The Crusades, the Genoese and the Latin East - DSpace at ...

The sum bequeathed was not related to gender. Rustico della Costa, for example, left l Os,
as did Berta de Gala, while Bertranno bequeathed E2.79 Unfortunately, the seven cases are too
few and therefore do not allow further analysis into the nature of the Genoese reaction to the
preaching in terms of gender, social status and wealth. What was the content of James of Vitry's
preaching to the Genoese women? Unfortunately, despite the fact that so many of his sermons
remain, the ones he preached in the churches and the streets of Genoa were not identified. In a
recent thesis on The Faces of Women
in the Sermons of Jacques de Vitry, Carolyn Muessig quotes
a passage from James's sermons concerning Marie d'Oignies: `who wishes to come after me, let
him renounce himself and take up the Cross and follow me (Luke 9,23)... She took up the cross
by chastising her body through abstinence and imitated Christ by casting herself down through
humility. '380
Whatever James of Vitry said to the women of Genoa, his impact was made evident. It
seems that he did not exaggerate when he claimed to have been particularly successful with the
women of Genoa. When James of Vitry recruited women for the crusade, however, he
implemented a general policy that was ordered by Innocent III. Thomas van Cleve describes the
novelty in the preaching of the time. James of Vitry and especially Robert of Courcon `permitted
all who volunteered to accept the cross: old men, women, children, cripples, the deaf and the
blind. ' This was a reflection of policy change, or in van Cleve's words: `this was... Innocent's
fault: in his anxiety lest aid to the Holy Land be unduly delayed. s381 James Powell, however,
explains the logic behind Innocent's idea: `the redemption of vows of unsuitable crusaders,
especially women, was a major innovation that was certain to raise a substantial amount of
money'382. It is important to note that these Genoese wills and the James of Vitry's words to the
Genoese
reflect papal orders regarding the recruiting of all Christians, including women. Jonathan
Riley Smith has describes this pragmatic attitude: `everyone, whatever his or her condition, was
to be encouraged to take the cross, but those who were not suitable could then redeem their vows
for money payments. '383
In an article on women crusaders, Maureen Purcell reviews the medieval debates about
women's role in the crusades. It is interesting to see that the issue had attracted the attention of
some of the leading figures in Europe at the time. Purcell mentions Pope Gregory X, Alexander
of Hales, Thomas Aquinas, and the canonist Hostiensis who had dealt with this issue in great
length. Some of the questions discussed in their writing are directly related to women's
379
Lanfranco 1216, nos. 1078,1086.
380 Carolyn Muessig, The Faces of Women in the Sermons of Jacques de Vitry (Toronto, 1999), p. 43;
Jacques de Vitry, The Life of Marie d'Oignies (Toronto, 1993), lib 1, p. 641.
381
Thomas van Cleve, `The Fifth Crusade', p. 380.
382
Powell, Anatomy of a Crusade, p. 21.
383
Jonathan Riley Smith, The Crusades: A Short History, p. 143.
108