St Anne , a woman of substance : Tracing the cult of St Anne in the Kingdom of Valencia

This study examines the incipient cult of St Anne in Valencia during the fifteenth century, using evidence such as census data to show growing interest in the saint and her cult. From a close study of Isabel de Villena’s Vita Christi and Joan Roís de Corella’s Vida de santa Anna [Life of St Anne], this essay advances the hypothesis that the cult of St Anne in the kingdom centred on St Anne’s intervention for wives unable to conceive rather than on her role as a teacher of the Virgin as in other parts of Europe. St Anne’s role as a wise woman, evidenced in Valencian iconography, took a very different path.

1.This article forms part of the research group "La literatura hagiográfica catalana entre el manuscrito y la imprenta" (FFI2013-43927-P).An early draft of this paper was presented as a guest lecture at Texas Tech University, Lubbock, USA, on 20 October 2015.A Castilian version entitled 'Santa Ana, figura de culto en la Valencia del siglo XV' was presented as an invited paper at the 'Seminari hagiogràfic', at the University of Alicante.2. Ashley (1990: 111-130).Their collection of essays on St Anne, of course, fills some of that gap, although with no reference to the Kingdom of Aragon.
Studia Aurea, 11, 2017   This essay sifts evidence from literary sources, combining it with study of onomastics, history of religious institutions, and evidence from artistic representations of St Anne.In this way it points to fresh perspectives on the cult of St Anne in the kingdom of Valencia.I will, therefore, interrogate a range of sources for the evidence they provide of St Anne's cult, including naming of churches, convents and chapels, naming of female children, and evidence of celebration of St Anne in convents with records dating from the fifteenth century to demonstrate the feast was recognized among women religious.I will also examine literary evidence of the cult with particular emphasis on Roís de Corella's Vida and sections of the Vita Christi (VC) of Isabel de Villena (1430-1490).These important Valencian authors of the fifteenth century wrote about St Anne's life.Roís de Corella, a cleric, poet, and a noted translator from Latin into his native Catalan, translated the Psalter into Catalan, and also translated the life of Christ by Ludolph of Saxony ( †1378), a Carthusian monk. 3 Ludolph wrote in Latin in the fourteenth century and Roís de Corella made the Gospel-based stories available to his late fifteenth-century readership, both lay and conventual.Important for greater understanding of the cult of St Anne in the kingdom is the Vida, by Roís de Corella.This short work is dedicated to the different aspects of the saint's life, beginning with her betrothal to her husband Joachim, and ending with her death.His narrative permits insight into women's experience of fertility in the late medieval period.
The other author, Villena, an abbess from the Order of the Clares, also writing in Catalan, was a contemporary of Roís de Corella.She entered the Santa Trinitat convent at the age of fifteen and wrote a lengthy life of Christ, for her nuns to read.Since medieval authors usually drew on previous authorities in writing their texts, the most interesting aspect of Villena's narration of the events about St Anne, grandmother of Christ, is that she takes none from her known sources.Popular lives of Christ she possessed were the Meditationes Vitae Christi [Meditationes], a version ostensibly by John of Caulibus, a Franciscan friar, the Vita Christi of Ludolph of Saxony, mentioned earlier, the Vida de Jesucrist by Francesc Eiximenis, or the Arbor Vitae Crucifixae Jesu [The Tree of the Crucified Life of Jesus] by the Franciscan Ubertinus de Casali (1259-1330). 4These, particularly the first two, were the blockbusters of their day copied into thousands of manuscripts across Europe.
None of the earlier lives of Christ pays much attention to St Anne or to the events in her life.Even the Meditationes, which diverges most from the Gospel narrative and adds material from the apocryphal Gospels, has little to say about her.This is perhaps unsurprising, since it began developing later than the date of 3. Ferrando Francés (1983: 169).Ferrando Francés dates his birth as either 1433 or 1443.Arthur Terry dates his birth as 1435 (2000: 39).See also Chiner Gimeno (1993: 49-62).4. See for example de Caulibus (1999: 15); Ludolphus (2006); Ubertinus de Casali (1961).In his translation of Ludolphus's work Roís de Corella adds a number of details about Anne and Joachim (Ramon i Ferrer 2015: 102), particularly the genealogy of St Anne and her three daughters all called Mary.This is called the trinubium or Holy Kinship.authorship of any earlier lives of Christ.St Anne's cult increased in importance in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, as the attention of theologians began to focus on the origins of the Virgin, particularly her birth and conception. 5St Anne's feast-day is 26 July and it is a feast she currently shares with St Joachim, the Virgin's father, although in the fifteenth century the feast was always St Anne's alone.
