to make such a beginning without being examined by our holy rectors to ensure that not my will but God's be done and that would be shown through their counsel." The priests and bishops gathered to consider the reasoning of this case deliberated together over her arguments for a long time. The colloquy ended, they put faith in her promises and she was restored to her joyous spirit leaving hope of divine piety in all her undertakings. 16. Some time after, the bishop of that province, Theogrim of blessed memory, visited in the same count's house (B of Halberstadt, 827-40) because they had a firm friendship between them. And there he spent the night and the next day the venerable Liutberga took the opportunity to approach him desiring to consult his opinion privately. God disposed that he should appear at this time and place. Prostrating herself humbly at his feet, she with a humble voice spoke to ask his clemency. At first he was thunderstruck, for he had formerly taken good notice of her as devoted to honest customs and he knew that she held the place of a genetrix in the house of her lord. Thus he had in mind to be merciful and gently spoke to her: "There, my beloved sister, expose freely whatever words of complaint may be in your mind. In me, you have truly acquired one who volunteers as your consoler." And she followed the advice of scripture: "Just in the first words is his own accuser," calling herself a sinner and accusing herself of many crimes and imploring his help with the sins she had committed and whatever came to her mind she exposed without hesitation. 17. After hearing her arguments and listening carefully, knowing that she was always desirous to procure justice and should rather be called a helper of virtue rather than a repeller, when there was total silence, he quickly leaned his face to her and said: "I believe proposal in your mind, beloved daughter, springs from the fountain of piety but first we must seek by careful deliberation how to find the path of your salvation. First, we must pray for divine help so that our counsel prosper in cooperation with the author of all good and having thus begun the voyage well under his governance we may come safely to port." And saying this, he had Bernhard called to himself and sat down with him and then the bishop said to him: ... Adapted from: https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/basis/liutberga.asp (Accessed 8 December 2020) Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies (1405) Introduction: Christine de Pizan (ca. 1364 – 1434) was one of the first European women to earn a living off of her own writing. Born in Venice, her family moved to the court of King Charles V of France where her father was the court astrologer. Her husband died of the plague leaving her with few options for supporting her family. She began writing for vernacular literature for the French aristocracy and was even support by the French queen for her endeavors. She was an outspoken advocated for female education as can be seen in her work, The Book of the City of Ladies. This work is an allegory that had a hidden and usually moralistic or political meaning. As you are reading the excerpt keep in mind that these women are not necessarily real women, but characters that Pizan has created to argue for female education and improvement of the position of women within society more generally. Questions to consider: How does Pizan portray women’s abilities to learn? How does she portray the resistance of men to female education? One day as I was sitting alone in my study surrounded by books on all kinds of subjects, devoting myself to literary studies, my usual habit, my mind dwelt at length on the weighty opinions of various authors whom I had studied for a long time. I looked up from my book, having decided to leave such subtle questions in peace and to relax by reading some small book. By chance a strange volume came into my hands, not one of my own, but one which had been given to me along with some others. When I held it open and saw its title page that it was by Matheolus, I smiled, for though I had never seen it before, I had often heard that like books it discussed respect for women. I thought I would browse through it to amuse myself. I had not been reading for very long when my good mother called me to refresh myself with some supper, for it was evening. Intending to look at it the next day, I put it down. The next morning, again seated in my study as was my habit, I remembered wanting to examine this book by Matheolus. I started to read it and went on for a little while. Because the subject seemed to me not very pleasant for people who do not enjoy lies, and of no use in developing virtue or manners, given its lack of integrity in diction and theme, and after browsing here and there and reading the end, I put it down in order to turn my attention to more elevated and useful study. But just the sight of this book, even though it was of no authority, made me wonder how it happened that so many different men - and learned men among them - have been and are so inclined to express both in speaking and in their treatises and writings so many wicked insults about women and their behavior. Not only one or two and not even just this Matheolus (for this book had a bad name anyways and was intended as a satire) but, more generally, from the treatises of all philosophers and poets and from all the orators - it would take too long to mention their names - it seems that they all speak from one and the same mouth. Thinking deeply about these matters, I began to examine my character and conduct as a natural woman and, similarly, I considered other women whose company I frequently kept, princesses, great ladies, women of the middle and lower classes, who had graciously told me of their most private and intimate thoughts, hoping that I could judge impartially and in good conscience whether the testimony of so many notable men could be true. To the best of my knowledge, no matter how long I confronted or dissected the problem, I could not see or realize how their claims could be true when compared to the natural behavior and character of women. Yet I still argued vehemently against women, saying that it would be impossible that so many famous men - such solemn scholars, possessed of such deep and great understanding, so clear-sighted in all things, as it seemed - could have spoken falsely on so many occasions that I could hardly find a book on morals where, even before I had read it in its entirety, I did not find several chapters or certain sections attacking women, no matter who the author was. This reason alone, in short, made me conclude that, although my intellect did not perceive my own great faults and, likewise, those of other women because of its simpleness and ignorance, it was however truly fitting that such was the case. And so I relied more on the judgment of others than on what I myself felt and knew. I was so transfixed in this line of thinking for such a long time that it seemed as if I were in a stupor. Like a gushing fountain, a series of authorities, whom I recalled one after another, came to mind, along with their opinions on this topic. And I finally decided that God formed a vile creature when He made woman, and I wondered how such a worthy artisan could have designed to make such an abominable work which, from what they say, is the vessel as well as the refuge and abode of every evil and vice. As I was thinking this, a great unhappiness and sadness welled up in my heart, for I detested myself and the entire feminine sex, as though we were monstrosities in nature and in my lament I spoke these words: Oh, God, how can this be? For unless I stray from my faith, I must never doubt that your infinite wisdom and most perfect goodness ever created anything which