Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index

Record Number: 9053
Author(s)/Creator(s): Claussen , M. A.
Contributor(s):
Title: Fathers of Power and Mothers of Authority: Dhuoda and the "Liber manualis" [Dhuoda uses scripture and St. Benedict's rule to teach her son Christian values].
Source URL: French Historical Studies (Full Text via JSTOR) 19, 3 (Spring 1996): 785-809. Link Info target = '_blank'>French Historical Studies (Full Text via JSTOR) 19, 3 (Spring 1996): 785-809. Link Info
Description:
Article Type: Journal Article
Subject (See Also): Authority Dhuoda, Countess of Barcelona and Septimania Fathers Handbooks Literature- Prose Mothers Women Authors
Award Note:
Geographic Area: France;Iberia
Century: 9
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Abstract: Dhouoda, wife of Bernard, count of Septimania, wrote the "Liber manualis" in the early 840s, when the Carolingian Empire was undergoing a period of fragmentation after the death of Louis the Pious. The book, addressed to her son William, who was living at the court of Charles the Bald, makes a bold claim regarding maternal authority. By engaging in a dialogue with a series of normative texts, especially the Bible and the "Rule of St. Benedict," Dhuoda argues that the authority and respect that society accords to powerful men- fathers, abbots, and kings- more properly belongs to those who act according to Christian precepts. Finally, after she dismantles ninth- century patriarchy, she proposes a new model of social relations, based on mutual aid and cooperation. [Reproduced by permission of Duke University Press. All rights reserved.]
Related Resources:
Author's Affiliation: University of San Francisco
Conference Info: - , -
Year of Publication: 1996.
Language: English
ISSN/ISBN: 00161071