Date of Award
2019
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
History
First Advisor
Sean L. Field
Second Advisor
Anne Clark
Abstract
This thesis examines the story of a thirteenth-century woman from the diocese of Metz, named Sibylla of Marsal, as the contemporary monk and chronicler Richer of Senones recounts it in his Gesta Senoniensis Ecclesiae. According to Richer, Sibylla feigned sanctity using various props--including a demon costume that she wore to terrify villagers--and was locally venerated as a holy woman before authorities discovered her fraudulence. This thesis offers the first full-length study of Sibylla and is the first study of this fascinating case to focus on Richer's perspective. After establishing the single extant thirteenth-century manuscript of the Gesta Senoniensis Ecclesiae--Paris, BnF ms. lat. 10016--as the most reliable witness to Richer's original text, this study analyzes Richer's agenda to situate Sibylla within his apocalyptic worldview and his desire to denigrate the emerging mendicant orders. Finally, Sibylla's story is placed within the broader context of thirteenth-century women's religion; because Sibylla exhibited accepted behaviors associated with female sanctity and yet was not ultimately considered a saint by her contemporaries, her story provides insight into the social construction of sainthood in the High Middle Ages. Several appendices edit and translate the crucial medieval sources for the thesis.
Language
en
Number of Pages
104 p.
Recommended Citation
Smith, Courtney Anne, "Unmasking a Medieval Pseudo-Saint: The Peculiar Story of Sibylla of Marsal in Richer's Gesta Senoniensis Ecclesiae" (2019). Graduate College Dissertations and Theses. 1148.
https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/graddis/1148
Included in
Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons, History of Religion Commons, Medieval History Commons