Medieval Christianity and Queenship: A Cage or a Means of Escape?

Medieval royalty had an inseparable connection with Christianity. While kings often were seen as all-powerful figures with a divine right to rule, they remained under the rule of God.  As such, rulers were expected to exemplify pious behavior and ensure their subjects acted in accordance with Christian values. Medieval queens served as the moral compass of royal families and were held to a high standard of religiosity to preserve the image and moral values of the palace (Nelson). Similar to biblical women, such as Mary, queens were expected to be devout followers of Christ and guide their families down the path of righteousness (Nelson). Biblical women are described as loyal, demure, and extremely pious. Queens were expected to dutifully uphold these values to maintain their credibility and status. For some medieval queens like Judith, these religious expectations could be stifling and greatly limit personal agency while for others, such as Radegund, they provided empowerment and justification for queens’ non-traditional actions. The contrasting way Christianity influenced Judith and Radegund's lives demonstrates how Christianity served to constrain and expand the agency of royal women.

Queen Judith, a member of the Carolingian Dynasty through her marriage to King Louis, mainly presided over what is now modern-day France. While their relationship started on good terms, they grew apart over time and Judith started openly engaging in extramarital affairs with noblemen. While it was common for medieval kings to take mistresses, medieval queens were not permitted to have relationships outside marriage. Despite the Bible condemning all forms of adultery in the sacred Ten Commandments, whether committed by a man or by a woman, biblical women faced much harsher consequences for infidelity than men. This double standard resulted in female infidelity being viewed as a more severe crime than the immoral actions of their philandering husbands and medieval women could face death for their adulterous behavior (Bührer-Thierry). 

Judith’s position as queen did not exempt her from the social opprobrium directed at adulterous women. Instead, her role as queen exacerbated the gravity of her indiscretion as queens were held to a higher standard of piety than their subjects were. In transgressing the Christian expectations for women, Judith was branded a schemer and an immoral woman (Bührer-Thierry). As such, she was no longer fit for the power, freedom, and privileges of a queen and was forced to sacrifice her agency as a means of religious penance (Agobard). Her actions were a direct reflection of the morals of the royal family and as a result, her husband was deposed by his sons and she was stripped of her royal belongings, imprisoned in an abbey, and forced to be a nun (Agobard). She was supposed to be seen as a near-saintly figure due to the divine right that was given to her as queen. However, by going against Biblical expectations, she was viewed as less than a person. While some of the harsh vilification of Judith may stem from many of the accounts of her life being written by clerical men who opposed her husband’s rule, the perception of Judith as a Jezebel and heretic still reflects widespread attitudes towards non-traditional queens of the time. By branding Judith as an immoral woman, these writers were able to tarnish the reputation of her husband by associating him with unscrupulous behavior, while simultaneously upholding patriarchal perspectives of female fidelity and submission.

Judith’s story isn’t representative of all medieval queens. For other queens, such as Radegund, Christianity provided a means of escape from the domestic expectations of queenship. Radegund became Queen of the Franks when she was taken from her Germanic noble family against her will as a young war captive and forced to marry Chlothar I. Deeply devoted to the church, she longed to become a nun so intensely that she sacrificed the privilege of her position to leave the palace and become a deaconess (Coon). Afterward, she spent her life collecting Christian relics, performing miracles, and running an abbey of nuns (Coon). Even though Radegund conformed to religious expectations of piety and service for women, an account of Radegund’s life written by her contemporary Baudonivia demonstrates that she exercised a level of independence, leadership, and political activism that was unusual for medieval women. Despite Radegund abandoning her queenly duties as the keeper of the palace and the King’s wife, her actions were not condemned by society because they were in service of God. Moreover, previous Merovingian queens had been heavily involved in the patronage and management of monasteries and groups of nuns which helped normalize Radegund’s actions (Coon). Since the only person above the King in the medieval hierarchy was God, Radegund was able to use the religious expectation of female piety to justify breaking from the traditional role of a queen to serve God and live the life she wanted.

Queen Judith and Queen Radegund represent contrasting responses to the strict Christian expectations placed on medieval queens. While Judith’s transgressions led to her downfall, Radegund found freedom within religion. These stories remind us of the duality of Christianity as religious expectations can be both stifling and empowering, depending on how individuals navigate them. Today, when we look at the impact of religion on its followers, it is important to remember that religion influences different people in various ways. While we may view a religion’s values as stifling, those within the group may feel different ways depending on their personal needs, wants, and experiences.