Even contemporary lives of Christ, including La Vida de la Sacratíssima Verge Maria de Miquel Peres, offer little about Joachim and Anne.Peres does not narrate apocryphal stories about the Virgin's parents (Arronis Llopis 2015: 159).Before examining these two texts, I will provide evidence for the developing cult of St Anne in late fifteenth-century Valencia.

Evidence of the cult of St Anne: convents, churches, chapels and altarpieces dedicated to St Anne
Despite the scant attention paid to St Anne in the lives of Christ, there is ample evidence that noble families in Valencia knew her cult.Whilst there are no churches in Valencia dedicated specifically to St Anne, one indication of her growing cult is naming convents after her.The Libro de censos is the first datable record book for the convent of St Anne and St Joachim in Ruzafa, in the city of Valencia. 6A small number of convents named after St Anne elsewhere in the kingdom are evidenced by deeds of sale from the Calced Carmelite Convent of St Joaquin and St Anne. 7The earliest documents are for an annual payment of £175 payable to the convent. 8There was also a Dominican monastery dedicated to St Anne from about 1615 in Albaida. 9A Discalced Augustinian nunnery in Ollería was named after the Virgin's parents by the early seventeenth century. 10any Valencian churches had a chapel of St Joachim and St Anne or, perhaps, of the Conception of the Virgin featuring them.palau, the abbess, for the Conception chapel, was moved to the high altar, after she was instructed to do this in a dream, as she prayed before it. 12Damiata was from a noble Valencian family, the Mompalaus and, as such, her word was not to be gainsaid.Further, divine intervention on behalf of St Anne backed Damiata's already powerful word and the altarpiece was duly moved.On this altarpiece the figure of St Anne is the righthand panel, partnering St Joachim on the left (Figure 1).12. Puig Sanchis and Velasco González (2012: 143-163).
Celebration of the feast day of St Anne can be traced in the city from the records of charitable donations given for the celebration of saints' days.For example, records of the Puritat convent in Valencia begin in 1439 and in that year the abbess records that Sor Alamanda made a donation so that the feast of St Anne could be celebrated: 'Diumenge feu pitança sor Alamanda per Santa Anna' [on Sunday the meals were offered by Sister Alamanda for St Anne].Altarpieces provide another source to evidence the cult.In altarpieces commissioned in the late fifteenth or early sixteenth centuries, St Anne is sometimes depicted holding a book and is shown as a teacher of the Virgin and of Christ. 14his iconography continued to be popular into the sixteenth century as shown in this base of an altarpiece by Vicent Macip (Figure 2).This image of St Anne with the Virgin and Child is sometimes known as the Holy Generation or as the St Anne 'triple' (St Anne, Virgin, and Child).It was regularly found in northern Europe.St Anne is also depicted teaching the Virgin (Figure 3), iconography popular in other parts of Europe and known in Navarre in the fifteenth century.In many altarpieces depicting the life of the Virgin from the Kingdom of Aragon, St Anne is shown in childbirth.For example, one of the main panels on the Clarian-commissioned Purísima altarpiece is the birth of the Virgin.St Anne lies in bed, surrounded by all the accoutrements and trappings of birth.Her baby is being bathed by wet-nurses.St Anne herself is propped up receiving her postnatal feast of chicken, eggs, bread, and fruit, the typical food provided in convent infirmaries in Valencia. 16Similar foods are present at the birth of the Virgin by Pedro García de Benavarre. 17MNAC, cat.114740-000.