was not good. Did You yourself not create woman in a very special way and since that time did You not give her all those inclinations which it please You for her to have? And how could it be that You could go wrong in anything? Yet look at all these accusations which have been judged, decided, and concluded against women. I do not know how to understand this repugnance. If it is so, fair Lord God, that in fact so many abominations abound in the female sex, for You Yourself say that the testimony of two or three witnesses lends credence, why shall I not doubt that this is true? Alas, God, why did You not let me be born in the world as a man, so that all my inclinations would be to serve You better, and so that I would not stray in anything and would be as perfect as a man is said to be? But since Your kindness has not been extended to me, then forgive my negligence in Your service, most fair Lord God, and may it not displease You, for the servant who receives fewer gifts from his lord is less obliged in his service. I spoke these words to God in my lament and a great deal more for a very long time in sad reflections, and in my folly considered myself most unfortunate because God had made me inhabit a female body in this world. The story continues in the form of allegory, as three women (Lady Reason, Lady Rectitude, and Lady Justice) come to instruct Christine and to show her how to build a city for virtuous women. Christine and Lady Reason discuss women's education. {4}Christine, spoke, "My lady, I realize that women have accomplished many good things and that even if evil women have done evil, it seems to me, nevertheless, that the benefits accrued and still accruing because of good women-particularly the wise and literary ones and those educated in the natural sciences whom I mentioned above-outweigh the evil. Therefore, I am amazed by the opinion of some men who claim that they do not want their daughters, wives, or kinswomen to be educated because their mores would be ruined as a result." She responded , Here you can clearly see that not all opinions of men are based on reason and that these men are wrong. For it must not be presumed that mores necessarily grow worse from knowing the moral sciences, which teach the virtues, indeed, there is not the slightest doubt that moral education amends and ennobles them. How could anyone think or believe that whoever follows good teaching or doctrine is the worse for it? Such an opinion cannot be expressed or maintained. . . . {5}To speak of more recent times, without searching for examples in ancient history, Giovanni Andrea, a solenm law professor in Bologna not quite sixty years ago, was not of the opinion that it was bad for women to be educated. He had a fair and good daughter, named Novella, who was educated in the law to such an advanced degree that when he was occupied by some task and not at leisure to present his lectures to his students, he would send Novella, his daughter, in his place to lecture to the students from his chair. And to prevent her beauty from distracting the concentration of her audience, she had a little curtain drawn in front of her. In this manner she could on occasion supplement and lighten her father's occupation. He loved her so much that, to commemorate her name, he wrote a book of remarkable lectures on the law which he entitled Novella super Decretalium, after his daughter's name. .... {6}Thus, not all men (and especially the wisest) share the opinion that it is bad for women to be educated. But it is very true that many foolish men have claimed this because it displeased them that women knew more than they did. Your father, who was a great scientist and philosopher, did not believe that women were worth less by knowing science; rather, as you know, he took great pleasure from seeing your inclination to learning. The feminine opinion of your mother, however, who wished to keep you busy with spinning and silly girlishness, following the common custom of women, was the major obstacle to your being more involved in the sciences. But just as the proverb already mentioned above says, No one can take away what Nature has given,'your mother could not hinder in you the feeling for the sciences which you, through natural inclination, had nevertheless gathered together in little droplets. I am sure that, on account of these things, you do not think you are worth less but rather that you consider it a great treasure for yourself; and you doubtless have reason to. " And Christine, replied to all of this, "Indeed, my lady, what you say is as true as the Lord's Prayer." Adapted from: https://history.hanover.edu/courses/excerpts/165pisan.html (accessed 8 December 2020) Canterbury Tales: Prologue to Wife of Bath's Tale by Geoffrey Chaucer(d. 1400) Introduction: Chaucer was a medieval English poet best known for the Canterbury Tales. This poem tells the tale of a group of pilgrims from different social classes that goes on a pilgrimage to St. Thomas Becket’s shrine in Canterbury England. While The Canterbury Tales portrays a lively depiction of medieval life and social classes, it is important to remember that like The Book of the City of Ladies it is an allegory, written to relay a moralistic or political hidden meaning. Keep this in mind while reading the Wife of Bath’s Prologue. Consider how this might portray criticism of the Church or social norms of the time. How might the character of the Wife of Bath be used to portray both proper and improper behaviors? “Experience, though it would be no authority in this world, would be quite sufficient for me, to speak of the woe that is in marriage; for, gentle people, since I was twelve years old–thank God, Who lives forever–I have had five husbands at the church-door (for I have been wedded so often); and all were worthy men in their ranks. But in truth I was told not long ago that since Christ went only once to a wedding, in Cana of Galilee1, by that same example he taught me that I should be wedded only once. Lo! Hear what a sharp word Jesus, man and God, spoke on a certain occasion beside a well, in reproof of the Samaritan woman2. He said, ‘You have had five husbands; and that man who has you now is not your husband.’ Thus he said, certainly. What he meant by it I cannot say; but I ask, why the fifth man was no husband to the Samaritan woman. 22 “How many could she have in marriage? At this point I have never in my life heard a designation of the number. Men may divine and interpret up and down, but well I know, surely, God expressly instructed us to increase and multiply. I can well understand that noble text. Likewise, I know well he said also that my husband should leave father and mother and take me. But he did not mention any number, not bigamy or of octogamy. Why should men speak villainously of them? 34 “Lo, Sir Solomon3 the wise king! I believe he had more than one wife, and I wish to God it were lawful for me to be refreshed half so often! What a gift of God he had in all his wives! No man who lives in this world now has so many. God knows this noble king, to my thinking, had a merry life with each of them, so joyous was his lot! Blessed be God that I wedded five! And they were the best that I could pick out, both in their bodies and of their coffers. A variety of schools make perfect scholars, and much practice in a variety of employments truly makes the perfect workman. I have the schooling of five husbands. I would welcome the sixth, whenever he shall come! In truth, I will not keep myself wholly chaste; when my husband has departed from the world, then some other Christian man shall wed me. For then, the apostle says, I am free, in God’s name, to wed where I wish. 50 1 Wedding at Cana. John 2:1-12. Jesus performed his first miracle at the wedding in Cana, at which he turned water into wine. 2 Samaritan woman. John 4:1-42. The Wife of Bath is largely accurate in her retelling of the story, though her reaction is suspect. 