Women’s lives were almost entirely dictated by the religious sensibilities of the time. In Genesis, we read that women were created second from the rib of Adam. This was frequently understood to mean that women were inferior and completely dependent on men, for Eve could not have existed without Adam. In addition, as descendants of Eve, who was responsible for original sin and mankind’s expulsion from Paradise, women were seen as inherently sinful and weak, likely to lead their husbands into sin just as their foremother did.72 Looking at the New Testament, Church authorities noted St. Paul’s admonitions that women should be subservient to men, remain silent, and be forbidden from teaching.73 Reinforcing the idea of women’s silence was the notion that the Virgin Mary, model of all virtue, “is given only few words” in the Bible.74
The Virgin Mary, meek, mild, and completely obedient to God’s will, was seen as the paragon of womanly virtue. She was also held up as the prime example of women’s roles of wife and mother. Comer explains the role of women in society, “With such virtues as chastity, silence, obedience, and beauty, women were called on to bring men to perfection. But when seen as sexual beings, women were condemned for being weaker and easily swayed in matters of the flesh. More than that, women were thought to be ‘incomplete men’ because of their weaker strength as well as ‘mental and moral inferiority.’”75
One idea that will become increasingly important as the Arthurian legend evolves is that the place women could find power in the Middle Ages was in a convent. The decision to enter a convent and become a nun is “one of the few decisions medieval women could make for themselves.”76 In so doing, Guinevere exercises a modicum of independence, regardless of her motivation. Many abbesses and prioresses reigned over their congregations like queens, and the ability to read and write was greatly prized, as were artistic skills, because they allowed the convents to flourish and create valuable works that could be sold to nobility to enrich the order. Even in double religious houses where monks and nuns shared space, often it was the abbess, not the abbot, who was in charge over both. One of the reasons abbesses had such power is related to the role of the Virgin Mary. In the words of St. Bridget of Sweden, “the abbess out of reverence to the most blessed Virgin Mary to whom this order [the Brigittines] is hallowed ought to be the head and lady. For the Virgin, in whose stead the abbess is, was after Christ’s ascension into heaven, head and queen of the apostles.”77
Even though women such as Eleanor of Aquitaine and Marie de Champagne were often patrons of Arthurian literature, “within the romances’ narratives, the lady’s idealization and cultural privilege are often attenuated by dependent status or marginalization, just as it was for historical noblewomen from the twelfth through the fifteenth centuries.”78 For most women, life was short and difficult. They were usually married as teenagers to men they hardly knew, and quickly began having children. Maternal and child mortality rates were very high, so many women lived in fear of dying in childbed. Poverty was endemic and each new child meant more mouths to feed. If it was a girl, it meant another wedding to arrange and another dowry to pay.
As we will soon see, given the general climate of the time, it’s not overly surprising when we find that Guinevere was not treated well by the monks and scribes of the Middle Ages. As Peter Korrel asserts, “Guinevere probably received her bad reputation during the twelfth century, both by her active involvement in courtly love affairs, described in lais and romances to cater for the taste of the Anglo-Norman and French courts, and by her collaboration in the foul acts of high treason and bigamy in Geoffrey’s pseudo-historical chronicle, which was taken seriously enough.”79
Life of Gildas
“Glastonia…was besieged by the tyrant Arthur with a countless multitude on account of his wife Gwenhwyfar, whom the aforesaid wicked king [Melwas] had violated and carried off.” 80
—The Life of Gildas by Caradoc of Llancarfan
After Celtic literature, the next time Guinevere appears in the Arthurian legend is in the twelfth century. The Life of Gildas (c. 1130-1150) was written by the monk Caradoc of Llancarven. It is important to our study of Guinevere in that it is the first story to link her to Glastonbury and it gives us the basic outline of Guinevere’s kidnapping by Melwas/Malegant and her rescue by Arthur.
According to The Life of Gildas, Glastonbury (or Glastonia, as it is called in the text) is where Melwas, a “wicked king,”81 took Guinevere after raping and kidnapping her. It was thought to be an impregnable place due to its “fortifications of thickets of reed, river and marsh.”82 But “the tyrant Arthur with a countless multitude”83 besieged it to get her back, starting a war.
Stories of people, especially women, being carried off to faraway and/or supernatural lands are common in Celtic myth and literature.84 Usually, this is seen as symbolic of being carried off into the realm of the faerie or a faerie leaving her Otherworldly lover in order to marry a mortal, only to be reclaimed later by her fay lover.85 But according to Arthurian scholar John Matthews, this trope dates back to the tradition of “the rape of the Flower Bride, in which the sovereignty of the land is represented by a woman whom the would-be king or ruler must win either in combat against an adversary, or by marriage.”86 He even goes so far as to hint that this story might be the origin of Lancelot’s affair with Guinevere, saying, “seen through the eyes of the medieval romancers a tale of adulterous love was a far more interesting story than a pagan story of sovereignty, though it never wholly lost touch with the more ancient theme of the queen’s abduction and recovery.”87 This is certainly an interesting, if not mainstream, way of looking at Guinevere’s affair and the many times she is rescued within the legend, usually by Lancelot.
