Women S Role in Boniface Mission

¶ … Saint Boniface's birth to be 675 AD. Born as either Wynfriyh, Winfrid, or Wynfrith in the kingdom of Wessex in what is known as Anglo-Saxon England, Boniface became a leading figure during the 8th century in the Anglo-Saxon mission that led to mass conversion in the German areas of Frankish Territory. Regarded as the first archbishop of Mainz and the patron saint of Germania, he was able to establish the first organized Christianity throughout Germania. Killed in 754 in Frisia, his remains were sent back to Fulda where they quickly became a location of pilgrimage. Since he is a well-known saint, much of his life and death, including his work is widely available. His letters provide not only access to his thoughts and events in his life, but also the thoughts and events of others, in particular women.

Being an apostle of Germania, Saint Boniface assisted in shaping Western Christianity with the help of women who at the time were just as involved as men in Christianity. His regular correspondence with respective churchmen throughout Western Europe included popes he worked with, three in total along with kinsmen in England. While the majority of the letters contained questions and examination of the church along with discussing of reform, doctrinal, or liturgical matters, it is the intimate relationship he had with female correspondents that provided a new way to look at the man behind the saint as well as how he viewed women's role in the church.

There are 150 letters in total and are categorized as Bonifatian correspondence even if some are not by Boniface nor are some of these letters addressed to him. Assembled by his successor in Mainz and the order of archbishop Lullus, the letters were first organized into two sections. The first section contained papal correspondence. The other section contained his private letters. Although they were reorganized later in the century, the eleventh century saw another reorganization making it the version available today. Otloh of St. Emmeram was credited to have worked on finishing the complete correspondence.

The letters were edited and published by the seventeenth century through Nicolaus Serarius with several additions and translations surfacing in the nineteenth century. Aside from the consistent republishing and editing, what remains are the ten letters discussing women or written by women that will serve as the basis for the next section of this essay. (Fletcher 156) The next section will discuss why these particular letters were chosen and what they contribute in understanding the context of the time the letters were written along with Saint Boniface himself.

Reasons for choosing the Letters of St. Boniface

There are several reasons for choosing the Letters of St. Boniface. The first is St. Boniface is a well-known historical figure who left great influence in Western Christianity. The second is the women associated with Boniface and the information derived from the letters that show these associations offer a greater understanding of women's roles during that time. Otloh's Vita Bonifatii states the women that accompanied St. Boniface during his time as a missionary (from England to Germany) were truly religious women and well educated in the liberal arts. This was not typical of women in general of that time. (Rowe)

In fact, women had played a major role in the formation of Christian life in England. They shared equally with women when it came to learning and the conversion process. Women created manuscripts as shown through excavations at the monastery of Whitby (Fletcher 16). Monastics were not just men, but women as well. They were also literate, taking their learning throughout the Continent. Since women played such a significant role and they were allotted the ability to learn and become educated, the letters offer a small glimpse into how these learned women were and what they did.

The letters in essence, represent the best direct evidence for the piety and learning of the women that escorted Boniface from England to Germany. The ten letters were written by women with some letters from Saint Boniface and St. Lull (his successor) to women. "The letters to named women include one from Aldhelm to an otherwise unknown, nine from Boniface himself, and probably six from Lull." (Damico and Olsen 31) Although some have suggested the original correspondence had more letters addressed to women and by women than what is available today, the ones left provide enough reason to investigate further the role of women during Boniface's missionary journey. "As well as letters to women, named or anonymous, there is one important letter in which a woman of distinction is used as introduction and referee." (Damico and Olsen 31)

Otloh reveals that one of the women was Cynehild, the maternal aunt of St. Lull. This shows Anglo-Saxon family relationships and the importance of the female line, which in most cultures is insignificant compared to the male line. Aside from Cynehild, the most well-known of the women that accompanied Saint Boniface during his mission is St. Leoba. Through the Boniface collection, readers can see Leoba include poetry and use alliteration like in her four lines she wrote in a letter addressed to Boniface that she named 'versiculi' or unpretentious verses. "She calls her lines versiculi 'unpretentious verses' and is suitably diffident about their merit, but they scarcely deserve the severity with which they have been treated. Leoba says herself she was taught the art by her magristra 'female teacher' and the test book from which she would have learned is Aldhelm's DeMetris" (Damico and Olsen 38) Just the four lines alone not only show the style from which Saint Leoba wrote, but also that she learned it from a woman (including the literary work she read). Such subtleties deserve highlight especially since so few words and letters survived the passing of time.

