Reserve a free place via Eventbrite here.
This is the 20th Anniversary Ebor Lecture and we are delighted to present Professor Janina Ramirez.
5-7pm, Creative Centre, York St. John University and online. In-person drinks reception and book signing
Professor Janina Ramirez will explore how the misrepresentation and repackaging of female figures from the past has shaped our current gender divide. By examining Hildegard of Bingen, Hilda of Whitby, Lady Godiva and women from across the medieval period, she uncovers how broader socio-political and ideological agendas have contributed to the two-sphere world experienced by women in the modern era. From distant matriarchies in Crete, through Eastern Empresses and Mesopotamian war leaders, Janina will show how reengaging with fresh evidence from the past can build positive foundations for future communities founded on equality and diversity.
Professor Janina Ramirez is a best-selling author, presenter, lecturer and researcher. She is Director of Studies for History of Art at Harris Manchester College, University of Oxford, and Visiting Professor in Medieval Studies at the University of Lincoln. She has written and presented documentaries across the world, including ‘Raiders of the Lost Past,’ ‘The Private Lives of Kings,’ and ‘Art Lovers Guide’.
Book Review by Alfie Adnett
Legenda by Professor Janina Ramirez
In her eighth publication, Legenda, Professor Janina Ramirez invites readers to “find new ways of connecting with historical people, places and events” as she shares the true stories behind key women figures in history, pulling back the veil on the myths that have often created a mystique around familiar figures like Joan of Arc and Lady Godiva.
Elizabeth of Thuringia – the Young Saint
The aim of the book is to help us understand how the myth-making around historical figures shape modern attitudes to identity. For example, in her exploration of Elizabeth of Thuringia, a young woman canonized by the Catholic Church in 1245, Ramirez charts her familial lineage alongside the churches and monastic sites that continue to celebrate Elizabeth as a saint across Europe. Ramirez uses this example to suggest that medieval identity should be understood very differently from modern concepts of nationality. Rather than being aligned with a geographical identity, Elizabeth of Thuringia was “bound through bonds of loyalty.”
Through this observation Ramirez outlines one of the book’s central challenges to readers; that as identity is shaped by the religious, political and social, the myths around famous women of the past are leveraged to support this process. Historical women, she says, should be seen in “all their complexity” and offers examples how the mythology surrounding historical women has often worked to eclipse the reality of their lives and, in the case of Joan of Arc for example, their values and beliefs.
Joan of Arc – the Maid of Orleans
Whilst the example of Elizabeth of Thuringia demonstrates Ramirez’s challenge to modern assumptions of nationality, through Joan of Arc, Ramirez reveals the consequences of allowing assumptions to rewrite the historical narrative and complexity of medieval identity.
In introducing Joan of Arc Ramirez reflects on a 2017 speech by Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder of French far-right National Front party. Joan is presented as a symbol of French nationalism and an example of direct opposition to immigration. Le Pen misquotes Joan’s words at her trial, regarding God’s judgment of the English – “I know nothing about the love or hate that God has for the English, nor what he will do with their souls; but I know for certain they will be driven from France, expect for those who stay and die” – which are altered to imply a rejection of foreigners – “When asked by the judges: “Do you like the English” She replied: “Yes. At home.’” Ramirez reveals how Joan’s legacy has been distorted and reconstructed to suit a modern political agenda.
Joan of Arc is particularly noted for her religious conviction and the supernatural experiences that come as part of her legenda. However, Ramirez distinguishes between the version of Joan that has been “commandeered and co-opted” down the years, and human Joan; Ramirez writes: “Far from patron saint of a French nation, Joan was a woman in a complex and fluid world, where identity was less about fighting for one’s king and country and more about being a pious Christian who channelled God’s intention through their words and actions”.
As Ramirez argues, Joan would not have understood today’s nationalism, which for France did not emerge as a strong political discourse until the French Revolution. Yet Joan has been leveraged by nationalists today, making her “one of the most misunderstood and misrepresented female figures in history.”
Lady Godiva – the morality tale
Similarly, Ramirez explores the blurring of reality and mythology through the example of Lady Godiva, whose life has been turned into a moral tale by the Victorians – a bust of Lady Godiva was given to Prince Albert by Queen Victoria enshrining the medieval woman into a “symbol of civic liberty, celebrated across the empire.”
The real Lady Godiva was a woman named Godgyfu (meaning ‘Gift of God in Old English). Ramirez highlights that unlike the idealised and passive version depicted naked on horseback, the historical Godiva was far more in control of her destiny. The legend would have us believe that Godiva begged her husband, Leofric the Earl of Mercia, to relent in his taxation of the townspeople, with Leofric agreeing on the condition that Godiva ride nude through the streets. Ramirez argues that the historical evidence contradicts this entirely.
Ramirez states: “Godgyfu personally controlled her estates at Coventry, meaning she determined how the people would be taxed. She had no need to plead with her husband”- further articulating, “Godgyfu’s legacy was profoundly affected by one of the most dramatic and far-reaching events in English history”.
The myth of Lady Godiva of course circulates around her naked figure. Ramirez argues that this imagery helped the legend gain greater significance, something the Victorian audience found titillating – the eroticism derived from Lady Godiva’s naked ride helped keep the story in circulation down the generations.
Real Lives Become Myth
Godiva, therefore, is symbolic of the tension at the heart of Ramirez’s writing. Along with Joan of Arc and Elizabeth of Thuringia, she highlights the way the very real lives of historical women become obscured by legend and myth – with later generations merely reshaping such individuals to suit the historical and cultural needs of the era.
“As historical figures continue to be used and abused to serve the agendas of the powerful few, it is more important than ever that the complex individuals are better understood.”
Legenda by Professor Janina Ramirez is published by Ebury Publishing
ISBN: 9780753560419