The Golden Legend - Essay Example

The Golden Legend. One of the most disturbing aspects of the Leyenda Aurea (The Golden Legend) is the way in which saints reject sex in order to welcome death with open arms. The result is that in many instances, (notably with martyrs) death itself becomes a type of paradoxical amalgam of the sacrificial and the erotic. To what extent do you think that this is true I do not think that this essay's opening statement-question is true. The martyrs died in defense of their faith. The male martyrs were not challenged sexually. The female martyrs rejected sexual advances but they also spoke and performed deeds which might have brought reactions that hastened their deaths. The Church is the bride. Christ is the bridegroom. Consequently, the religious male and female virgins who consecrate themselves to God are spouses of the Church or Christ. When a religious Christian dies, s/he is reunited with the spouse. The relationship with the spouse has always been a nonsexual one before death. After death, the marriage is consummated only in the spiritual sense when the soul is reunited with the spouse. Saint Lucy of Syracuse (283-304) was killed as a saintly martyr in 304 when she refused to worship the contemporary Emperor because it was idolatry. As a result of her defiance, the presiding magistrate Paschasius sentenced her to be sexually assaulted in a brothel. The pagans knew how much the pious Christians valued their virginity so they wielded it as a weapon and punishment. Lucy knew how to vex her captors to kill her before defiling her body. Although she did say that she did not fear molestation, she was tortured to death with physical pain. Lucy did not give her body up when she said; '"The body may take no corruption but if the heart and will give thereto assenting: for if thou madest me to do sacrifice by my hands, by force, to the idols, against my will, God shall take it only but as a derision, for he judgeth only of the will and consenting. And therefore, if thou make my body to be defouled without mine assent, and against my will, my chastity shall increase double to the merit of the crown of glory. What thing that thou dost to the body, which is in thy power, that beareth no prejudice to the handmaid of Jesus Christ."' (Wikipedia). Lucy has made it known that she is not threatened by her aggressors and she turns everything they wield against her into her advantage. Lucy said; 'I have prayed to Jesu Christ that this fire have no domination in me to the end that the Christian men that believe in God make of thee their derision. And I have prayed for respite of my martyrdom for to take away from the Christian men the fear and dread to die for the faith of Jesu Christ,' (Voragine). Lucy knew she was to die in the hands of Paschasius so she started to prophesize. By an ironic twist of events, Lucy was spared the consummation of sexual intercourse. She did not directly choose death but by a series of events, she was killed before she could be dragged away to a brothel. Is Lucy's death a sacrifice or did she willed herself to disobey Paschasius to beget a death sentence Lucy wanted to die a virgin martyr. Her death is her own selfish act to be united with Christ as his virgin bride. It is not an erotic act in the physical sense because there is no presence of sexual elements. Women in the Medieval Era were written as stereotypes belonging to the categories of the demure maiden or scheming shrew. The virgin chooses martyrdom to escape her oppressive situation. Many stories of the virgin martyr saints are similar. 'The repetition of more or less the same plot in the legends of hundreds of different women is a clear sign that most are ahistorical.' (Winstead 2). They were written by male historians whose views of females are reflected in the writings. The virgin martyr legends wish to convey the message that a good woman must be chaste even at the cost of her life. Death ensures her chastity. They have conveniently forgotten to consider sodomy. However, Lucy defines chastity as not giving permission to violate her body. A dead virgin martyr cannot give permission so she remains chaste. In many legends, virgin martyrs are tortured and persecuted because they refuse to share sexual intercourse. We do not read about male virgin martyrs because even if there were gays in Medieval Europe, they remained closet gays and unwritten about in this context. Plus, the male martyrs died for their faith and were not challenged with sexual molestation because of their gender. This suggests prejudice in the portrayal of female and male saints. Feminists have interpreted the virgin martyr saints as early feminists rebelling against their sociopolitical environment. They were disobedient towards their patriarchal society's male rulers. The legends could have served to teach moral stories about the virtues of remaining chaste under the seducing eyes of male authority. Women are always stereotyped in roles that show subjugation and victimization. There are no strong women because that would lead to gender conflict in feminine roles. (Winstead 3). Hagiography, or the biographies and writings about saints, were translated from Latin into vernacular languages. These translators were lay people who