The many roles of women in medieval manuscripts

Women are underrepresented in medieval manuscripts. Nevertheless, evidence of their contributions to manuscript production and other associated roles can be found. It would therefore be inaccurate to claim that manuscript production was an exclusively male activity, though many details remain unclear.

To illustrate the various roles that women played in relation to medieval manuscripts, we have selected a range of manuscripts, all of which are held at the National Library of Luxembourg (BnL). Certainly, more significant libraries could offer more compelling examples, particularly in relation to female authors like Christine de Pizan, Hildegard of Bingen, and Gormonda de Monpeslier. Nevertheless, the BnL’s holdings allow us to identify at least seven distinct roles. These include women as authors, scribes, subjects, iconographic motifs, bearers of coats of arms, recipients, and owners of manuscripts.

Women as authors of works in medieval manuscripts

A short, incomplete text called Gynaecia (i.e. gynaecology), found in the manuscript Ms 30 (f. 120r), is attributed to an author known as Pseudo-Cleopatra. Unfortunately, neither her real name nor her biography is known. Nevertheless, this medical text, preserved in a copy dating from the first half of the 13th century, is attributed to a woman.

The text on this page ends with a recipe for alleviating nipple pain. This type of pain mainly occurs during pregnancy and breastfeeding.

English translation (extract):

Likewise, grind wax and fresh fat from a young pig together, add just enough rose oil, and apply it to the skin, wrapped in a cloth.

As the title suggests, the text is intended for women or individuals who care for them.

Women as scribes of manuscripts

The fragment Ms 872/51 comprising eight paper leaves measuring 22 x 15.5 cm, is one of the few manuscripts held at the BnL written by a woman. Although the name of the female scribe mentioned in the colophon of 1459 is unclear (“P(er)trut [?] Heyne Kys”), it was nevertheless a woman, possibly from Germany, who copied the Graecismus of Eberhard of Béthune and two other texts. According to an estimate by Åslaug Ommundsen and three other researchers, this fragment is one of “at least 110,000 manuscripts” written by female scribes, of which around 8,000 still exist.

Another example is the work Ms 279, a Processionale and Rituale mortuorum (26 vellum leaves; last third of the 13^th century), which was likely written by a Dominican nun for use within the Marienthal monastery (near Mersch). This attribution is primarily based on the script and decoration, which are comparable to those of other Marienthal manuscripts held at the Bibliothèque royale de Belgique (KBR) in Brussels, such as Ms 139.

Women as subjects of texts in manuscripts

The most famous manuscript held at the BnL featuring a woman as the main subject is the Codex Mariendalensis (Ms 860), which was also written by a Dominican nun at the Marienthal monastery in the first quarter of the 14^th century. In this manuscript, Brother Hermann recounts the life of Countess Yolanda of Vianden (*ca. 1231, †1283) in over 5,900 verses.

Only one medieval copy of this text (Leben der Gräfin Yolanda von Vianden) exists, and the manuscript was only rediscovered in 1999. It has now been fully digitised.

Also worth mentioning is the manuscript Ms 53, which contains the work Secreta mulierum by Pseudo-Albert the Great (f. 165r–181r), as well as an anonymous commentary on that same text (f. 181va–206rb). Dating from the 13^th century, the Latin text Secreta mulierum (literally Secrets of women) is a medical treatise that focuses particularly on gynaecology. The work was widely disseminated, but questions regarding its authorship and intended audience remain largely unanswered. This part of Ms 53 was copied in 1468 by Leonard of Nuremberg (Leonhardus Wissent de Nuremberga) in Zwickau. It is possible that Ludolf of Enschringen (*1445, †1504) brought this manuscript from Erfurt to the Trier region. He later became rector of the University of Trier in 1476.

Finally, the manuscript Ms 28 (136 paper leaves; end of the 15^th century) contains a short French text (f. 127v–130r) entitled Dix noms de la Vierge (The ten names of the Virgin). The anonymous author explains that he compiled this collection of names, accompanied by some elucidations, in honour of the Virgin Mary. The first name is “Virgin” (“vierge ou virginité”), the third is richness (“richesse ou riche”), and the eighth is “wisdom” (“sapienche”).