Evidence of the cult in the incidence of given names
Girls' names might reflect growing interest in the cult of a saint.To explore the incidence of the name Anna in Valencia at the end of the fifteenth century, numerous sources were examined.According to the 1510 census (Table 1), the most frequently given name, was Ysabel or Ysabet (sixty-two occasions).Its popularity may be because of the reigning queen, Isabel  2). 18The records show that Joana (13) and Catherina (9) are the most often given names, occurring in all ranks of society, including one Princess of Aragon.Beatriu (8) and Violant (6) are the next most frequent.Anna does not occur at all.In the criminal records for the Bailiwick (Table 3), Isabel is again one of the most frequently recorded (three), equalled by the number of Joanas (three), Beatrius (3) and Violants (three).Names occurring only once include Bárbara, Bartomeua, Damiana, Esperanza, Hipòlita, Mundina,  Úrsula, and Margalida (Margarita).Anna occurs twice (Anna, Anna Isabel).One of these is a noblewoman from the Castellví family and the other a silk merchant's wife (Anna Coves).
From the longitudinal study of women's names in Bailiwick entries, some general trends in naming are apparent.For example, Isabel does not occur before 1402.The name Juana on the other hand is first recorded in 1361 occurring then evenly throughout.There are a number of names recorded only once.Those such as Estefanía or Brianda appear only in 1494 and 1499 respectively.
Another source is records of entry to nunneries.Women entering the Cistercian Zaydia convent shows that Anna was not frequent among the professed and novitiate (Table 4).Beatriu is most popular, given to five sisters.There are 18.In the case of the Bailiwick records, it is only rarely possible to determine whether any of the women who appear on the parchments are the same person.On occasion both father's name and husband's name might be recorded in the case of an inheritance.Occasionally, women are listed by first name only and as daughter of … or wife of… four Ysabels, three Castellanas and two Gerònimas.Yolant, Tecla, Diana, Úrsola, Constança, and Francisca occur each once. 19ore interesting are the names of nuns entering the Encarnación del Hijo de Dios convent, between 1500 and 1532.Eleven Àngela or Àngelinas, eleven Ysabels, and seven Jerònimas entered the convent.There were also four women named Beatriu or Beatris, four Franciscas, including the first abbess, and four Magdalenas (with one Maria Magdalena).There were three Yolants, three Marias, (Table 5).Less frequently given names among the nuns were Serafina, Brianda, Margarita, and Elionor.A higher number of Annas entered, two from the Borja family, one of the most powerful families in the kingdom, one in 1505, and another in 1524. 20There was also the noblewoman Anna de Heredia.Their names reveal a tendency to choose the name Anna among certain noble families at the end of the fifteenth century (in order to enter by 1505, the first Anna would need to be between twelve and fifteen years old).
However, since Maria was the given name for only ten women in the census, frequency may necessarily be a good indication of how important a saint's cult was at any given period.The Virgin Mary was certainly more popular than the frequency of naming would suggest.

Roís de Corella's dedication of the Vida to Violant de Mompalau
A better indication of the importance of St Anne's cult in medieval Valencia comes from the Vida.When Roís de Corella dedicates it to the 'molt magnificha, virtuosa, honestissima senyora Na Mompalaua de Castellui' [the most magnificent, virtuous, and honourable lady Violant Mompalau de Castellví, wife of Lluís de Castellví] (1913: 367), he does so because of her devotion to St Anne 'per que moltes vegades he hoit dir al estreny e virtuos caualler Mossen Lois de Castellví, marit vostre, que teniu gran e especial deuoció en aquesta excellent Senyora' [because I have often heard your husband the virtuous and mighty knight, Lluís de Castellví, say that you have great and special devotion to that excellent lady] (367).In her devotion, she resembles her kinswoman, Damiata, abbess of the Puritat convent in Valencia.This evidence shows that the cult of St Anne was accepted among the noble class in the 1460s.The lady, Violant de Mompalau, was wife of Lluís ( †1481), younger brother of Francí de Castellví, Baron of Benimuslem and Lord of Mulata, both settlements near Valencia. 2119.Libro de cuentas gastos y recibo del convento de la Zaidia, Arxiu del Regne de Valencia, Clero Libro MS 2990, fols 4r-4v.20.Les monges que son entrades en lo dit monestir de la encarnació del fill de deu de la present ciutat de València del dit dia de la fundació del dit convent i monestir, Arxiu del Regne de Valencia, Clero Libro 4257, fols 10r, 18v.21.Strangely, Batiste Sanramon notes that Violant de Mompalau was married to Francí de Castellví, in her edition of the Escacs d 'amor.(2002: 12).
