"As regards the (mostly female) members of
his congregation, nakedness was a little bit ambiguous.
Abbot Geoffey of Vendôme blamed Robert by harsh words. "Aliis
(i.e. mulieribus) vero, si quando cum ipsis loqueris, semper locutione nimis
durus appares, nimis districtus correctione, illas etiam fame et siti, ac
nuditate crucias, omni relicta pietate...“, Letter to Robert von Arbrissel, in
PL 157, col 183.
Sadism
or voyeurism?"
Surely
not. In the context of 'fame et siti', surely 'nuditate' does not mean that he
is arranging strip shows, but simply that he is failing to provide them with
adequate clothing; the accusation is of cruelty towards non-favoured followers.
The main charge of this letter is favouritism, that he is too indulgent towards
some of his female followers and too harsh on the
rest.
A
more specific accusation made, however is that he is seeking out a new and
unheard-of martyrdom (novum et inauditum genus martyrii) by lying among the
women at night, as a test of his ascetism. This seems to ring a
bell, I remember something of the kind in The Name of the Rose,
where similar accusations against 14th century heretics are mentioned
(homo nudus cum nuda iacebat et non commiscebantur ad invicem). Does anyone
know when such accusations first started to be made? It must spring, I suppose,
from the sheer unexpectedness of a preacher travelling around with members of
the opposite sex. (Rather like when Scandinavian backpackers started invading
the Mediterranean in mixed, though often innocent, company). Is this a new
phenomenon in the 12th century?
Anyway,
Geoffrey's letter makes it clear that as far as Robert is concerned we
are dealing with unsubstantiated rumours.
Lena
Wahlgren-Smith