Some scholars of Celtic law note that kidnapping was a form of legal marriage in the Celtic world. In his 1894 work, The Brehon Laws, Laurence Ginnell explains that the law recognized three types of wives,88 one of which was “an adaltrach-woman of abduction,”89 a completely legal relationship that had to have the consent of both parties to be dissolved, otherwise it had to go through the legal process.
Whatever the meaning or the veracity of the abduction of Guinevere, by the end of the twelfth century, it was firmly canonized in the tale of Camelot.
Geoffrey of Monmouth
“In the meantime, Mordred, that disloyal and foolish regent, began to subdue Britain for himself, and he engaged in an illicit affair with the king’s wife.” 90
— The History of the Kings of Britain by Geoffrey of Monmouth
Despite its name, The History of the Kings of Britain (1135-1136), monk Geoffrey of Monmouth’s most famous work, isn’t what modern scholars would consider history. Ancient historians didn’t keep to the rigorous documentation used today; it was perfectly acceptable to mix oral history, imagination, and fact and call it history. Geoffrey claims that his history was a translation of a more ancient work unknown to his contemporaries, nor has it been proven to exist since. Because of this, many scholars don’t believe this older source existed, and take the stance that his book is wholly fanciful. Other, more indulgent scholars hypothesize that he was working from oral sources.91
Though only a portion of The History relates to the study of King Arthur, it is valuable as the origin of much of the material that would later comprise Arthurian legend, including Tintagel as Arthur’s birthplace, much of the myth of Merlin, the descriptions of medieval courts with their feasting, ladies, and hunts, and the introduction of Morgan as a healer, her nine sisters of Avalon, and details about Avalon.
Despite being a multi-volume work, The History tells us precious little of Arthur’s queen, something many feminist scholars see as a reflection of women’s minor roles in medieval society.92 Gordon-Wise asserts this paucity of information is detrimental to Guinevere. “Not only is she mentioned only six times, but the queen also never speaks directly,”93 establishing a tradition of passivity it will take hundreds of years to break. But given that Geoffrey is focu
sed on the kings of Britain, perhaps we should be grateful that Guinevere is mentioned at all, even if it is only in relationship to Arthur.94
From Geoffrey’s account, we learn three main things about Guinevere, each of which deserves its own examination. The first piece of information about her we learn from Geoffrey is that she was the beautiful daughter of a Roman family. Susann Samples and Bonner note this small bit of information deprives her of the ability to be seen as a character in her own right. “Her worthiness to be Arthur’s wife is based on ancestry and beauty”95 with no description of her personality or character.96 As a result, she is established as a shadow to Arthur’s sun.
Next, we learn that she marries Arthur, but when Arthur leaves his government in Mordred’s hands, she willingly cuckolds Arthur with him and becomes an accomplice in revolt. Geoffrey presents Guinevere’s affair with Mordred as an explanation for the downfall of Arthur. In some ways, this is his way of painting himself out of the corner he created by portraying Arthur as such a model of kingly perfection. Because of Arthur’s goodness, “only deception and treachery could bring down the powerful warrior king.”97 The perfect answer was a woman, sinful and weak, whom the author, as a monk, feels superior to and “sits in judgment upon.”98
Unfortunately, this use of Guinevere as a scapegoat would taint her reputation for centuries. Scholar Peter Korrel reads in her participation in Mordred’s betrayal the origin of her bad reputation in future stories. “I think it very likely that the guilty role Guinevere played in the downfall of Britain’s greatest monarch, collaborating in such a detestable crime as high treason, gave her the bad name she was to have ever after.”99
Conversely, Barbara Gordon-Wise rejects the notion that Geoffrey blames Guinevere’s affair for the downfall of Camelot, placing the blame on another famous (and long-lasting) story element. “Guinevere’s infertility in Geoffrey also plays a role in the downfall of the Arthurian kingdom. Unlike in early Celtic society where the tribal king’s power could be inherited by any number of male descendants, Geoffrey’s England witnessed the rise of the national monarchy with its emphasis in primogeniture. Thus, Guinevere’s failure to bear children partially results in the destruction of the kingdom. Without an heir, Arthur is forced to name his nephew as regent, this signaling the end of his direct line.”100 So here, whether or not Guinevere was directly at fault, society may have had a very direct effect on her storyline by its rules putting in motion the decisions that led to destruction.
Either way, she was a woman and in medieval society, anything that went wrong, whether caused by her words, actions, intentions, or even by circumstance, was her fault by association. As the descendant of Eve, she didn’t stand a chance at redemption, unless—like Mary Magdalene—she repented of her sin.
