Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index


  • Record Number: 46183
  • Author(s)/Creator(s): Archambeau , Nicole
  • Contributor(s):
  • Title: Bertranda Bertomieua and the Death of King Robert of Naples, 1343
  • Source: Souls under Siege: Stories of War, Plague, and Confession in Fourteenth-Century Provence. Nicole Archambeau.  Cornell University Press, 2021.  Pages 21 - 37. Available with a subscription from JSTOR: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7591/j.ctv12sdw0s.9
  • Description: Bertranda Bertomieua, maid and companion to Countess Delphine de Puimichel for fifty years, gave testimony during the canonization inquest for her employer in 1363. Bertranda was with Delphine in Naples in 1342-43 when the holy woman was invited to stay at the royal court by Queen Sanxia. In this chapter Nicole Archambeau argues that Bertranda deliberately chose to emphasize Delphine's connections with King Robert and Queen Sanxia while avoiding any mention of the royal successor, Queen Johanna of Naples, Robert's granddaughter. In that way, Delphine stood as a humble woman who rejected worldly power in contrast to Queen Johanna who broke her grandfather's will and resorted to violence. [Feminae editor]
  • Article Type: Book Chapter
  • Subject (See Also): Canonization of Saints Delphine de Sabran, Franciscan Tertiary Hagiography Jeanne I d'Anjou, Queen of Naples Kings Noble Women Robert d'Anjou, King of Naples Servants Women in Religion
  • Award Note:
  • Geographic Area: France; Italy
  • Century: 14
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  • Author's Affiliation: Colorado State University
  • Conference Info: - , -
  • Year of Publication: 2021.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN/ISBN: 9781501753664 (print); 9781501753671 (online)