Studia Aurea, 11, 2017   Francí was a nobleman and poet, and, like Roís de Corella, a contributor to a poetry competition in honour of the Virgin, the 'Certamen en lahors de la Verge Maria' [Poetry competition in praise of the Virgin Mary] held in Valencia in 1474.Both poets moved in similar same noble and poetic circles.By the time the collection, the Trobes en lahors de la Verge Maria [Poems in praise of the Virgin Mary], was published, Roís de Corella was 'mestre en teologia' [Master in theology].He was no longer a mere student, 'estudiant en sacra teologia', as he was when he wrote the Vida de Santa Anna. 22Even so, by 1458, whilst still a student, Roís de Corella had become known as a prestigious writer. 23Since Roís de Corella became Master in Theology only after 1468 and before February 1471, he must have written the Vida for Lluís de Castellví's wife before 1468, as he does not style himself a graduate as he wrote. 24He must, however, have written after 1461, for the couple married then, and before 1481.By 1481, Lluís de Castellví, the lady's husband, was dead (Ferrando Francés 1983: 174).

Violant's input into the final prayer
The final prayer of the Vida provides insight into the nature of the cult of St Anne in medieval Valencia.First, Violant asks for her own 'barren or sterile will' to be made fruitful: 'giren los vlls de misericordia a la mia miseria, rosant ros de fecundidat de graçia en la mia esteril voluntat' [that they might turn their merciful eyes on my miserable estate, sprinkling the dew of fecundity of grace on my sterile will] (386).This initial plea to St Anne is for spiritual change, effected on the 'barren will' in the supplicant, rather than for physical change.It places heavy reliance on the opposing concepts of fruitfulness and sterility and, as it does so, evokes the Old Testament story of the dew, 'ros', on Gideon's fleece, recounted in Judges 6: 38.The story of the fleece, wet with dew, whilst the threshing floor remains dry, is a sign of God's grace for Gideon.The figure of Gideon's fleece is one with a long history of representing the conception of Christ at the Annunciation because of its emphasis on the showering of grace mirroring the overshadowing of the Virgin by the Holy Spirit.The image of Gideon's fleece with its outpouring of God's grace later shifted to symbolize the unsullied Conception of the Virgin in the womb of St Anne, as it does in the Vida.In the Vida, the fleece is associated with St Anne's prayer for an end to her barrenness heard by God, resulting in the conception of the baby Virgin.Such words in Violant's prayer thus present St Anne as a woman 22. See Ferrando Francés for background research on each of the certamen [Competition] poets (1983: 169-171, 173-175).23.See Arthur Terry (2000: 40).Tomàs Martínez Romero (1998: 47) also writes of prestige of Roís de Corella among the writers of his day.24.Ferrando Francès (1983: 169); Abel Soler (2014: 207-219).When he wrote his poem for the Trobes en lahors de la Verge Maria, Roís de Corella was 'mestre en teologia'.Curt Wittlin dates the Vida precisely in 1464 (1997: 176).
of faith, successfully calling on God to end her physical barrenness.St Anne now pleads on behalf of the wife of Lluís de Castellví and her spiritual destitution with a plea previously proven fruitful. 25As well as this, the written plea included in the Vida is on behalf of the Castellví couple and their childlessness.It is intended to be voiced and to become a personal prayer to the saint for her aid.
The prayer to St Anne in Roís de Corella's text then takes a new turn.It becomes a type of bargaining prayer to move the saint and incite her to plead for a woman who is married but childless, just as St Anne was portrayed in apocryphal stories.The prayer prevails upon St Anne to act because, if she does so, her cult will be better known among those who notice Violant's pregnancy: 'per que les gents coneguen que la sua misericordia no fall als qui humilment la invoquen' [so that people may know that your mercy does not fail those who humbly call on you].This kind of prayer 'do this, and this will happen' was extremely common in the Middle Ages. 26It provides a clear benefit to St Anne in helping the Valencian noble lady by promoting her cult.Two suppositions are entwined into this prayer.First, this bargain suggests a kind of continuing interest in earthly matters on the part of a saint, expressed in having a better cult.It also supposes St Anne's cult is known in Valencia but not widespread, as, otherwise, there would be no opportunity for growth.