3 Solomon. OT King, second son of David, who ruled Israel about 970-933 in great prosperity; known for his great wisdom. “He says that it is no sin to be wedded; it is better to be wedded than to burn. What do I care if people speak badly of cursed Lamech4 and his bigamy? Well I know Abraham5 was a holy man, and Jacob6 as well, as far as I know, and each of them had more than two wives. And many other holy men did as well. 58 “When have you seen that in any time great God forbade marriage explicitly? Tell me, I pray you. Or where did he command virginity? You know as well as I, without a doubt, that the apostle, when he speaks of maidenhood, says that he had no instructions on it. Men may counsel a woman to be single, but counseling is not commanding; he left it to our own judgment. For if God had commanded maidenhood, then with that same word had he condemned marrying. And certainly, if no seed were sown, from where then should virgins spring? Paul dared not command a thing for which his master gave no order. The prize is set for virginity–win it who can. Let us see who runs best7. 76 “But this command is not to be taken by every creature, but only where Almighty God wishes to give it through his might. The apostle was a virgin, I know well, but nevertheless, though he wrote that he wished every creature to be like him, all that is only advice to be a virgin; and he gave me leave and indulgence to be a wife8. So likewise, if my spouse should die, there is no shame or charge of bigamy to marry me. It would be good, he said, to touch no woman, for it is a peril to bring together fire and hay. You know what this example may mean. 90 “This is the sum of it all: the apostle held virginity to be more perfect than marriage because of weakness. I call them weak unless man and wife would lead all their life in chastity. I grant it well, I have no malice even if maidenhood were set above remarriage. It pleases them to be clean, body and soul; of my own estate I will make no boast. For you well know that not every vessel in a lord’s house is made of gold; some are of wood, and do their lord service. God calls people to him in various manners, and each one has his own gift from–one this, one that, as it pleases God to provide. Virginity is a great perfection, and devoted chastity as well. 106 But Christ, the fountain of perfection, did not instruct every person to go sell all that he had and give to the poor, and in such a fashion follow him and his footsteps. “He spoke this to those people who wished to be perfect; and by your leave, gentle people, I am not one of those. I will use the flower9 of my life in the acts and fruits of marriage. 114 Tell me also, for what purpose were members of procreation made, and made in such a perfect manner? Trust well, they were not made for nothing. Whosoever wishes to interpret may do so, and 4 Lamech. Genesis 4:23ff. A descendant of Cain and the first bigamist, he was married to Adah and Zillah. Abraham. Genesis. Biblical patriarch of the Hebrew nation who had two wives, Sarah and Hagar, and one concubine, Keturah. 6 Jacob. Genesis. Abraham’s grandson, who also had two wives, Leah and Rachel. 7 Who runs the best. Virginity is seen here as the prize awarded to the winner of a race. 8 The Apostle. Paul. 1 Corinthians 7:1-6. Now in regard to the matters about which you wrote: “It is a good thing for a man not to touch a woman,” but because of cases of immorality every man should have his own wife, and every woman her own husband. The husband should fulfill his duty toward his wife, and likewise the wife toward her husband. A wife does not have authority over her own body, but rather her husband, and similarly a husband does not have authority over his own body, but rather his wife. Do not deprive each other, except perhaps by mutual consent for a time, to be free for prayer, but then return to one another, so that Satan may not tempt you through your lack of self-control. This I say by way of concession, however, not as a command. 9 Flower. Best years. 5 interpret things up and down that and say that they were made for purging urine and that both our small things were also to know a female from a male and for no other cause–did someone say no? Those with experience know well it is not so. So that scholars will not be angry with me, I say this: that they are made for both; that is to say, for duty and for ease of procreation, providing we do not displease God. Why should men otherwise set down in their books that man shall yield to his wife her debt? Now with what should he make his payment, if he did not use his blessed instrument? They were made then upon a creature to purge urine, and for procreation as well. 134 But I do not say that every person who has such equipment is bound to go and use it for procreation. For that reason people should men take no heed of chastity. Christ was a virgin and created as a man, as were many saints since the beginning of the world; yet they always lived in perfect chastity. I will not envy any virginity. Let virgins be called bread of purified wheat-seed, and let us wives be called barleybread; and yet, as Mark can tell, our Lord Jesus refreshed many people with barley-bread10. I will persevere in such a state as God has called us to; I am not particular. In wifehood I will use my instrument as freely as my Maker has sent it. If I am unaccommodating to my husband, may God give me sorrow. My husband shall have it both evening and morning, whenever it pleases him to come forth and pay his debt. I will not stop. I will have a husband who will be both my debtor and servant, and have his tribulation upon his flesh, while I am his wife11. As long as I live I, and not he, have the power over his body. The apostle told it to me in this very way, and instructed our husbands to love us well12. This entire subject pleases me well, every bit. 162 Up started the Pardoner, and without delay. “Now lady,” he said, “by God and St. John, you are a noble preacher in this matter! I was about to wed a wife; alas! Why should I pay for it so dearly upon my flesh? I would rather not wed any wife this year.” 168 “Wait! My tale is not yet begun,” she said. “No, before I go you shall drink out of another barrel that will taste worse than ale. And when I have told my story to you about the tribulation in marriage, in which I have been expert all my life (that is to say, I myself have been the scourge), then you may choose whether you will sip of that same barrel that I shall broach. Be mindful, before you come too close; for I shall tell half a score of examples. ‘Whosoever will not be warned by other men, by him shall other men be corrected’: these same words writes Ptolemy; read his Almagest13.” 183 … 10 Barley bread. Mark. Perhaps John 6:9. (From the story of the loaves and fish.) One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?” Her reference might be just one of common sense as well. 11 Tribulation. 1 Corinthians 7:28. If you marry, however, you do not sin, nor does an unmarried woman sin if she marries; but such people will experience affliction in their earthly life, and I would like to spare you that. 12 Apostle. Paul. 1 Corinthians 7:4-5. A wife does not have authority over her own body, but rather her husband, and similarly a husband does not have authority over his own body, but rather his wife. Do not deprive each other, except perhaps by mutual consent for a time, to be free for prayer, but then return to one another, so that Satan may not tempt you through your lack of self-control. 