Inaudito exemplo: The Abduction of Romsey’s Abbess

When Marie, the daughter of England’s King Stephen and Queen Matilda of Boulogne, was oblated to God as a child, she became Christ’s bride. Her new religious status as sanctimonialis veiled her with a nominal protection against sexual and marital predation. When she was later abducted by Matthew, the second son of Thierry, Count of Flanders, contemporary chroniclers in England and on the Continent reacted in different ways. Some included accounts and commentary about Marie’s dramatic departure from Romsey Abbey in 1160, while others wholly ignored the event. Many of the former laid the blame at the feet of King Henry II of England for the unsavory deal he had struck with Matthew of Flanders. As far as Marie, the accounts—taken in isolation—almost exclusively portray her as an unwilling participant in the abduction.