thought nothing of rewriting legends into myths as they tailored the stories to suit their purposes. Studies show that there are patterns. Translated legends of the fourteenth century tell about the saintly women's gender role conflicts and non-conformity to expectations. Legends from the fifteenth century show the trend of faithful submission to one's fate. Prayer is encouraged to deal with adversity. There are also many varieties in the styles of narration. What we read about the saints and their virtues to refuse erotic encounters maybe the work of the translators more than it is about truth. (Winstead 4). Juliana, as mentioned by Voragine, was engaged to a suitor Eleusius, chosen by her father. She refused to marry because Eleusius refused to convert to Christ. Juliana prayed to God to 'teach her how to save her virginity from shameful intimacies.' (Winstead 12). She was later subjected to great physical torture but she remained unharmed and unfazed by impending mortal danger. A devil in the disguise of an angel came into Juliana's prison cell to persuade her to surrender and worship the pagan idols in order to preserve her life. Juliana did not wish for death but instead she cried and prayed; '"O Lord my God, do not let me perish, but show me who this is that's giving me such advice!"' (Voragine 161). Initially, Juliana did not welcome death and she was aided. She was granted her wish and the disguise of the devil was revealed to her. From her speech, we can deduce that Juliana tried to remain alive for as long as she could and she died when she was beheaded because she chose to or when God allowed her to die. Juliana was protected from bodily harm by miracles and the people who witnessed this converted into Christianity on the spot. Six hundred and thirty new converts were immediately persecuted and beheaded. (Voragine 161). Juliana was declared a saint because of the miracles performed in her presence and also because she died a martyr. After studying the lives of Saints Lucy and Juliana, we find a common trend. The women desired to remain chaste and death came upon them after a great deal of mortal torture of the flesh. The religious believe that purification is required before meeting the Lord and physical hardship is often viewed as the test to qualify for exaltation by God. Is death erotic The virgin martyr saints tried hard to live on against the mockeries of their tormentors but the excessive exertions to hang on to life borders on the erotic because their persecutors threaten to sexually defile them . The miracles that happened to preserve their lives show that the saints wished to live and they had crossed the borders of mortality. (Bruno 312) This excessive effort to preserve life while at the point of death is called erotic relinquishing. The female body is always violated in some form of physical torture that writhes the body in convulsions and the sight and suggestion are erotic. The iconography that depicts the saint for the memory of the people after the erotic death serves to farther the legend and myth. Saint Theresa spoke of her dying the erotic death while living. '"I die because I cannot die."' (Bruno 312). A simple interpretation might imply that she is dying a living death because she cannot fatally die with an end to her mortal life. Some painters have depicted Theresa being shot by an angel with an arrow. Her face was always painted with a delighted expression and the angel's face had satisfaction. Scholars have said that Theresa was enraptured by the erotic pleasure of being seduced by a divine being. Angels are often pictured as almost naked celestial beings and this adds the element of eroticism. To be in close proximity of a nude or near nude would certainly heighten the arousal senses and suggest eroticism. If death brought the martyr close to such nude beings, then death is associated by imagery to eroticism. There is another type of virgin martyr. The virgin who sacrifices her virginity and her life for the sake of Christ is exemplified by the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus Christ. Mary had her immaculate conception when she conceived Jesus while remaining chaste. She was still unmarried when an angel broke this news to her. By her society's standards, she had done a great wrong and would have been punished had she brought for judgment. Mary and Joseph married. Mary did not die a martyr but she lived her life as a martyr because she sacrificed her life to do God's Will. Voragine had devoted an entire chapter called 'The Birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ According to the Flesh' to explain this. (Voragine 36). On the other hand, some might argue that Mary died when she gave up her free will to obey God. We read that Mary rejected sex but we don't know for sure that she welcomed death with open arms. We have read that after Jesus' ascension into heaven, Mary disappeared from her home. There were many versions of the story. The common one is that Mary's body was never found because she ascended up into heaven. God took her up whole and uncorrupted by death to reward her for her lifetime of chastity and purity. This day is celebrated annually by the Catholic Church as The Assumption Of The Blessed Virgin Mary. In a similar