13 Almagest. An Astrological treatise by the second-century author, Ptolemy o f Alexandria. Adapted from: https://medievalit.com/home/echaucer/modern-translations/the-wife-of-bathsprologue-translation/#_ftn1 (Accessed 8 December 2020) The Goodman of Paris (Le Ménagier de Paris) 1393 Introduction: This treatise was a household guidebook for young women to follow. The author, while unnamed, is given the voice of an elderly husband, probably of the merchant class, providing advice and guidance to his new young bride. The work provides an inside glimpse into the workings of a modest household, including food recipes. Additionally, modern scholars can use the guidebook to understand the ideals that were prescribed to gender roles in the later medieval period. As you read the except keep in mind that this would have been an ideal situation and the reality of how men and women related to each other may have differed. DEAR SISTER, You being the age of fifteen years and in the week that you and I were wed, did pray me to be indulgent to your youth and to your small and ignorant service, until you had seen and learned more; to this end you promised me to give all heed and to set all care and diligence to keep my peace and my love, as you spoke full wisely, and as I well believe, with other wisdom than your own, beseeching me humbly in our bed, as I remember, for the love of God not to correct you harshly before strangers nor before our own folk, but rather each night, or from day to day, in our chamber, to remind you of the unseemly or foolish things done in the day or days past, and chastise you, if it pleased me, and then you would strive to amend yourself according to my teaching and correction, and to serve my will in all things, as you said. And your words were pleasing to me, and won my praise and thanks, and I have often remembered them since. And know, dear sister, that all that I know you have done since we were wed until now and all that you shall do hereafter with good intent, was and is to my liking, pleaseth me, and has well pleased me, and will please me. For your youth excuses your unwisdom and will still excuse you in all things as long as all you do is with good intent and not displeasing to me. And know that I am pleased rather than displeased that you tend rose-trees, and care for violets, and make cl-raplets, and dance, and sing: nor would I have you cease to do so among our friends and equals, and it is but good and seemly so to pass the time of your youth, so long as you neither seek nor try to go to the feasts and dances of lords of too high rank, for that does not become you, nor does it sort with your estate, nor mine. And as for the greater service that you say you would willingly do for me, if you were able and I taught it you, know dear sister, that I am well content that you should do me such service as your good neighbours of like estate do for their husbands, and as your kinswoman do unto their husbands. Take counsel privily of them, and then follow it either more or less as you please. For I am not so overweening in my attitude to you and your good intent that I am not satisfied with what you do for me therein, nor with all other services, provided there be no disorder or scorn or disdain, and that you are careful. For although I know well that you are of gentler birth than I, nathless that would not protect you, for by God, the women of your lineage be good enough to correct you harshly themselves, if I did not, and they learnt of your error from me or from another source; but in you I have no fear, I have confidence in your good intent. Yet although, as I have said, to me belongs only the lesser service, I would that you know how to give good will and honour and service in great measure and abundance more than is fit for me, either to serve another husband, if you have one, after me, or to teach greater wisdom to your daughters, friends, or others, if you list and have such need. For the more you know the greater honour will be yours and the greater praise will therefore be unto your parents and to me and to others about you, by whom you have been nurtured. And for your honour and love, and not for my service (for to me belongs but the common service, or less,) since I had pity and loving compassion on you who for long have had neither father nor mother, nor any of your kinswoman near you to whom you might turn for counsel in your private needs, save me alone, for whom you were brought from your kin and the country of your birth, I have often wondered how I might find a simple general introduction to teach you the which, without the aforesaid difficulties, you might of yourself introduce into your work and care. And lastly, me-seems that if your love is as it has appeared in your good words, it can be accomplished in this way, namely in a general instruction that I will write for you and preto you, in three sections containing nineteen principal articles.... The seventh article of the first section showeth how you should be careful and thoughtful of your husband's person. Wherefore, fair sister, if you have another husband after me, know that you should think much of his person, for after that a woman has lost her first husband and marriage, she commonly findeth it hard to find a second to her liking, according to her estate, and she remaineth long while all lonely and disconsolate and the more so still if she lose the second. Wherefore love your husband's person carefully, and I pray you keep him in clean linen, for that is your business, and because the trouble and care of outside affairs lieth with men, so must husbands take heed, and go and come, and journey hither and thither, in rain and wind, in snow and hail, now drenched, now dry, now sweating, now shivering, ill-fed, ill-lodged, ill-warmed and ill-bedded. And naught harmeth him, because he is upheld by the hope that he hath of the care which his wife will take of him on his return, and of the ease, the joys and the pleasures which she will do him, or cause to be done to him in her presence; to be unshod before a good fire, to have his feet washed and fresh shoes and hose, to be given good food and drink, to be well served and well looked after, well bedded in white sheets and nightcaps, well covered with good furs, and assuaged with other joys and desports, privities, loves and secrets whereof I am silent. And the next day fresh shirts and garments . Certes, fair sister, such services make a man love and desire to return to his home and to see his goodwife, and to be distant with others. Wherefore I counsel you to make such cheer to your husband at all his comings and stayings, and to persevere therein; and also be peaceable with him, and remember the rustic proverb, which saith that there be three things which drive the goodman from home, to wit a leaking roof, a smoky chimney and a scolding woman. And therefore, fair sister, I beseech you that, to keep yourself in the love and good favour of your husband, you be unto him gentle, and amiable, and debonnair. Do unto him what the good simple women of our country say hath been done to their sons, when these have set their love elsewhere and their mothers cannot wean them there from. Sure it is that when fathers and mothers be dead and stepfathers and stepmothers that have stepsons rail at them and scold them and repulse them and take no thought for their sleeping, nor for their food and drink, their hose and their shirts, nor for their other needs or affairs, and these same children find elsewhere a good refuge and counsel from s me other woman, that receiveth them unto herself and taketh thought to warm them by some poor gruel with her, to give them a bed and keep them clean and mend their hosen, breeches, shirts and other clothes, then do these same children follow her and desire to be with her and to sleep and be warmed between her breasts, and they be altogether estranged from their mothers and fathers, that before took no heed of them, and