Women In The Middle Ages: A Depiction Of Craft And Ambition

Women in the Middle Ages:
A Depiction of Craft and Ambition

Throughout the works depicting the Arthurian Middle Ages, women are scarcely even mentioned. However, a few women managed to make it into the pages of history as written by Gildas, Nennius and Geoffrey of Monmouth and transcribed by Richard Loomis. These two women, specifically Renwein, the daughter of Hengist, and Culhwch’s stepmother the queen, are prime examples of how women in middle age stories were used to warn rulers of deception. Both women used their positions near power to influence historical events, and thus attempt to gain political power themselves. Renwein, as mentioned in Geoffrey’s History of the Kings of Britain, was the daughter of the Saxon leader Hengist. She was brought over in the second wave of Saxon ships from Germany. Upon meeting the then King Vortigern at a feast, her beauty seduced him and they married, thus making her queen, but in exchange for the land of Kent. Renwein, simply by marriage has already gained her family power by gaining rule over the province of
Kent. Simultaneously, Renwein created a line of connection between her people and Vortigern, as her father was now Vortigern’s father-in-law and thus able to advise him. Simply by seduction and arranged marriage, Renwein has gained her, and her people power by position and land gain, clearly showing craft in her maneuvering of the political pallet of Celtic royalty. Renwein again pops her head when Vortigern’s son (not by her), Vortimer gains rule from his father. Vortimer, who was opposed to his father’s tactics, would not benefit Renwein and her people’s ambitions. To change this, Renwein used her position of power to plan and carry out the assassination of Vortimer by poisoning his drink. By doing so, Renwein opened the door so that Vortigern could once again take the crown, and thus concurrently establish her back into the seat of power. While Vortimer was in power, he pushed back the Saxons so they left Britain. Once back in the seat of power, Renwein again used her craft and ambition to sway Vortigern into inviting the Saxons back into the country, in her attempt to have her people re-establish power. However, once the princes of Britain heard of this, they set to meet the Saxons at the port. Knowing this, Renwein sent messengers to her father so that he could bring an entire army back. This crafty manipulation of power allowed the Saxons to again establish in the land of Britain. In Geoffrey’s depiction of Renwein alone, there are seemingly numerous examples of how a woman’s craft and ambition can change the outcomes of history. From using her body to come into power, and then sequentially using her power to maintain a foothold and gain prowess, Renwein is a prefect example of how women were depicted in middle age manuscripts such as Geoffrey’s The History of the Kings of Britain. A second instance of women using her position from ambition occurs in the writings of Culhwch and Olwen. After the death of Culhwch’s mother Goleuddydd, his father King Cilydd takes a second wife. This woman, who hither to will be referred to as the queen, already has a daughter. The queen, upon finding out from an old hag that the King already had a son, and thus an heir, wishes to establish her blood in the linage to the throne. Therefore, she proposes that her daughter be married to Culhwch. This would enable her daughter to produce and heir by their offspring and generate a royal line from her blood. However, to the distaste of the queen, Culhwch does not take the marriage, foregoing the chance of her daughter entering the royal line. In order for her bloodline to stand a chance of inheriting the throne, the queen must get rid of Culhwch.
To do this, she places a destiny, or a curse, on Culhwch so that he can only marry a giant’s daughter, which was assumed to be a death sentence. This action has several implications. First off, a cruse implies that the queen is some type of witch or woman who garners some type of power. This in itself is a sign of craft by which the woman has unwarranted power. Furthermore, it is an act of ambition. By placing this fortune on Culhwch, assumed to be condemning him to death, she is removing the possibility of him assuming the throne. Without Culhwch, there is no other heir, thereby allowing either a son of the queen, or the husband of her daughter to assume the kingship. This thusly enables the blood lineage of the queen to enter into the royal line, gaining herself and her family
power. In both of these examples, women of the Arthurian ages are using their craft and ambition to gain power position in their respective kingdoms. There are reasons why their likenesses are included in story. Knowing that at least Geoffrey of Monmouth was writing for rulers, I am going to make the jump that the depictions of women in these texts were intended to be warning signs. Both the queen and Renwein used their positions close power to fulfill their personal ambitions, but by doing so simultaneously undermining the rulers. By imposing these characters into the stories, those in power could use them to recognize the potential dangers that some women could impose upon their courts, thereby making those rulers more aware and wary of the goings-on of their wives/women of the court. In fine, the depiction of women in some Arthurian middle age texts is often a depiction of a crafty and ambitious woman, who intends to use her wit and position to gain power for herself and her people. These depictions can be attributed to the writers’ intent to warn royalty of the pitfalls of entrusting their wives/women of the court with too much lenience and power and not enough surveillance. Instead, the rulers should acknowledge the ability of said women, and thereby, they can be more aware of the power that women can have when in/near positions of power. Knowing this information ultimately allows male rulers to better manage their own courts.