Other manuscripts featuring a woman as a subject could also be discussed, such as Ms 25, containing the Sermones de sancta Genovefa, or Ms 119, which contains the Miracula sanctae Mariae.

Women as iconographic motifs in manuscripts 

Ms 41 is a 13^th- or 14^th-century manuscript containing the Latin Decretales by Pope Gregory IX. It also preserves a later pen drawing (8 x 4 cm) depicting a semi-profile figure of a woman on f. 1r. The identity of the artist and the context of the drawing remain unknown.

Moreover, the manuscript Ms 127 (I + 180 paper leaves; 3^rd quarter of the 15^th century), consisting of six parts with various texts, contains drawings of the Virgin Mary (f. 7vb) and a woman (?) (f. 28rb).

Biblical scenes featuring representations of the Virgin include Pentecost (f. 21v), the Annunciation (f. 41v), and the Epiphany (f. 78v) in Ms 6 (Bruges, 3^rd quarter of the 15^th century).

The BnL indeed holds more manuscripts with beautifully executed miniatures depicting female biblical figures, such as Ms 52 and Ms 600 (especially Bathsheba Bathing on f. 31v). 

Women as bearers of coat of arms in manuscripts

Individuals, specifically women, can be depicted either by reproducing their physical appearance or by providing their coat of arms. The work Ms 915 (Northern France, 15^th or 16^th century) is a French armorial containing several coats of arms belonging to women. The first coat of arms on f. 45r (from top left to bottom right) belongs to Saint Aldetrude (†ca. 696), the fifth to Saint Ermelinde (†594) and the sixth to Saint Amalberga of Maubeuge (†ca. 690). All three of these women lived in what is now Belgium and north-east France. These three coats of arms, along with many others, were invented by the artist, as the earliest known coats of arms date back only to the first half of the 12^th century – at least 400 years after the lifetime of these female saints.

Women as recipients of text manuscripts

The French text preserved in the manuscript Ms 95 was written around 1393 for the 15-year-old wife of a Parisian bourgeois. Titled Mesnagier de Paris, it was intended as both a moral treatise and a household guide. It contains over 400 recipes for preparing various dishes, including those for birds and hedgehogs. This Luxembourg manuscript (I + 361 paper leaves measuring 28.5 x 19.5 cm) is one of only four known copies and dates from the last quarter of the 15^th century.

Women as previous owners of manuscripts

The book Ms 84 was owned by the Cistercian nuns in Clairefontaine (now on the Luxembourgish-Belgian border) as early as the 13^th century, as evidenced by the inscription “Iste liber est de abbatia Clarifontis”. This manuscript (190 vellum leaves measuring 24.5 x 16.5 cm; 1^st third of the 13^th century) primarily contains Thomas the Cistercian’s Commentarii in Cantica Canticorum. Few manuscripts from this abbey have survived, and the monastery played an important role for the counts of Luxembourg, as the tomb of Countess Ermesinde (*1186, †1247) was erected there.

Furthermore, the manuscript Ms 79 (100 vellum leaves; 2^nd third of the 13^th century) was owned by the Dominican nuns in Marienthal from as early as the 13^th century, as evidenced by the inscription [with tacit reconstructions] “HIC LIBER PERTINET AD CONVENTUM [...] SORORUM [...] MARIAE VALLENSIS”. Later, in the 18^th century, it was owned by the Dominicans in Luxembourg City. The manuscript primarily contains the Latin Collationes (f. 1vb–95ra) by John Cassian, but the three consecutive short texts on virginity were likely of even greater interest to the female community.

The BnL’s manuscripts do not document other roles of women related to medieval manuscripts, such as those of clients, glossators, rubricators (those who add red-ink titles or decorative marks), illuminators or bookbinders. While it is possible that such women left traces in Luxembourgish manuscripts, there is currently no definitive proof of this.