Saint Genevieve’s gender had a marked effect on the way her sanctity was displayed in her hagiography (hagiography is a biography of a saint), particularly when we consider contemporary male saints and their Vita. (vita is latin for life, and forms the title of most medieval hagiographies – for example, ‘vita genovefa). It is important to first note the context of late antique female sanctity – the church fathers viewed women as being inextricably linked with the carnal, and therefore with sin itself. As a woman, Genevieve (or Genovefa as she is also known) was barred from holding any sort of church office and could not become a bishop, a position of civic and spiritual leadership which most male saints seem to have attained. As a result, much of Genovefa’s vita appears to be an attempt to make up for this lack of clerical status, through a great emphasis on her holiness.

This mini-documentary offers a brief overview of the construction of female sanctity and female sainthood in late antiquity and the early middle ages.

All materials are used under fair use for education and commentary.

Music:
- Permafrost by Scott Buckley (  / permafrost-cc-by  )
- I Walk With Ghosts by Scott Buckley (  / i-walk-with-ghosts-cc-by  )

Full picture credits, as well as bibliography, can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/the-his...

Chapters:
0:00 - Introduction
1:30 - Women in Late Antique Christianity
4:20 - Religious and Civic Office
6:58 - Genevieve's Holiness
9:52 - 'Acting Manfully'
11:18 - Depicting Sanctity
12:45 - Conclusion