CrossD

source:Libération

author: Nicolas Garnier

translation: Google Translate; doxa-louise

"Well...Nobody's perfect!" Cross-dressing in
Medieval Literature

This Saturday's Pride March was an opportunity to celebrate all the ways of being beyond the heterosexual norm. Among these, cross-dressing: how did we see this in the Middle Ages? The question of disguise, that is to say the fact of wearing clothes of the opposite gender to one's own, and not a mere disguise, is a recurring motif in literature, which did not need the help of Almodovar or the Rocky Horror Picture Show. It is found in Shakespeare at the Renaissance as well associated with  Jean Genet in the twentieth century. One might think that medieval literature is much more conservative on these issues. After all, the Bible is very clear on this subject, and  Deuteronomy proclaims, "A woman will not wear  male attire, and a man will not put on a woman's garment; whoever does this is an abomination to Yahweh your God. " But between religious precept and reality, there is something of a world - just think of Joan of Arc! This is especially the case in literature, which witnesses the appearance of cross-dressing figures   from the thirteenth century on.

Transvestite men: Sexual trickery and gender disorders
Unlike our own time where the phenomenon of male cross-dressing is most visible, especially in the case of drag queens, in medieval literature, it is much less common than female disguise. Male disguise appears to be more transgressive because it challenges the virility of those who dare to wear emblematic apparel normally reserved for  women. Things have changed very little in this: the wearing of trousers, initially reserved for men, has largely become customary for women - even if, let's keep in mind, wearing trousers is legally allowed for French women only since ... 2013! Nevertheless, it is still more rare to see men wearing a dress ... In the Middle Ages, a man disguised as a woman might be suspected of lustfulness, even sodomy. In any event, he is refusing conventional virility. As a result, the occurrences of male cross-dressing are rather to be found in comic literature, such as fabliaux, "comic tales" that start to appear especially in the thirteenth century. Male disguise then becomes a subterfuge to access the bed of a woman, who sees nothing coming.

In the very surprising and violent Trubert fable, the eponymous character multiplies  disguises to play bad duplicitous tricks on Duke Garnier. At the end of the story, Trubert becomes a woman under the name of "Coillebaude" (literally, "the joyous testicle", with all the subtlety characteristic of the fabliaux genre), which allows her to spend the night with the young Rosette, daughter the duke, who absolutely wants a sleepover with her new friend. Surprised by what she feels against her leg, Rosette then asks Coillebaude what it is: the latter claims that it is a rabbit hidden in his "con" (recall moreover that the term of "Con" is often close to "cunnilingus" which designating the rabbit!), And she would be more than happy to lend it ... In short, cross-dressing has enabled Trubert to accede to the favors of the girl.

But  suspicion of homosexuality persists: later, after several further adventures, Trubert - still under the identity of Coillebaude - is now married to King Golias. The latter is particularly eager to taste the pleasures of the flesh with his new wife. In order to proceed to the wedding night, Trubert uses a purse that he hides between his legs, and so tightens the cords that upon penetration the king collapses in pain. Strictly speaking, this is an instance of sex  between men, but the text ignores it to focus on Trubert's mischief vis-à-vis the king. This stratagem, which leads to  suffering experienced by the king , is also reminiscent of the misogynistic myth of the "vagina dentata", according to which the vagina of some women is equipped with teeth, and therefore castrating. If Trubert's travesty has a comic role, we perceive underneath a real malaise, almost unspeakable, from this gender disorder. Contrary to what one might think, the Middle Ages, then, does not hesitate to mention cross-dressing in its literature, even if  not without some discomfort.

Silence is golden: to become a man when one is a woman

The case seems much less problematic for women, where the suspicion of homosexuality is less prevalent: in point of fact, female homosexuality is less reprehensible than the masculine in the Middle Ages. If for men the disguise had a sexual purpose, for women, it allows to acquisition of  privileges normally reserved for the masculine gender: one can think of the legend of the Popesse Jeanne, recounting the story of this woman pretending to be a man in order to access the papacy , only to be unmasked by giving birth during a procession. In general, a woman will disguise herself as a man to travel, but especially to fight, as is the case with Joan of Arc, of course. The use of the male garment is thus considered more as a form of protection than a transgression, even if this use was to be reproached to the saint during her trial.

The most famous case of medieval literature is the Roman de Silence, written by a certain Heldris of Cornwall in the 13th century. In this story, the King of England decides to forbid women to inherit. As a consequence, the Comte of Cornwall decides to present his daughter, his only child, as a man at birth, and to name him Silence. The young woman is then educated like any heir worthy of the name, and finds herself for example learning the profession of arms, where she excels. The name is obviously evocative, since it refers to the silence about the  true gender.Yet it would not be  reasonable to see in this novel an early feminist manifesto, affirming that a woman is as capable of being a knight as a man. There is more to being Brienne de Torth. Indeed, at the end of the novel, Merlin will unveil the true identity of Silence. The King of England will then restore her to her rank, and marry her. The story ends with a "return to normal", Silence taking the only role that is intended for him, namely that of wife. In any case, cross-dressing will have been the only way to acquire male privileges, albeit temporarily.

And God created transidentity

Surprising as it may seem, female disguise is often related to religion. Since ancient times, many lives of saints tell the story of women disguising themselves as hermits or monks, which is normally forbidden. We only discover their sex at their death. This change of gender can mean the rejection of frivolity and appearance, attached to the feminine, as for Saint Pelagia the penitent in the Golden Legend, almost a courtesan, who, after her conversion, joined a convent of monks at the Mount of Olives under the name of Pelagius. The change of gender makes it possible to better mark the conversion: the transformation is total. One can thus think of the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Galatians, which affirms: "All of you, baptized in Christ, have taken the mantle Christ: [...] there is neither man nor woman, because you are all one in Christ Jesus. Moreover, it makes of the female saint a kind of androgynous creature, which is not without defining her closer to the angels. The transgression toward the feminine  is then not a transgression in the eyes of God, contrary to what we might think today.

Moreover, in medieval literature, God can even intervene to ... definitely transform a woman into a man! In the Chanson de geste Yde and Olive's , young Yde becomes a man by taking the name Ydé's, thus escaping from his incestuous father. Under this appearance, she is given in marriage to Olive, daughter of the Emperor of Rome. When her true identity is discovered, Yde is doomed to be burned alive, when an angel appears and asserts that God has now changed him into a man, as a reward for his merit! Better still, in the (anonymous) Chanson de geste  Tristan de Nanteuil at the beginning of the fourteenth century, Blanchandine, wife of the hero of the same name, sees herself separated from him. She then takes the name of Blanchandin as a disguise and is given in marriage to the daughter of a sultan who loves her. On her wedding night, an angel appears again, and offers the choice to Blanchandine on her gender. Blanchandine decides to become henceforth masculine, in order to know no man other than Tristan, her legitimate husband, and to acquire the strength necessary to avenge him. The Blanchandin and Saracen couple will be part of the legend of Saint Gilles. God can do anything, including being at the origin of the first works of transgender French literature ...

http://actuelmoyenage.blogs.liberation.fr/2019/06/30/wellnobodys-perfect-le-travestissement-dans-la-litterature-medievale/