His Stories of Her 2

Extract From Part One: Two men, both writers and both lived in Western Europe around the same time. Gregory of Tours lived in that city which is now in modern France in the early seventh century. Paul of Merida lived in that city in the late sixth century now in modern Spain Both were descendents of once North European, barbarian and pagan tribes who had migrated to inhabit the Roman Empire during the fourth century. Gregory’s ancestors were Franks; Paul’s were Visigoths. Both were leading ecclesiastics in the Catholic Church. With so much in common you might expect they held similar attitudes towards women but you’d be completely wrong.

Recap of Part 1

In Part One of this article we saw how Gregory of Tours thought women were greedy, grasping, deserved to pay the ultimate price for their transgressions and needn’t be apologised to – even if (as it turned out in the example quoted in Part 1) he had accused a woman of being “completely irresponsible” and was proven to be completely wrong. By comparing two stories – one from Gregory and the other from Paul – we saw how Gregory sought to blame women while Paul to understand them. Gregory blamed women and believed they should be punished. Conversely, Paul understood women’s motivation. How else did these writers see women's place in their respective societies? What were their attitudes to sexual relations with women?

The Article continues below this Image:

A Visigothic Chalice Image from Wikipedia

Sinful Sex and Natural Sex

Further study of Gregory’s texts leaves readers in no doubt that Gregory saw women and sexual relations as sinful and dirty:

“…at Clermont there were two people, a man and a woman, who were joined in marriage but not in sexual intercourse. Although they slept in a single bed, they were not polluted by the other in carnal desire.” Gregory of Tours Glory of the Confessors Chapter 31

Two Types of Marriage | Good and Bad

In the quote above, Gregory spoke of his ideal marriage. This is a marriage in which there were no sexual relations and therefore in which no children were born. In Paul’s text he opines that sexual relations in marriage should only be avoided in extreme circumstances. Paul believed that sexual relations in marriage were not dirty and that the birth of children should be encouraged unless giving birth would kill the mother. Gregory wrote about the “pollution” of sex, whereas Paul of the “embraces” of the same.

Firsts in Western Literature

Paul’s attitude is clearly illustrated in his account of the life of Bishop Paulus* and one of the bishop’s unique skills. The skill recorded by Paul when he related how the bishop helped a woman who was close to death from poisoning caused by a dead foetus in her womb:

“Bishop Paulus* laid his hands upon the sick woman in the name of the Lord and, trusting in God, very carefully made a small incision with a sharp scalpel and withdrew in sections, member by member, the already corrupt body of the dead infant”.

In this quote, (which remarkably is the first account of such an operation – the surgical removal of a dead foetus - in Western literature), the difference between the two authors under discussion, is clearly apparent. Impregnating women was wrong and sinful in Gregory’s view. It could be argued that in Gregory’s opinion no holy man should lay a hand upon a woman and even less in such an intimate manner, even that women in this poorly condition were sinners who deserved to die; that such a death would be God’s will.

Gregory too has the distinction of giving Western literature a first account. His was of the bodily assumption of the Virgin Mary:

“…the blessed Mary had already been called from this world, and finally the passage of her life was completed, and all the apostles gathered from their particular regions at her house. When they heard that she must be taken from this world, they all kept watch with her. And behold, the Lord Jesus came with his angels, and taking her soul he gave it to the angel Michael and left. At dawn the apostles lifted her body onto a bed, placed it in a tomb, and kept guard over it, in anticipation of the arrival of the Lord. And behold, again the Lord approached them. He took the holy body in a cloud and ordered that it be brought to Paradise, when after regaining her soul, Mary now rejoices with the elect and enjoys the goodness of eternity that will never perish”. Gregory of Tours Glory of the Martyrs Chapter 4

The Reason Behind Gregory’s Contradiction

One might think that this obvious admiration of Gregory for the Virgin Mary argues against the premise that Gregory was a hater of women, that it contradicted his perceived attitude. However, when it is disclosed that Gregory also reports the bodily assumption of his great uncle (Saint) Martin in another of his texts (Miracles of the bishop St Martin), Gregory’s aim – to set a precedent - is made clear**. To put it bluntly and in modern terms, Gregory needed the precedent to big up his illustrious ancestor. And, boy was he successful!

Saint Martin of Tours is still commemorated throughout Europe. His cult is one of the most successful and still thrives 1800 years after his birth. Google “Martin of Tours” for further proof.

In Part 3 of this Article

Part Three contains some conclusions, a select bibliography and links.  Read Part 1 His Stories of Her

*We chose to use the name bishop Paulus to avoid having him confused with Paul the writer ofThe Lives of the Holy Fathers of Merida

Image from Wikipedia A Visigothic belt buckle found in Aquitaine, France, dated first half of sixth century.  The Visigoths had a settlement in France before they took over the governance of Roman Spain.

Image from Wikipedia Rubens Assumption of the Virgin Mary. The artist Peter Paul Rubens’ painting would have in part be based on the written description of the event by Gregory of Tours.

Image from Wikipedia Reliquary of Martin of Tours perhaps made in Avignon 14th century. Proof the cult of Saint Martin was going strong centuries after Gregory of Tours wrote.