Body, Mind and Spirit: The Expression of Female Sanctity in Gonzalo de Berceo’s Vida de Santa Oria

de Berceo's Vida de Santa Oria is praised by scholars as much for its poetic charm and emotionality as for its expression of thirteenth century ecclesiastical interests.That the Vida possesses such depth makes it a valuable and engaging source of study.Although little is known about the author, the numerous hagiographic poems he left behind speak to the reader of a society that valued the intense, God-seeking and self-denying piety of the saintly life, a life that acted as exemplar and guide to the average Christian.The Vida suggests not only that this common devotion to saints existed in Berceo's thirteenth century Spain, but also a specific notion of female sanctity and sainthood that pervaded western Christian thought.In her article "Writing, Sanctity and Gender in Berceo's Poema de Santa Oria," Julian Weiss demonstrates that the focus on female spirituality as primarily physical is evident in the Vida.Furthermore, she suggests that the work inscribes the dominance of male clerics and their privilege of literacy over female holy figures that was typical of the Christian church at the time. 1 That Oria's sanctity is determined by Berceo's rendering of her life is undeniable, as is the physical emphasis of her story.His vernacular poem, written as an accessible and entertaining guide to instruct the common Christian through a pious life, was almost certainly intended to advocate a male dominated church.More than this, the Vida is an expression of the particular setting in which Berceo wrote, and the particular feelings and interests of its author, which permeate almost every line of the poem with intensity.Spain in the thirteenth century was still a divided land, and although the Moors had been driven far from the northern region of Rioja in which Berceo lived, the threat of instability the Muslim presence presented was still a part of Christian cultural life.Furthermore, the Christian territories of northern Spain experienced internal religious tensions throughout Berceo's lifetime.Anthony Lappin points out that the threat of heresy, particularly that of the Cathar dissent, was felt in nearby Léon.The internal danger of heretical movements was likely made all the more real by the recent Muslim presence.While it is evident that Berceo's Vida is 1 Julian Weiss, "Writing, Sanctity and Gender in Berceo's Poema de Santa Oria," Hispanic Review 64, no.

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