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Nomine Digna Viri: How Anglo-Norman Historians Searched for a Language to Describe Female Power
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Nomine Digna Viri: How Anglo-Norman Historians Searched for a Language to Describe Female Power
Annotation
PII
S207987840032180-7-1
DOI
10.18254/S207987840032180-7
Publication type
Article
Status
Published
Authors
Anastasia Sirotkina 
Affiliation: Lomonosov Moscow State University
Address: Russian Federation, Moscow
Edition
Volume 15 Issue 8 (142)
Abstract

This article examines female potestary images in historical works of the first half of the 12th century: “Gesta Regum Anglorum” and “Historia Novella” by William of Malmesbury, “Chronicon ex Chronicis” by John of Worcester, “Historia Anglorum” by Henry of Huntingdon, “Historia Ecclesiastica” by Orderic Vitalis, and the anonymous work “Gesta Stephani”. To create the most complete picture of how the authors described the claim of Matilda, the daughter of King Henry I, to power, the most significant texts from the point of view of historiography were selected. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is used to study changes in the description of the image of the Mercian Lady Aethelflæd. The way of describing Empress Matilda is compared with the language of describing Aethelflæd. A hypothesis is put forward according to which the Anglo-Saxon historical tradition, in contrast to the Anglo-Norman, practically lacked the language of description of female potestary images. In historiography, there is a widespread opinion that medieval authors tended to endow outstanding powerful women with masculine vocabulary. In this article, the author concludes that the claims of Empress Matilda to power, as well as the titles characteristic of her documents, introduced changes in the language of description of powerful female images.

Keywords
England 12th century, Anglo-Norman historiography, Empress Matilda, Æthelflæd, William of Malmesbury, Orderic Vitalis, Henry of Huntingdon, images of power, domina, virago
Received
22.05.2024
Publication date
16.09.2024
Number of characters
30832
Number of purchasers
5
Views
83
Readers community rating
0.0 (0 votes)
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