Christina of Markyate was born with the name Theodora in
Huntingdon
Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver Cromwell was born there ...
, England, about 1096–1098 and died about 1155. She was an anchoress, who came from a wealthy English family trying to accommodate with the Normans at that time. She later became the prioress of a community of nuns.
Early life
Originally named Theodora, she was born into a wealthy merchant family.Farmer, David, "Christina (Theodora) of Markyate", ''The Oxford Dictionary of Saints'' (5th ed), OUP, 2011 Her mother's name was Beatrix, marking an effort to appear more Norman, and her father's was Auti. Her mother told a story of "knowing" her daughter would be holy because a dove had flown into her sleeve and lived there for seven days while she was pregnant.
As a child, Theodora is said to have talked to Christ "as if he were a man whom she could see." She befriended an older man named Sueno, who became her first religious mentor. Her hagiography states that Sueno had once led an unholy life and that Christina's faith renewed his, so that they helped each other. Theodora visited St Alban's Abbey in Hertfordshire with her parents in her youth and the visit apparently instilled in her the deep faith that prompted her to make a private vow of chastity.Urquhart, Toni. "A book for Christina of Markyate" Florida State University Special Collections & Archives division /ref> She told Sueno of this, but no one else.
Marriage
While visiting an aunt, Elfgifu, Theodora met Bishop
Ranulf Flambard
Ranulf Flambard ( c. 1060 – 5 September 1128) was a medieval Norman Bishop of Durham and an influential government minister of King William Rufus of England. Ranulf was the son of a priest of Bayeux, Normandy, and his nickname Flambard ...
. Her aunt was the bishop's concubine and Ranulf lusted after young Theodora, seeking to make her another one of his concubines. According to one account, when Ranulf attempted to force his attentions on her, Theodora suggested that she lock the door to guarantee their privacy. When he agreed, she proceeded to do so, from the outside, trapping him within.Speigel, Frances. "Christina of Markyate: A Medieval Woman Who Refused Marriage", Decoded Past, September 15. 2014 /ref> Rebuffed, he then exacted revenge by brokering a marriage for her with a young nobleman named Beorhtred.
Theodora's parents readily agreed, but Theodora did not, in view of her vow. Her angry parents arranged for Beorhtred to have access to her room, only to discover next morning that the two had spent the night discussing religious subjects. On one occasion Theodora recounted the life of St
Cecilia
Cecilia is a personal name originating in the name of Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of music.
The name has been popularly used in Europe (particularly the United Kingdom and Italy, where in 2018 it was the 43rd most popular name for girls born ...
, who according to legend, was guarded on her wedding night by a vengeful angel. On another occasion, she hid behind a tapestry while Beorhtred searched for her in vain. As word went round of Theodora's plight, a hermit name Eadwine, with the blessing of the
Archbishop of Canterbury
The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...
, helped her to escape disguised in men's clothes. Eadwine then took her to stay with an anchoress at
Flamstead
Flamstead is a village and civil parish in north-west Hertfordshire, England, close to the junction of the A5 and the M1 motorway at junction 9. The name is thought by some historians to be a corruption of the original ''Verulamstead''.
Fla ...
named Alfwen, who hid her from her family. There Theodora changed her name to Christina.
Anchoress
Christina next found shelter with Roger, a hermit and sub-deacon of St Alban's Abbey, whose cell was at
Markyate
Markyate is a village and civil parish in north-west Hertfordshire, close to the border with Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire.
Geography
The name of the village has had several former variants, including ''Markyate Street'', ''Market Street'' and ...
. This Roger, who died before 1118 and whose death anniversary (12 September) is recorded in the St. Albans Psalter, is likely to have been Roger d'Aubigny, a brother of abbot Richard d'Aubigny(1087–1119) and father of William d'Aubigny (Pincerna). Christina spent her time there in prayer, sewing to support herself. She was a skilled needlewoman, who later embroidered three
mitre
The mitre (Commonwealth English) (; Greek: μίτρα, "headband" or "turban") or miter (American English; see spelling differences), is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of bishops and certain abbots in ...
s of superb workmanship for
Pope Adrian IV
Pope Adrian IV ( la, Adrianus IV; born Nicholas Breakspear (or Brekespear); 1 September 1159, also Hadrian IV), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 4 December 1154 to his death in 1159. He is the only Englishman t ...
."The Personalities", St Alban's Psalter, University of Aberdeen /ref> After two years, Beorhtard released Christina from her marriage contract, and Archbishop Thurstan of York formally annulled the marriage in 1122. Thereafter, Christina was able to come out of hiding and move into a small hut.
Prioress
When Roger died, Christina took over the hermitage near St Alban's Abbey, where she reportedly experienced frequent visions of Jesus, Mary, and St Margaret. Other women, including her sister Margaret, joined her there. Christina took her vows at St Albans in 1131.
Markyate Priory
Markyate Priory was a Benedictine priory in Bedfordshire, England. It was established in 1145 and disestablished in 1537.
History
The priory of Markyate was founded in 1145, in a wood which was then part of the parish of Caddington, and belonged ...
was established in 1145.
Geoffrey de Gorham
Geoffrey de Gorham (Goreham, Gorron), sometimes called Geoffrey of Dunstable or of Le Mans (died at St Albans, 26 February 1146), was a Normans, Norman scholar who became Abbot of St Albans Abbey, 1119 to 1146.St. Albans Psalter as a gift for her, by having an illuminated "C" placed at the beginning of Psalm 105. Images of each page of the Psalter with transcriptions and translations of the text can be found on the online St Albans Psalter project.
Hagiography
Christina's Latin ''Vita'' was apparently written by a monk of St Alban's Abbey. This
hagiography
A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies migh ...
is considered to be one of the most realistic known. Christina is shown as having power as Prioress of Markyate. She is also one of very few shown to have sexual desire, even though she overcomes it.
Her hagiography is incomplete. Parts were lost in a fire in the 18th century and it is unknown whether the biographer wrote the account before or after her death.
In the light of the Priory's legal foundation by St Paul's, the friendship of Christina and Geoffrey seems likely to derive from a fiction by Abbot Robert de Gorron (1151–1166) or by the chronicler
Matthew Paris
Matthew Paris, also known as Matthew of Paris ( la, Matthæus Parisiensis, lit=Matthew the Parisian; c. 1200 – 1259), was an English Benedictine monk, chronicler, artist in illuminated manuscripts and cartographer, based at St Albans Abbey ...
(c. 1200–1259), whose chronicle alleges that St Alban's Abbey had clerical competence over the nuns of Markyate. "It would almost seem that in the ''Gesta Abbatum'' the origins of Markyate and Sopwell have been confused. There Markyate Priory is said to have arisen through occupation of the hermitage of Roger, a former monk of St. Albans, by a saintly recluse called Christina, for whom Abbot Geoffrey built a house. In reality, Markyate was not dependent on St. Albans, as it would have been if founded by the abbot, and as Sopwell was." This makes it "very possible that what we are dealing with here is a later piece of fiction from a monastic chronicler." A medieval cult of the anchoress Christina is not substantiated by
liturgical
Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...
or historical sources. The ''Vitas existence and references to Christina in ''Gesta Abbatum Monasterii Sancti Albani'' still suggest interest in instigating such a cult in the 13th and 14th centuries.Kathryn Gerry, ''Cult and Codex: Alexis, Christina and the Saint Albans Psalter''. ''Der Albani-Psalter: Gottesfurcht & Leidenschaft/The St. Albans Psalter: Piety & Passion'', pp. 61–87.