What did women do during that time? What did they have to relinquish? History repaints the picture to make it seem like it was men, like it was solely Boniface who changed everything. However, he clearly could not do it on his own. He had to rely on a community of supporters to fulfill his aims. Those supporters included women. These women should be recognized because they mattered not only to the mission, but to Boniface.

Argument

Why are the letters important in regards to women? This is because women played an essential part in Boniface's mission to the Germans. Much like Leoba's involvement, several women provided the means with which Saint Boniface could perform his duties during his missionary journey. "Grounded in traditional Anglo-Saxon values and culture, his overall strategy depended as much on women as on men. Initially equal partners in the venture, only later did Roman orthodoxy overcome traditional practices to create a hierarchy among them." (Rowe 1-7) While things were re-written to satisfy the needs of Roman Orthodoxy, with the story of Leoba being largely changed to conform, these letters give an unaltered viewpoint of women and their contributions that have unfortunately been partially erased from history.

Is it not important to see what women did in the past and their influence in Christianity? With so little resources to pull from, any primary sources can be of great help in understanding what they did and the significance of these women's deeds. Because even though there were efforts made to destroy or minimize women's contributions during this pivotal time, thanks to these letters and some surviving stories, the work of Christian women can be acknowledged. "The thread they set in motion would continue to spin out long after their deaths, however, despite the best efforts of misogynistic churchmen to minimize their contributions, restrict their autonomy and authority, and even to erase them from the historical record." (Rowe 1-7)

The Frankish imperialist expansion provides much of the setting for the history of the German missions with missionary effort focused across the Rhine. Boniface, facing failures from previous unproductive efforts, quickly realized he could not achieve his aims alone, but instead had to do it with the active support of ecclesiastical and secular authorities along with a well-organized, sizeable body of clergy. This meant including women. Boniface was the first Christian clergyman to include women so often in his missionary work. "Boniface seems to have been the first Christian clergyman to recruit women systematically for oversees missionary work, and to include them as a key element in the overall structure of his organization." (Rowe 1-7)

His letters or the letters that make up the Letters of Boniface are the surviving proof of that inclusion and that need for women to come and aid in Boniface's objectives. Essentially, Boniface would not have had the success he had, if he had not taken women with him. Therefore, this look into what few letters survived provides concrete evidence of the women's worth within the missionary work and the rights bestowed on to them for their significant contributions.

History has a habit of excluding most of a story. Moreover, most history lessons barely include the full picture, rather bits and pieces of it. These letters give back some of the pieces to the puzzle and provide a better look into what really happened, even if it is a small and short glimpse. This is why the focus on these letters from the collection is necessary. The letters show that men like Boniface were not the only ones that had an impact on Christianity at the time.

Evidence

The letters that contained evidence of women being written to or women writing to Boniface are of the greatest value. This is because the letters demonstrate women speaking directly. A letter, from a woman with the name Cena, addresses Boniface as 'dearest friend'. She could have been a disciple to Boniface having settled in a remote province. "Cena's letters suggests that is similarly a disciple of Boniface settled in a remote province, while Bertgyd may never even have had the choice." (Damico and Olsen 37) Another letter, the only letter actually addressed from one woman to another is correspondence between Abbess Adola of Pfalzel to Aelflaed, abbess of Whitby, extolling to her an English pilgrim traveling to Rome provides the notion that women talked to women similarly the way men did to each other in regards to praising achievements or actions denoting the active involvement of women in the church. The letter was also an excellent example of women writing stellar Latin prose, highlighting intelligence of women at the time.

