Masculinity in the Middle Ages

     By studying the lives of two saintly men of the Middle Ages, Marita von Weissenberg discovers “what it meant to be a man in the world in which these saints lived.”[1]. In her article “Generations of Men and Masculinity in Two Late-Medieval Biographies of Saints”, she writes about her discovery of the two forms of masculinity that existed in the time of Galeotto Roberto Malatesta (1411–1432) and Moric Csak (c.1270–1336), the two men of saintly reputation.

     The first type of masculinity is the secular type. During the time of Malatesta and Csak, “older males were responsible for forming and raising immature males to mature masculinity marked by self-discipline and authority in relationship to others.”[2] Part of this formation process involved immature males being trained to become skilled knights, for instance. Young males went through this process so that they would become capable of raising a family. 

     Males were expected to be married and raise children. Marriages were arranged so that sons would marry someone of equal social importance. “A match that contributed to the patrimony heightened both the son’s and the father’s manliness as visible and contributing members of male society.”[3] The family would strategically choose someone who would be useful for increasing their wealth and influence in society. For instance, Malatesta’s marriage to the daughter of a powerful ruler Ferrara “heightened the prestige of both families and increased their political weight in northern Italy, enabling the families to have a broader economic and political reach in the region.”[4]

     Moreover, religious values were also introduced to boys at a young age. When Malatesta and Csak grew older, the plans of their families would conflict with the spiritual masculinity that they preferred. Galeotto Roberto Malatesta and Moric Csak would not want to be the powerful and influential men that their families expected them to be; they chose to be like Christ and the saints. They chose spiritual masculinity over secular masculinity. The focus of spiritual masculinity was “on the balance between men and power: the dominance of the mind and spirit over the physical.”[5] The paths of holiness taken by Malatesta and Csak would not be without consequences. 

“By rejecting marriage and fatherhood, the heirs Malatesta and Csak were risking their patrimonies not only on a personal level, but on broader familial and social levels. The same can be said for masculinity. To be an heir was to be, or to endeavour to become, a husband and a father. Heirs and the capacity to produce them are also an important manifestation of masculinity. Fathering children was a marker of masculinity, a particularly patrimonial form of manliness.”[6]

     Moric Csak “was born c.1270 ‘of the illustrious lineage of the kings of Hungary’ to Demetrius Banus of the house of Csak in the county of Gyor, in north-western Hungary.”[7] As a child, he would not do things that other children would do. Instead of playing, he would pray and seek religious persons to learn about the saints. Csak learned to imitate Saint Alexis who abandoned his bride on their wedding day to serve Christ. When he grew older, he married the daughter of someone as powerful as a prime minister in Hungary. After three years the two separated to join the Dominican order. This decision outraged the family of Csak, so he was banished from Hungary to Italy. After attaining a saintly reputation at a Dominican monastery in Bologna, he was returned to Hungary by his brothers with honors. He gained a following within the Dominican order, but this man was never canonized.

     Galeotto Roberto Malatesta was born in February of 1411. As a child, he desired to live a life of poverty. “This wish demonstrates…Malatesta’s piety by associating him with voluntary poverty as a form of Christian virtue, and the imitation of one of the most famous saints of his time – indeed of all time – Saint Francis of Assisi.” [8] He “was raised by his paternal uncle Carlo Malatesta, Lord of Rimini, and his pious wife Elisabetta Gonzaga.”[9] Like Moric Csak, Malatesta was also arranged to marry the daughter of a powerful man. He would later separate from his wife to join the Franciscan Order. Malatesta also had a reputation for holiness, but he was never canonized. However, documents from the fifteenth century title him as ‘blessed’. Malatesta’s biographer was his confessor. He tells the reader that:

“…prelates, monks, kings and princes, as well as common people can learn’ from his example ‘what kind of a path they could actively follow so that even when embroiled in secular affairs it is possible to live according to church rule in secular life, and in the end pursue eternal life.”[10]

    Men like Malatesta and Csak became spiritual fathers. They were more interested in the transmission of the Gospel, so that all may be heirs of the treasures that await in heaven. 

Sources

1. Weissenberg, Marita. "Generations of Men and Masculinity in Two Late-Medieval Biographies of Saints." Gender & History. Nov 2. 15, Vol. 27 Issue 3, 672.

2. Weissenberg, Marita. "Generations of Men and Masculinity." 673.

3. Weissenberg, Marita. "Generations of Men and Masculinity." 673.

4. Weissenberg, Marita. "Generations of Men and Masculinity." 676.

5. Weissenberg, Marita. "Generations of Men and Masculinity." 674.

6. Weissenberg, Marita. "Generations of Men and Masculinity." 677.

7. Weissenberg, Marita. "Generations of Men and Masculinity." 670.

8. Weissenberg, Marita. "Generations of Men and Masculinity." 674.

9. Weissenberg, Marita. "Generations of Men and Masculinity." 670.

10. Weissenberg, Marita. "Generations of Men and Masculinity." 671.