now be fain to get them back and have them again; but it may not be, for these children hold more dear the company of strangers that think and care for them, than of their kinsfolk that care no whit for them. Then they lament and cry and say that these same women have bewitched their children and that the lads be spell bound and cannot leave them and are never at ease save when they are with them. But, whatever they may say, it is no witchcraft, but it is for the sake of the love, the care, the intimacies, joys and pleasures that these women show unto them in all things and, on my soul, there is none other enchantment. For whoever giveth all its pleasure to a bear, a Wolf, or a lion, that same bear, wolf, or lion will follow after him, and so the other beasts might say, could they but speak, that those thus tamed must be bewitched. And, on my soul, I trow that there is none other witchcraft than well doing, and no man can be better bewitched than by giving him what pleaseth him. Wherefore, dear sister, I beseech you thus to bewitch and bewitch again your husband that shall be, and beware of roofless house and of smoky fire, and scold him not, but be unto him gentle and amiable and peaceable. Have a care that in winter he have a good fire and smokeless and let him rest well and be well covered between your breasts, and thus bewitch him. And in summer take heed that there be no fleas in your chamber, nor in your bed, the which you may do in six ways, as I have heard tell. For I have heard from several that if the room be strewn with alder leaves, the fleas will be caught thereon. Item I have heard tell that if you have at night one or two trenches [of bread] slimed with glue or turpentine and set about the room, with a lighted candle in the midst of each trencher, they will come and be stuck thereto. The other way that I have tried and 'tis true: take a rough cloth and spread it about your room and over your bed, and all the fleas that shall hop thereon will be caught, so that you may carry them away with the cloth wheresoe'er you will. Item, sheepskins. Item, I have seen blanchets [of white wool] set on the straw and on the bed, and when the black fleas hopped thereon, they were the sooner found upon the white, and killed. But the best way is to guard oneself against those that be within the coverlets and the furs, and the stuff of the dresses wherewith one is covered. For know that I have tried this, and when the coverlets, furs or dresses, wherein there be fleas, be folded and shut tightly up, as in a chest tightly corded with straps, or in a bag well tied up and pressed, or otherwise put and pressed so that the aforesaid fleas be without light and air and kept imprisoned, then will they perish forthwith and die. Item I have sometimes seen in divers chambers, that when one had gone to bed they were full of mosquitoes, which at the smoke of the breath came to sit on the faces of those that slept, and stung them so hard, that they were fain to get up and light a fire of hay, in order to make a smoke so that they had to fly away or die, and this may be done by day if they be suspected, and likewise he that hath a mosquito net may protect himself therewith. And if you have a chamber or a passage where there is great resort of flies, take little sprigs of fern and tie them to threads like to tassels, and hang them up and all the flies will settle on them at eventide; then take down the tassels and throw them out. Item, shut up your chamber closely in the evening, but let there be a little opening in the wall towards the east, and as soon as the dawn breaketh, all the flies will go forth through this opening, and then let it be stopped up. Item, take a bowl of milk and hare's gall and mix them one with another and then set two or three bowls thereof in places where the flies gather and all that taste thereof will die. Item, otherwise, have a linen rag tied at the bottom of a pot with an opening in the neck, and set that pot in the place where the flies gather and smear it within with honey, or apples, or pears; when it is full of flies, set a trencher over the mouth and then shake it. Item, otherwise, take raw red onions and bray them and pour the juice into a bowl and set it where the flies gather and all that taste thereof will die. Item, have whisks wherewith to slay them by hand. Item, have little twigs covered with glue on a basin of water. Item, have your windows shut full tight with oiled or other cloth, or with parchment or something else, so tightly that no fly may enter, and let the flies that be within be slain with the whisk or otherwise as above, and no others will come in. Item, have a string hanging soaked in honey, and the flies will come and settle thereon and at eventide let them be taken in a bag. Finally meseemeth that flies will not stop in a room wherein there be no standing tables, forms, dressers or other things whereon they can settle and rest, for if they have naught but straight walls whereon to settle and cling, they will not settle, nor will they in a shady or damp place. Wherefore meseemeth that if the room be well watered and well closed and shut up, and if nought be left lying on the floor, no fly will settle there. And thus shall you preserve and keep your husband from all discomforts and give him all the comforts whereof you can bethink you, and serve him and have him served in your house, and you shall look to him for outside things, for if he be good he will take even more pains and labour therein than you wish, and by doing what I have said, you will cause him ever to miss you and have his heart with you and your loving service and he will shun all other houses, all other women, all other services and households. All will be as naught to him save you, who think for him as is aforesaid, and who ought so to do, by the ensample that you see of horsemen riding abroad, for you see that as soon as they be come home to their house from a journey, they cause their horses to be given fresh litter up to their bellies; these horses be unharnessed and made comfortable, they be given honey and picked hay and sifted oats, and they be better looked after in their own stables on their return than anywhere else. And if the horses be thus made comfortable, so much the more ought the persons, to wit the lords, to be so at their own expense on their return. Hounds returning from the woods and from the chase be littered before their master and he maketh their fresh litter himself before the fire; their feet be greased at the fire with soft grease, they be given sops and be well eased, for pity of their labour; and likewise, if women do thus unto their husbands, as men do unto their horses, dogs, asses, mules, and other beasts, certes all other houses, where they have been served, will seem to them but dark prisons and strange places, compared with their own, which will be then a paradise of rest unto them. And so on the road husbands will think of their wives, and no trouble will be a burden to them for the hope and love they will have of their wives, whom they will be fain to see again with as great longing as poor hermits and penitents are fain to see the face of Jesus Christ; and these husbands, that be thus looked after, will never be fain to abide elsewhere nor in other company, but they will withhold, withdraw and abstain therefrom; all the rest will seem unto them but a bed of stones compared with their home; but let it be unceasing, and with a good heart and without pretence. But there be certain old hags, which be sly and play the wise woman and feign great love by way of showing their heart's great service, and naught else; and wot you, fair sister, that the husbands be fools if they perceive it not; and when they perceive it, if the husband and wife be silent and pretend one with another, it is an