Some of the letters that provided key information are listed below. The first is Letter 4, The Abbess Bugga Congratulated Boniface on His Success in Frisia. Letter 17, The English Nun Leoba Begs Boniface's Prayers for Her Parents. The third is letter 18, Boniface Thanks Abbess Eadburga for Sending Him Books. Letter 21, Boniface Asks Abbess Eadburga to Make Him a Copy of the Epistle of St. Peter in Letters of Gold and finally, letter 41, Boniface to Leoba, Abbess of Bischofsheim. These letters show Boniface's appreciation of women as well as their participation in the mission and their struggles.

The theme of struggle while being in a foreign land is prevalent through the majority of the letters from women and even those Lull and Boniface wrote to women. Letter VI [14], titled: "The abbess Eangyth and her daughter Heaburg (Bugga) to Boniface" is a perfect example of the relationship Boniface had with women he corresponded with during this time. It also showed the hardship these women endured to continue on with their mission.

As when the whirlpools of the foaming sea draw in and out the mountainous waves dashing upon the rocks, when the force of the wind and the violence of the storm drive through a monstrous channel, the keels of ships are upturned and masts are shattered-even so the frail vessels of our souls are shaken by the mighty engines of our miseries and by the multitude of our misfortunes. (Boniface and Emerton 14)

The letter provides great insight into the sometimes crushing struggle these women endured to help both men and women on behalf of God and the church. It also shows the reliance women and men had on each other to abate such difficult times with written correspondence in order to gain words of wisdom or a way to vent and gain some relief.

Another important feature of the letters is the possibility of identifying certain key members of history within the region. A good example of this is the letter from Ecburg to Boniface. In this letter, Ecburg mentions unmeasurable sorrow and even a 'dark cloud of sorrow' that afflicted her following the death of Oshere. While modern scholars cannot confirm the identity of the woman Ecburg who wrote to Boniface, the names she gave of her brother and sister may in fact give way to hypothesizing she was perhaps a royal member of the house of the Hwicce as well as the abbess of Gloucester. "The charter implies that Cyneburg, sister of the Hwiccian king, Osric, became the first abbess of Gloucester, and was succeeded by her kinswoman Eadburg, who had been the queen of Wulfhere of Mercia." (Sims-Williams 123) To put it simply, she could have been a woman of high status and her state of exile from her previous position may have caused her the hardship she mentioned showing what women that were a part of the Boniface mission, had to endure.

The letter also indicated that women with the means to learn, could learn and were given an opportunity to leave their homes to fulfill missions like the one Boniface performed. These letters provide first-hand accounts and possible identifiable information of the kind of women that participated in the missionary work and what may have happened to them while they were journeying. The women suffered during the missionary work as did Boniface. Even the small things they did like send him books and clothing helped him greatly and he would acknowledge it in his letters by acknowledging them as 'comrade-in-arms' and not as subordinates. This was seen in the letter where Boniface addresses Eadburga.

Female missionaries were appreciated for their work. Their pastoral efforts made them equal to the male missionaries as seen through the strong relationships depicted in the letters. The letters also showed as previously highlighted, that monastic women deserved an education and received one. The women received the same level of education as the men, reading the same books they did. The letter of the nun Leofgyth to Boniface shows this as she asks Saint Boniface for his patronage as well as to correct her work in the letter.

Significance

Christianity spread in part due to the efforts of women. During Saint Boniface's missionary journey, nunneries played a vital role in his scheme. Nuns were regarded highly by Boniface as co-missionaries, destined to become pastoral centers and conversionary. By bringing Anglo-Saxon women to take the roles of abbesses of nunneries within the region of Saxony, shown through the letters, medievalists could see the importance of women and the close relationships they forged with men like Boniface that would in turn grow into a united community in Christ.