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Genevieve (alsoGenoveva orGenoveffa)of Brabant is the heroine of a late medieval legend based on the motif of thevirtuous wife falsely accused of infidelity.
Her story is a typical example of the widespread tale of the chaste wife falsely accused and repudiated, generally on the word of a rejected suitor.[1] Genoveffa ofBrabant was said to be the wife of thepalatine Siegfried ofTreves, and was falsely accused by themajordomo Golo. Sentenced to death, she was spared by the executioner and lived for six years with her son in a cave in theArdennes nourished by aroe.[2] Siegfried, who had meanwhile found out Golo's treachery, was chasing the roe when he discovered her hiding-place, and reinstated her in her former honour.[3]
Her story is said to rest on the history ofMarie of Brabant, wife ofLouis II, Duke of Bavaria andCount Palatine ofthe Rhine. Marie of Brabant was suspected of infidelity and subsequently tried by her husband, found guilty and beheaded on 18 January 1256. When the verdict was shown to be mistaken, Louis had to do penance for the beheading. The change in name from Marie to Genevieve may be traced back to a cult of StGenevieve, patroness ofParis.[3]
The Genevieve tale first obtained wide popularity inL'Innocence reconnue, ou vie de Sainte Genevieve de Brabant (pr. 1638) by theJesuitRené de Cerisiers (1603–1662), and was a frequent subject for dramatic representation in Germany.[3] Starting in the mid-18th century, it became very popular among traveling puppet companies.[4]
Genoveffa 's history may be compared to the Scandinavian ballads ofRavengaard og Memering, which exist in many recensions. These deal with the history of Gunild, the wife of HenryDuke of Brunswick andSchleswig. When Duke Henry went to the war he left his wife in charge of Ravengaard, who accused her of infidelity. Gunild is cleared by the victory of herchampion Memering, the smallest of Christian men. The Scottish ballad ofSir Aldingar is a version of the same story. The heroineGunhilda is said to have been the daughter ofCanute the Great andEmma. In 1036 she marriedKing Henry, afterwards theemperor Henry III, and there was nothing in her domestic history to warrant the legend, which is given as authentic history byWilliam of Malmesbury (De gestis regum Anglorum, lib.ii.~i88). She was called Cunigund after her marriage, and perhaps was confused withSt Cunigund, the wife of the EmperorHenry II.[3]
In theKarlamagnus-saga the innocent wife is Oliva, sister ofCharlemagne and wife of King Hugo, and in the FrenchCarolingian cycle the emperor's wife Sibille (La Reine Sibille) or Blanchefleur (Macaire). Other forms of the legend are to be found in the story of Doolin's mother inDoon de Mayence, the English romance ofSir Triamour, in the story ofthe mother ofOctavian inOctavian the Emperor, in the German folk bookHistorie von der geduldigen Königin Crescentia, based ona 12th-century poem to be found in theKaiserchronik, and the EnglishErl of Toulouse (c. 1400). In the last-named romance it has been suggested that the story gives the relations between Bernard I,Count of Toulouse, son of theGuillaume d'Orange of theCarolingian romances, and the empressJudith, second wife ofLouis the Pious[3]—who were indeed charged with adultery and purged themselves by an oath and an offer for trial by combat, although the historical situation has been embellished with romantic incident.[5]
InMarcel Proust'sIn Search of Lost Time (1913–27), the narrator remembers amagic lantern he had in his room, inCombray, that showed the image of Golo riding his horse towards Genevieve's castle. He says: "... and I would fall into the arms of my mother, whom the misfortunes of Geneviève de Brabant had made all the dearer to me, just as the crimes of Golo had driven me to a more than ordinarily scrupulous examination of my own conscience."[8]
In
Chapter II of Volume One of hisReminiscences (1907–09),Carl Schurz recalls the puppet play ofDie Schöne Genovefa (lit. 'The Beautiful Genevieve') which he used to see performed in his youth. Its plot is an adaptation of the tale of Genevieve of Brabant.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Geneviève of Brabant".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 11 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 594.
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