ill beginning and will lead to a worse end. And some women there be, that in the beginning serve their husbands full well, and they trow well that their husbands be then so amorous of them and so debonnair that, trow they, those husbands will scarce dare to be wroth with them, if they do less, so they slacken and little by little they try to show less respect and service and obedience, butwhat is more-they take upon themselves authority, command and lordship, at first in a small thing, then in a larger, and a little more every day. Thus they essay and advance and rise, as they think, and they trow that their husbands, the which because they be debonnair or peradventure because they set a trap, say nought thereof, see it not because they suffer it thus. And certes, it is an ill thought and deed, for when the husbands see that they cease their service, and mount unto domination, and that they do it too much and that by suffering ill good may come, then those women be all at once, by their husband's rightful will, cast down even as Lucifer was.... Adapted from: https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/goodman.asp (Accessed 8 December 2020) Suetonius (c.69-after 122 CE): De Vita Caesarum: Caius Caligula (The Lives of the Caesars: Caius Caligula), written c. 110 CE Introduction: Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus was a Roman historian and friend of Pliny the Younger. His most famous histories included the biographies of twelve rulers of Rome, beginning with Julius Caesar through Domitian. As you read the life of Caligula (r. 37-41 CE) consider how it differs from the Deed of the Defied Augustus. How might Suetonius’ perspective change the tone and presentation of Caligula’s deeds? What bias might be apparent? How is power portrayed under this emperor. … IX. His surname Caligula ["Little Boots"] he derived from a joke of the troops, because he was brought up in their midst in the dress of a common soldier. To what extent besides he won their love and devotion by being reared in fellowship with them is especially evident from the fact that when they threatened mutiny after the death of Augustus and were ready for any act of madness, the mere sight of Gaius unquestionably calmed them. For they did not become quiet until they saw that he was being spirited away because of the danger from their outbreak and taken for protection to the nearest town. Then at last they became contrite, and laying hold of the carriage and stopping it, begged to be spared the disgrace which was being put upon them. X. He attended his father also on his expedition to Syria. On his return from there he first lived with his mother and after her banishment, with his great-grandmother Livia; and when Livia died [29 A.D.], though he was not yet of age, he spoke her eulogy from the rostra. Then he fell to the care of his grandmother Antonia and in the nineteenth year of his age he was called to Capreae [the Isle of Capri] by Tiberius, on the same day assuming the gown of manhood and shaving his first beard, but without any such ceremony as had attended the coming of age of his brothers. Although at Capreae every kind of wile was resorted to by those who tried to lure him or force him to utter complaints, he never gave them any satisfaction, ignoring the ruin of his kindred as if nothing at all had happened, passing over his own ill-treatment with an incredible pretence of indifference, and so obsequious towards his grandfather and his household, that it was well said of him that no one had ever been a better slave or a worse master. XI. Yet even at that time he could not control his natural cruelty and viciousness, but he was a most eager witness of the tortures and executions of those who suffered punishment, revelling at night in gluttony and adultery, disguised in a wig and a long robe, passionately devoted besides to the theatrical arts of dancing and singing, in which Tiberius very willingly indulged him,in the hope that through these his savage nature might be softened. This last was so clearly evident to the shrewd old man, that he used to say now and then that to allow Gaius to live would prove the ruin of himself and of all men, and that he was rearing a viper for the Roman people and a Phaethon for the world. XII. Not so very long afterward Gaius took to wife Junia Claudilla, daughter of Marcus Silanus, a man of noble rank. Then appointed augur in place of his brother Drusus, before he was invested with the office he was advanced to that of pontiff; with strong commendation of his dutiful conduct and general character; for since the court was deserted and deprived of its other supports, after Seianus had been suspected of hostile designs and presently put out of the way, he was little by little encouraged to look forward to the succession. To have a better chance of realizing this, after losing Junia in childbirth, he seduced Ennia Naevia, wife of Macro, who at that time commanded the praetorian guard, even promising to marry her if he became emperor, and guaranteeing this promise by an oath and a written contract. Having through her wormed himself into Macro's favor, he poisoned Tiberius, as some think, and ordered that his ring be taken from him while he still breathed, and then suspecting that he was trying to hold fast to it, that a pillow be put over his face; or even strangled the old man with his own hand, immediately ordering the crucifixion of a freedman who cried out at the awful deed. And this is likely enough; for some writers say that Caligula himself later admitted, not it is true that he had committed parricide, but that he had at least meditated it at one time; for they say that he constantly boasted, in speaking of his filial piety, that he had entered the bedchamber of the sleeping Tiberius dagger in hand, to avenge the death of his mother and brothers; but that, seized with pity, he threw down the dagger and went out again; and that though Tiberius knew of this, he had never dared to make any inquiry or take any action. XIII. [37 A.D.] By thus gaining the throne he fulfilled the highest hopes of the Roman people, or I may say of all mankind, since he was the prince most earnestly desired by the great part of the provincials and soldiers, many of whom had known him in his infancy, as well as by the whole body of the city populace, because of the memory of his father Germanicus and pity for a family that was all but extinct. Accordingly, when he set out from Misenum, though he was in mourning garb and escorting the body of Tiberius, yet his progress was marked by altars, victims, and blazing torches, and he was met by a dense and joyful throng, who called him besides other propitious names their "star," their "chick," their "babe," and their "nursling." XIV. When he entered the city, full and absolute power was at once put into his hands by the unanimous consent of the senate and of the mob, which forced its way into the Senate, and no attention was paid to the wish of Tiberius, who in his will had named his other grandson, still a boy, joint heir with Caligula. So great was the public rejoicing, that within the next three months, or less than that, more than a hundred and sixty thousand victims are said to have been slain in sacrifice. … XV. Gaius himself tried to rouse men's devotion by courting popularity in every way. After eulogizing Tiberius with many tears before the assembled people and giving him a magnificent funeral, he at once posted off to Pandateria and the Pontian islands, to remove the ashes of his mother and brother to Rome, and in stormy weather, too, to make his filial piety the more conspicuous. He approached them with reverence and placed them in the urns with his own hands. With no less theatrical effect he brought them to Ostia in a bireme with a banner set in the stern, and