vein of argument, we might deduce that Joseph, the stepfather or assigned father of Jesus, was also a martyr. Joseph sacrificed his manhood when he married Mary because he knew that he was not allowed to have close sexual relations with Mary. He was her earthly spouse, present to take care of her and be a father to Jesus. Joseph rejected sex with Mary. He did not seek sex outside his marriage and remained chaste. He lived until a ripe old age and died naturally. He did not suffer the death of a martyr in the hands of persecutors. We can read about the life of Joseph in the Book of Matthew from the New Testament. (Wuest 4). Many people forget that Jesus Christ is also a saint. He performed miracles and interceded for his followers and nonbelievers alike without prejudice. He had many women disciples. Women were among his first disciples. Mary Magdalene, Joanna and Susanna followed Jesus and provided the necessary financial assistance. (Luke 8:1-3). Jesus even spent time alone with the women. He loved them as his mothers and sisters and without erotic desires. He rejected their sexuality but his death was not because to give up his sexual self but to save all humankind. Indeed, Jesus was tested with many incidences but he remained steadfast in his mission. Mary Magdalene was his closest woman companion in faith. She saw how Jesus was crucified under the persecution of Pontius Pilate. She wept at his feet. Jesus loved her and honored her by making her the first to witness his resurrection. Did Jesus choose death to reject his erotic desires for a woman We read that Jesus prayed in the desert for forty days because he wanted to communicate to God, His Father. He obeyed to fulfill His Father's Will in all circumstances. So, we can safely conclude that Jesus wanted to die because it was His Father's Will. He sacrificed himself as a virgin martyr because he obeyed His Father. Nowhere it is recorded that Jesus died to protect his chastity. (Wuest). There are also doubtful stories about saintly married women who, after their conversion into Christianity, spurned sexual relations. Why were married women also written about as chaste, married saints One advantage would be to use a figure head as a matron to promote Christianity and her good values. During the Middle Ages of 1100s, Christianity became more popular. Many women sought close relationships with Christ. The legends of the married, chaste saints served to guide the new married converts. (Winstead 1997). Christina of Markyate was forced to marry Burthred but she refused to share intimate relations with her husband. She related the story of Saint Cecilia who convinced her new husband, Valerian, to avoid sexual relations. She failed to persuade Burthred to sacrifice their marriage vows. Christina wanted to remain a virgin bride because she believed that she would not be able to attain her spiritual goals if she were to consummate her marriage. Indeed, the legends and myths of the virgin martyrs angered some lay people and clergymen. When a prior Fredebert was called in to counsel Christina, she rejected his advice to submit to her husband on the grounds that virgins are saved more easily by Christ. Some scholars have noted that the virgin martyr legends were cited to achieve purposes by women. Indeed, the stories of the saints in The Golden Legend had moral teachings in sexuality, behavior, vices and gender relationships. There were also lengthy elaborate prayers supposedly recited by the saints just before their deaths. Readers are encouraged to use those prayers for their salvation. Thus we can see how the legends of the saints are used to evangelize and propagate the Christian faith. (Winstead 1997). After reviewing the arguments and discussions presented in this essay, I conclude that the legends recorded in The Golden Legend are ahistorical and their contents were written by clergymen and lay translators to influence the readers. The chaste passions and virtues of the saints could have been exaggerated or written from traditions to extol the moral values of chastity, virginity, filial piety to God, appropriate behaviors towards the opposite sexes and to strengthen faith. As male and female saints received different treatment in the recorded legends; notably that of the absence of erotic torture for the male saints, I should think that there was deliberate bias in the writings. As for the question that asks if the saints used death for the joint purposes of sacrifice and erotic fulfillment, I would conclude in the negative. The end. Works Cited. Bruno, Giuliana. Streetwalking on a Ruined Map: : Cultural Theory and the City Films of Elvira Notari. USA: Princeton University Press, 1993. "Saint Lucy" Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 17 Jan 2007. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Lucy Voragine, Jacobus. The Golden Legend: Readings on the Saints. USA: Princeton University Press, 1995. Winstead, Karen. Virgin martyrs: legends of sainthood in late medieval England. New York: Cornell University Press, 1997. Winstead, Karen. Chaste Passions: Medieval English Virgin Martyr Legends New York: Cornell University Press, 2000. Wuest, Kenneth. New Testament-OE. USA: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1994. Read More