Illuminating the Saint

Chapter 3 establishes the relationship between Radegund’s foundations after her death. The abbesses engaged in the local community especially with their dependent canons at the church of Sainte-Radegonde. The nuns of Sainte-Croix cultivated friendships with Frankish monarchs and created an illuminated manuscript of Radegund’s vitae that presented the saint and her community as powerful, relevant, and well-connected. These illuminations emphasized that the foundress had willingly embraced claustration, a choice that positively reflected upon the monastic life and power of the nuns living in her community. They stressed Radegund’s ability to work miracles, and located that miraculous power with Sainte-Croix. This presentation of Radegund’s identity trumpeted the glory of Sainte-Croix and the power of a female monastic. Visible on the abbey church’s altar to the canons of Sainte-Radegonde and visiting patrons, the illuminations presented a powerful image of female authority at a time when the position of Sainte-Croix’s abbesses was threatened.