Authorial afterlives: the reception and transmission of women’s writing in the Latin west, c. 200–900 CE

Thesis

The extent and significance of late antique women’s writing has been underestimated. This thesis examines how texts authored by women from the late antique west (c. 200–400 CE) were read and interpreted, from the time of their writing and into the medieval period (c. 200–900 CE). In doing so, I explore the developing concept of Christian authorship, and how this concept was applied to women authors.

The core of the thesis is structured around case studies of four texts: Perpetua’s account in the Passio Sanctarum Perpetuae et Felicitatis, a letter by Paula and Eustochium to Marcella, Egeria’s Itinerarium, and Proba’s Cento Vergilianis de Laudibus Christi. These were chosen as case studies because they are the longest and most complete texts by women from c. 200–400 CE, and they have left a visible record of transmission and reception. I investigate this record from multiple angles, considering how these texts circulated within manuscripts, how reactions of early critics shaped the views of later readers, and how each work was re-interpreted by different generations of readers. Although these women were read extensively, the extent to which they were accepted as the authors of their texts differs. A key factor in this acceptance is how the person of the author herself (e.g. as a saint, aristocrat, or abbess) was understood.

Much of the existing scholarship on late antique women authors is problematic. This thesis critiques the core assumption of that scholarship – that women had little to do with literary culture – and exposes this as unfounded. Furthermore, I highlight how this assumption has guided the understanding of these women’s texts into the twenty-first century. This thesis returns the works of women authors to the heart of late antique and early medieval literary culture.

Authors: Hitchman, M

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-5rq0xd07w
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: medieval; late antiquity; women's writing; Latin; manuscripts; saints; literary culture; authorship
• Subjects: Christianity and culture--History--Early church, ca. 30-600; Poets, Latin; Women in Christianity--History--Early church, ca. 30-600; Women authors; Fathers of the church, Latin; Christian literature, Latin