On France Culture, in the column that Gérard Noiriel devotes to the "transgender" saint of the Vézelay marquee, there are almost as many thefts and blunders as there were thefts of relics and false relics in the Middle Ages!
Remember how Gérard Noiriel became the bête noire of the wokes, because of his work against the identity logic of racialization (S. Beaud and G. Noiriel, Race and Social Sciences. Essay on the public uses of a category, Marseille, Agone, 2021). In 2021, the press only spoke of the "Beaud and Noiriel affair", and the New York Times placed Mr. Noiriel almost on the same level as the Observatory of Decolonialism, that is to say the level of infamy!
Since courage is a virtue that is unevenly shared among academics, it seems that Gérard Noiriel has been trying for some time to be forgiven by those who fulminated his sentence of excommunication. Last Tuesday (March 29, 2022), Gérard Noiriel shared a shocking discovery on France Culture: “trans people” existed in the Middle Ages (or in Christian Antiquity, we don’t really know), and they were even canonized by the Church!
What's better than borrowing, when you want to pass yourself off as more woke than you are? Gérard Noiriel pillages (without ever giving his source) the "trans" activist Chloé Maillet. It is in the name of delusional claims that this activist claims to make known so-called "trans people" who supposedly lived in the Middle Ages, in order to "render them justice" ("Cisgenderism also has the effect of making trans people invisible and erasing their journeys, both in today's society and in ancient times." Cf. https://dieses.fr/transitude-histoire-et-memoire).
We will not discuss the ridiculous thesis that makes Saint Eugenia of Rome a "trans person", nor the blunder that proves that this subject does not interest the historian. We will simply put the full text of Mr. Noiriel's column alongside his transparent "borrowings" from the activist Chloé Maillet and Wikipedia:
« Have you seen the monk showing his breasts in the basilica of Vézelay?
[Chronicle by Gérard Noiriel on France Culture, “The Why of How: History” [from March 29, 2022]The recent concern to combat the prejudices that fuel this form of discrimination called "transphobia" has led a small number of historians to question how the issue was posed in the past. This research has shown that transidentity is not a new phenomenon, since examples of it can already be found in Antiquity. Let us limit ourselves to this single example which concerns the kingdom of France in the medieval period.
When you walk through the Basilica of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine in Vézelay, you will see, in the north aisle, a capital where you can see a man showing his breasts.Gerard Noiriel]
When you walk through the Basilica of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine de Vézelay, you can see, in the north aisle, the capital where Eugène-Eugénie opens her garment. [Chloe Maillet]
This is a sculpted representation of a scene recalling the story of Saint Eugenia, a virgin who suffered martyrdom in Rome in 257, during the time of the Emperor Valerian. Her legend was recorded in texts written in Latin or Greek in the XNUMXth-XNUMXth centuries. Daughter of the proconsul of Egypt, Eugenia decided to join a troop of musician monks. In order to share their life, she had her hair cut, wore men's clothes and took the name Eugene. She became very popular within her monastery, particularly for her gifts as a healer. One day, Melanthia, a woman whom Eugenia had healed, wanted to offer him her charms because she believed that Eugenia was a man. Humiliated by his refusal, Melanthia then accused him of having raped her. At the ensuing trial, Eugénie revealed the truth by tearing her tunic to show the crowd a breast that had nothing masculine about it.Gerard Noiriel]
Saint Eugenia is a virgin who suffered martyrdom in Rome in 257, during the time of the emperor Valerian. […] The sources about her are Lives of Eugenie, written in Latin or Greek in the VIe – VIIe centuries. Daughter of the vicar of Egypt Philip, […] she hears a sermon and songs that delight her. She then decides to join the singers, who are monks, and to lead their life. To do this, she has her hair cut, wears men's clothes and takes the name Eugene. She acquires a great reputation within the monastery, notably for her power to heal the sick. Learning of this, a woman named Melanthia, seriously ill, has her come to her home. Eugenie cures her, but Melanthia, convinced that she has a man in front of her, wants to reward her by offering her charms. Of course Eugenie refuses, and the lady, humiliated, has her dragged before the court, accusing her of having wanted to rape her. […] Eugenie decides to reveal the truth: she tears her tunic, showing the crowd a breast that has nothing masculine about it. [Wikipedia]
It is this scene of the trial that is represented on the capital of Vézelay. To Eugénie's left is the judge, and to her right the woman who accuses her. Eugénie was acquitted, but then she converted to Christianity, and this is what caused its downfall.Gerard Noiriel]
By this inconsistency, Gérard Noiriel shows that he knows nothing about Eugénie's story and that he read the Wikipedia entry too quickly. It is her relatives and in particular her father who convert at this moment, but Eugénie has obviously already converted at the beginning of the story, otherwise she would never have become a monk! [editor's note]
Given that today the binary of male-female gender seems intrinsic to Christianity, it may seem surprising that such a change of identity was possible in the Middle Ages. Yet, since the end of Christian antiquity, fictionalized or real examples of people assigned female who voluntarily or involuntarily took on the habit and identity of men, sometimes for their entire lives, were not uncommon.Gerard Noiriel]
On the other hand, that such a change of identity was possible in the Middle Ages surprises us, as gender binarity seems intrinsic to contemporary Christianity. However, since the end of Christian Antiquity, examples, fictionalized and/or real, of people assigned women who voluntarily or not took the habit and identity of men, sometimes for their entire lives, have been well identified. [Chloe Maillet]
This exercise in woke parroting allows Gérard Noiriel to properly appropriate Newspeak. We no longer say woman (how awful!), but we say person assigned female if one wants to prove one's ideological conformism. [editor's note]
Women reputed to be virile, sometimes called virginias, virago in the singular, led armies, as was the case for Matilda of Tuscany in the 11th century. Beyond Eugène-Eugénie, more than thirty female saints have been celebrated by the Church while they had worn a male habit.Gerard Noiriel]
People considered "virile", sometimes called viragines (virago in the singular), led armies (Matilda of Canossa). More than thirty holy people even made their journey of glory wearing a male habit, the Church having recognized them and having worshiped them. [Chloe Maillet]
Attention! There is a newspeak error! You write " women reputed to be virile”, where your source gave “ people reputed to be “virile”. Women do not exist, as everyone knows. Just one more effort, Mr. Noiriel, and you will get there. [editor's note]
From a sociological point of view, we can think that it is the crossing between this tradition of feminine virility and the idea of a feminization of monks which allowed the emergence of the transgender figure sculpted at Vézelay.Gerard Noiriel]
The intersection between the tradition of female virility and the idea of the feminization of monks may have allowed the emergence of this transgender figure. [Chloe Maillet]
However, the importance of the phenomenon should not be exaggerated. In the Middle Ages, wearing the clothes of the other gender was punishable by law and transgender identity, although it could refer to an ideal of life dating back to paleochristianity, could only be experienced in an exceptional, illicit or hidden way. As we have seen in another chronicle, Joan of Arc was burned as a witch in particular because she had donned the military uniform reserved for men.Gerard Noiriel]
It remains that at that time wearing the clothes of the other gender was punishable by law and transidentity, although it could refer to an ideal of life dating back to paleochristianity, could only be lived in an exceptional, illicit or hidden way. This does not mean that it did not exist. These cases remain the exception in the world of the 12th century.e century but they can be considered as a real laboratory of the genre. [Chloe Maillet]
@GerardNoiriel
@ClovisMaillet
@franceculture