from there up the Tiber to Rome, where he had them carried to the Mausoleum [of Augustus] on two biers by the most distinguished men of the order of equites, in the middle of the day, when the streets were crowded. He appointed funeral sacrifices, too, to be offered each year with due ceremony, as well as games in the Circus in honor of his mother, providing a carriage to carry her image in the procession. But in memory of his father he gave to the month of September the name of Germanicus. After this, by a single decree of the senate, he heaped upon his grandmother Antonia whatever honors Livia Augusta had ever enjoyed; took his uncle Claudius, who up to that time had been a Roman eques, as his colleague in the consulship [37 A.D.]; adopted his brother Tiberius on the day that he assumed the gown of manhood, and gave him the title of Princeps Iuventutis ["First of the Youth"--originally the title of the commander of the equites who were under forty-five and in active service; conferred on Caius and Lucius Caesar by Augustus, the title became the designation of the heir to the throne, and was later assumed by the emperors themselves]. He caused the names of his sisters to be included in all oaths: "And I will not hold myself and my children dearer than I do Gaius and his sisters"; as well as in the propositions of the consuls: " Favor and good fortune attend Gaius Caesar and his sisters." With the same degree of popularity he recalled those who had been condemned to banishment; took no cognizance of any charges that remained untried from an earlier time; had all documents relating to the cases of his mother and brothers carried to the Forum and burned, to give no informer or witness occasion for further fear, having first loudly called the gods to witness that he had neither read nor touched any of them. He refused a note which was offered him regarding his own safety, maintaining that he had done nothing to make anyone hate him, and that he had no ears for informers. …. XVII. He held four consulships, one from the Kalends of July for two months [37 A.D.], a second from the Kalends of January for thirty days [39 A.D.], a third up to the Ides of January [40 A.D.], and the fourth until the seventh day before the Ides of the same month [41 A.D.]. Of all these only the last two were continuous. The third he assumed at Lugdunum without a colleague, not as some think, through arrogance or disregard of precedent, but because at that distance from Rome he had been unable to get news of the death of the other consul just before the day of the Kalends. He twice gave the people a largess of three hundred sesterces each, and twice a lavish banquet to the senate and the equestrian order, together with their wives and children. At the former of these he also distributed togas to the men, and to the women and children scarves of red and scarlet. Furthermore, to make a permanent addition to the public gaiety, he added a day to the Saturnalia, and called it Juvenalis. XVIII. He gave several gladiatorial shows, some in the amphitheater of Taurus and some in the Saepta, in which he introduced pairs of African and Campanian boxers, the pick of both regions. He did not always preside at the games in person, but sometimes assigned the honor to the magistrates or to friends. He exhibited stage-plays continually, of various kinds and in many different places, sometimes even by night, lighting up the whole city. He also threw about gift-tokens of various kinds, and gave each man a basket of victuals. During the feasting he sent his share to a Roman eques opposite him, who was eating with evident relish and appetite, while to a senator for the same reason he gave a commission naming him praetor out of the regular order. He also gave many games in the Circus, lasting from early morning until evening, introducing between the races now a baiting of panthers and now the manoeuvres of the game called Troy; some, too, of special splendor, in which the Circus was strewn with red and green, while the charioteers were all men of senatorial rank. He also started some games off-hand, when a few people called for them from the neighboring balconies as he was inspecting the outfit of the Circus from the Gelotian house. … XX. He also gave shows in foreign lands, Athenian games at Syracuse in Sicily, and miscellaneous games at Lugdunum in Gallia; at the latter place also a contest in Greek and Latin oratory, in which, they say, the losers gave prizes to the victors and were forced to compose eulogies upon them, while those who were least successful were ordered to erase their writings with a sponge or with their tongue unless they elected rather to be beaten with rods or thrown into the neighboring river. XXI. He completed the public works which had been half finished under Tiberius, namely the temple of Augustus and the theater of Pompeius. He likewise began an aqueduct in the region near Tibur and an amphitheater beside the Saepta, the former finished by his successor Claudius, while the latter was abandoned. At Syracuse he repaired the city walls, which had fallen into ruin through lapse of time, and the temples of the gods. He had planned, besides, to rebuild the palace of Polycrates at Samos, to finish the temple of Didymaean Apollo at Ephesus, to found a city high up in the Alps, but, above all, to dig a canal through the Isthmus in Greece, and he had already sent a chief centurion to survey the work. XXII. So much for Caligula as emperor; we must now tell of his career as a monster. After he had assumed various surnames (for he was called Pius ["Pious"], Castrorum Filius ["Child of the Camp"], Pater Exercituum ["Father of the Armies"] and Optimus Maximus Caesar ["Greatest and Best of Caesars"]), chancing to overhear some kings, who had come to Rome to pay their respects to him, disputing at dinner about the nobility of their descent, he cried: "Let there be one Lord, one King." And he came near assuming a crown at once and changing the semblance of a principate into the form of a monarchy. But on being reminded that he had risen above the elevation both of princes and kings, he began from that time on to lay claim to divine majesty; for after giving orders that such statues of the gods as were especially famous for their sanctity or their artistic merit, including that of Jupiter of Olympia, should be brought from Greece, in order to remove their heads and put his own in their place, he built out a part of the Palace as far as the Forum, and making the temple of Castor and Pollux its vestibule, he often took his place between the divine brethren, and exhibited himself there to be worshipped by those who presented themselves; and some hailed him as Jupiter Latiaris. He also set up a special temple to his own godhead, with priests and with victims of the choicest kind. In this temple was a life-sized statue of the emperor in gold, which was dressed each day in clothing such as he wore himsel, The richest citizens used all their influence to secure the priesthoods of his cult and bid high for the honor. The victims were flamingoes, peacocks, black grouse, guinea-hens a and pheasants, offered day by day each after its own kind. At night he used constantly to invite the full and radiant moon to his embraces and his bed, while in the daytime he would talk confidentially with Jupiter Capitolinus, now whispering and then in turn putting his ear to the mouth of the god, now in louder and even angry language; for he was heard to make the threat: "Lift me up, or I'll lift you." But finally won by entreaties, as he reported, and even invited to live with the god, he built a bridge over the temple of the Deified Augustus, and thus joined his Palace to the Capitol. Presently, to be nearer yet, he laid the foundations of a new house in the court of the Capitol. … XXVII. The