Which brings us to the final unique element of Geoffrey’s Guinevere: when Arthur returns, Guinevere flees to a nunnery for protection. Geoffrey writes, “When this was announced to Queen Guinevere, she gave way to despair. She fled from York to the City of the Legions and there in the church of Julius the Martyr, she took her vows among the nuns, promising to live a chaste life.”101 We are never explicitly told what “this” refers to, what Guinevere was told that causes such sorrow. It could be that she was told about Mordred’s death or that Mordred was gathering men for a march into Winchester. Many believe that she was sad because of her lover Mordred’s downfall, but others point out she may have finally succumbed to the hopelessness of the situation.102
In the same way, her motivation for flight into the convent is unclear. Was she remorseful and desiring repentance? Was she looking for a safe haven? If so, from whom—Mordred and/or Arthur, or the whole world? Did she fear punishment for her treason?103 Tyler Tichelaar notes,
She cannot be fleeing from Mordred because by going to the City of the Legions [Caerleon], she is moving closer to him. Mordred enters Winchester after Arthur has landed and defeated him at Richborough. Perhaps learning of Arthur’s success is what makes Guinevere fearful. If this is the case, she may have fled to a nunnery as a place of clemency from fear of Arthur’s wrath. Certainly, her going to a nunnery rather than joining Mordred suggests she is more concerned about her own fate than Mordred’s. She might also hope that if Arthur finds her in a nunnery rather than with Mordred, he might believe her innocent.104
This is where having not even a glimpse into her interior life makes it hard for the reader to care about Guinevere’s fate.
But does it really matter? Maureen Fries would answer no. “That Geoffrey’s Guinevere ends her life as a nun vowed to chastity at Caerleon, the scene of her co-coronation with Arthur, indicates her conformation to the heroine’s role as reflector of the male hero’s values. The performance of penitence for oneself and/or as a surrogate for a male was a function of the female in romance [literature] as it was in real life.”105 In other words, her reasons are immaterial; Guinevere was only fulfilling the role fate and society dictated for her.
The resulting Guinevere is unrecognizable from the one seen in Celtic literature. The woman who began as symbol of the changing seasons may have finally become a character (albeit a small one) with an origin, but she also has been branded with a sin she will never shake. As James Douglas Merriman writes of Guinevere’s transformation, “what in pagan times had been a symbolization of primitive man’s conception of natural processes became increasingly in a Christian society a matter of moral concern and a question of sexual ethics.”106 In this transition we see a shift in mindset that corrupts all that was once seen as natural (sex, the turning of the year) into the basis for mortal sin that can only be absolved through repentance and turning to religion – a theme that will echo in Arthurian legend for hundreds of years to come.
* * *
65 Bonner, "Guinevere as Heroine,"13-14.
66 Johnson, Jacquelyn Sweeney, “Guenevere's Conflict: Pagan Love or Christian Ethics” (Master's thesis, Longwood University, 2003), 5-6.
67 Leyser, Henrietta, Medieval Women: A Social History of England 450 – 1500 (London: Phoenix Press, 2003), 93.
68 Ibid., 144-148.
69 Ibid., 148-149.
70 Leyser, Medieval Women, 162-163.
71 Ibid., 165.
72 Bovey, Alixe, “Women in Medieval Society” (The British Library, 2015).
73 Ibid.
74 Leyser, Medieval Women, 223.
75 Comer, "Behold Thy Doom is Mine," 24-25.
76 Comer, "Behold Thy Doom is Mine," 64.
77 Cited in Leyser, Medieval Women, 204.
78 Lacy, Norris J., The New Arthurian Encyclopedia: New Edition (New York: Taylor and Francis, 2013), 524.
79 Korrel, An Arthurian Triangle, 126.
80 Caradoc of Llancarfan, The Life of Gildas, Celtic Literature Collective.
81 Ibid.
82 Ibid.
83 Ibid.
84 Hopkins, Andrea, The Book of Guinevere, 50. Even the Bretons share this myth. In it, the queen is abducted by the king of the dead and rescued by her husband.
85 Walters, "Introduction," xv.
86 Matthews, John, Dark Age Warrior, 33.
87 Ibid., 38.
88 Many sources on Celtic law list up to 10 types of legal marriage. One example is Peter Ellis’ Celtic Women: Women in Celtic Society and Literature.
89 Ginnel, Laurence, "Marriage," in The Brehon Laws (1894), 213, and Thompson, Jack George, Women in Celtic Law and Culture (Lewiston: Edwin Mellen, 1996), 133, 158.
90 Monmouth, Geoffrey, The History of the Kings of Britain (Peterborough: Broadview Press, 2008), 267, lines 1107-1109.
91 Peter Korell is one scholar who holds this opinion. He also says it was possible Geoffrey was influenced by is the Welsh Triads.
93 Gordon-Wise, The Reclamation of a Queen, 11-12.
94 Bonner, "Guinevere as Heroine,"14.
95 Samples, Susann, “Guinevere: A Re-Appraisal,” in Lancelot and Guinevere: A Casebook, ed Lori Walters (New York: Routledge, 2002.), 219.
96 Bonner, "Guinevere as Heroine," 14.
97 Walters, "Introduction," xvi, Samples, "A Re-Appraisal," 225.
98 Hopkins, Annette Brown, “The Influence of Wace on the Arthurian Romances of Crestian de Troies,” PhD thesis, University of Chicago, 1912 (Menasha: George Banta, 1913), 37, n. 34.
The Once and Future Queen Page 5