following are special instances of his innate brutality. When cattle to feed the wild beasts which he had provided for a gladiatorial show were rather costly, he selected criminals to be devoured, and reviewing the line of prisoners without examining the charges, but merely taking his place in the middle of a colonnade, he bade them be led away "from baldhead to baldhead." A man who had made a vow to fight in the arena if the emperor recovered, he compelled to keep his word, watched him as he fought sword in hand, and would not let him go until he was victorious, and then only after many entreaties. Another who had offered his life for the same reason, but delayed to kill himself, he turned over to his slaves, with orders to drive him through the streets decked with sacred boughs and fillets, calling for the fulfilment of his vow, and finally hurl him from the embankment. Many men of honorable rank were first disfigured with the marks of branding-irons and then condemned to the mines, to work at building roads, or to be thrown to the wild beasts; or else he shut them up in cages on all fours, like animals, or had them sawn asunder. Not all these punishments were for serious offences, but merely for criticizing one of his shows, or for never having sworn by his Genius. He forced parents to attend the executions of their sons, sending a litter for one man who pleaded ill health, and inviting another to dinner immediately after witnessing the death, and trying to rouse him to gaiety and jesting by a great show of affability. He had the manager of his gladiatorial shows and beast-baitings beaten with chains in his presence for several successive days, and would not kill him until he was disgusted at the stench of his putrefied brain. He burned a writer of Atellan farces alive in the middle of the arena of the amphitheatre, because of a humorous line of double meaning. When a Roman eques on being thrown to the wild beasts loudly protested his innocence, he took him out, cut off his tongue, and put him back again. XXVIII. Having asked a man who had been recalled from an exile of long standing, how in the world he spent his time there, the man replied by way of flattery: "I constantly prayed the gods for what has come to pass, that Tiberius might die and you become emperor." Thereupon Caligula, thinking that his exiles were likewise praying for his death, sent emissaries from island to island to butcher them all. Wishing to have one of the senators torn to pieces, he induced some of the members to assail him suddenly, on his entrance into the Senate, with the charge of being a public enemy, to stab him with their styluses, and turn him over to the rest to be mangled; and his cruelty was not sated until he saw the man's limbs, members, and bowels dragged through the streets and heaped up before him. XXIX. He added to the enormity of his crimes by the brutality of his language. He used to say that there was nothing in his own character which he admired and approved more highly than what he called his "lasting power", that is, his shameless impudence [a sexual innuendo]. When his grandmother Antonia gave him some advice, he was not satisfied merely not to listen but replied: "Remember that I have the right to do anything to anybody." When he was on the point of killing his brother, and suspected that he had taken drugs as a precaution against poison, he cried: "What! an antidote against Caesar?" After banishing his sisters, he made the threat that he not only had islands, but swords as well. An ex-praetor who had retired to Anticyra for his health, sent frequent requests for an extension of his leave, but Caligula had him put to death, adding that a man who had not been helped by so long a course of hellebore needed to be bled. On signing the list of prisoners who were to be put to death later, he said that he was clearing his accounts. Having condemned several Gauls and Greeks to death in a body, he boasted that he had subdued Gallograecia. … LVIII. On the ninth day before the Kalends of February [January 24, 41 A.D.], at about the seventh hour he hesitated whether or not to get up for luncheon, since his stomach was still disordered from excess of food on the day before, but at length he came out at the persuasion of his friends. In the covered passage through which he had to pass, some boys of good birth, who had been summoned from Asia to appear on the stage, were rehearsing their parts, and he stopped to watch and encourage them; and had not the leader of the troop complained that he had a chill, he would have returned and had the performance given at once. From this point there are two versions of the story: some say that as he was talking with the boys, Chaerea came up behind, and gave him a deep cut in the neck, having first cried, "Take that," and that then the tribune Cornelius Sabinus, who was the other conspirator and faced Gaius, stabbed him in the breast [part of the ritual at the sacrifice was that the slayer raised his axe with the question "Shall I do it?" to which the priest replied "Take that"]. Others say that Sabinus, after getting rid of the crowd through centurions who were in the plot, asked for the watchword, as soldiers do; and that when Gaius gave him "Jupiter," he cried "So be it," [another formula at a sacrifice was "receive the fulfillment of your omen", i.e., in naming Jupiter, the god of the thunderbolt and sudden death], and as Gaius looked around, he split his jawbone with a blow of his sword. As he lay upon the ground and with writhing limbs called out that he still lived, the others dispatched him with thirty wounds; for the general signal was " Strike again." Some even thrust their swords through his privates. At the beginning of the disturbance his bearers ran to his aid with their poles [with which they carried his litter], and presently the Germans of his body-guard, and they slew several of his assassins, as well as some inoffensive senators. LIX. He lived twenty-nine years and ruled three years, ten months and eight days. His body was conveyed secretly to the gardens of the Lamian family, where it was partly consumed on a hastily erected pyre and buried beneath a light covering of turf; later his sisters on their return from exile dug it up, cremated it, and consigned it to the tomb. Before this was done, it is well known that the caretakers of the gardens were disturbed by ghosts, and that in the house where he was slain not a night passed without some fearsome apparition, until at last the house itself was destroyed by fire. With him died his wife Caesonia, stabbed with a sword by a centurion, while his daughter's brains were dashed out against a wall. LX. One may form an idea of the state of those times by what followed. Not even after the murder was made known was it at once believed that he was dead, but it was suspected that Gaius himself had made up and circulated the report, to find out by that means how men felt towards him. The conspirators too had not agreed on a successor, and the senate was so unanimously in favor of reestablishing the republic that the consuls called the first meeting, not in the senate house, because it had the name Julia, but in the Capitol; while some in expressing their views proposed that the memory of the Caesars be done away with and their temples destroyed. Men further observed and commented on the fact that all the Caesars whose forename was Gaius perished by the sword, beginning with the one who was slain in the times of Cinna [Gaius Julius Caesar Strabo, slain in 87 B.C.---though the Dictator's father died a natural death, as did also Gaius Caesar, grandson of Augustus]. Adapted from: https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/ancient/suetonius-caligula.asp (12/11/20) 
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