The prayer to St Anne then includes a pair of supplications, establishing a contract between supplicant and saint: 'if you do this, I will'.In the first of these the barren wife, Violant, undertakes to follow in the footsteps of St Anne.She requests 'matrimonial generaçio' [offspring from her marriage] (386) and promises to offer any resulting child to the service of God: 'Sia plaent a la sua exçelssa Magestat, donar a mi, indigna peccadora, fruyt de matrimonial generaçio, per que al servey de la sua Magestat la endrece' [may it be pleasing to your most high Majesty to give to me, unworthy sinner as I am, offspring from my marriage, so that I may guide such a child into the service of your Majesty] (386).
In the second contract prayer, the lady undertakes to serve St Anne all her life, if the saint were to put her case to her daughter, mother of Christ: 'sopliqueu la Reyna de Parahis, filla vostra […].E yo, indigna invtil, a vos, singular interssessora mia deuotament donare lahors e gracies tots los dies de ma vida' [plead to the Queen of Paradise your daughter (…).and I, unworthy wretch, will devoutly give you, singular intercessor on my behalf, thanks and praise all the days of my life] (386).
St Anne proves a singular intercessor for any childless woman on two counts.She is a saint who has gone through the hardships of childlessness and, therefore, understands it and, more importantly, knows how to plead successfully to have a 25.I discuss the shift of symbolism from the Incarnation to the Virgin's own conception in Twomey (2008: 457).26.Virginia Reinburg (2015: 373-390) discusses prayer types including both bargaining and contract prayers.childless state reversed.St Anne interceded with God to give her a child.She was blessed, right after her prayer to the Lord, by conceiving the Virgin Mary.
There is more to this important prayer, however.St Anne is now to intercede with the Virgin who in turn intercedes with her son.These words in the prayer rely on establishing a St Anne Trinity, exercising all power over nature. 27Roís de Corella's constitution of a literary St Anne Trinity, headed by a powerful matriarch, mirrors the divine Trinity of God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit.St Anne has particular power, because of her family ties, to intercede with the Virgin and, through her, with Christ.This is a chain of prayer, growing ever more powerful.Roís de Corella makes the web of relationships and their power quite plain.
To sum up the emphasis of the Roís de Corella prayer, St Anne is, therefore, a saint 'with form' in the area of childlessness.Yet how and why was the closing prayer written?There are three distinct options.First, it may have been written by Roís de Corella on behalf of Violant de Mompalau.The poet thus expressed sentiments he thought she should feel, introducing them for Violant to verbalize.The likelihood that the prayer was written by Roís de Corella, acting on his own inspiration, seems slim, unless the fashioning of women's lives on St Anne in noble society was such a commonplace that he could take it as read that his noble addressee would react positively to such modelling in the words of the prayer.This option is perfectly possible.It would need to be built on the premise that the lady in question would recognize, welcome, and utilize the sentiments expressed.If not, it could only offend.If Roís de Corella wrote the prayer for the wife of Lluís de Castellví, he would have had to be certain that she would wish to be styled 'indigna peccadora' by the end of a piece he wrote in her honour, particularly as his status was in question in comparison with hers, for he was a mere student of theology.
In second place, Roís de Corella might have written the prayer in close collaboration with the lady, who might indeed have styled herself 'indigna' and 'invtil'.She might even have dictated the words she wanted written down in this most personal of prayers about her desire to have a child.One indicative feature lies in those words through which she offers any child she might have to the service of the Lord.If Roís de Corella wrote for her without reference to her wishes, he would have had to be certain of societal norms and that she would obey them and offer any daughter she might have to God, just as St Anne did.The second option is, therefore, that the noble lady had a part, however small, in the words of the prayer.She may have dictated them to Roís de Corella or she may have given him, albeit through her husband, ideas for such a prayer.The third and least likely option is that Violant wrote her own prayer and asked Roís de Corella to incorporate it after the life of St Anne.
Whichever of these is the correct hypothesis, the emphasis it places on the importance of St Anne as a role model for married women, particularly in chil-dbirth, is essential for the purpose of this study.Women in noble circles, particularly those who found difficulty conceiving, may not only have followed the cult of St Anne as mother but taken her as a direct model of holiness, corresponding to their situation.Service to St Anne, in gratitude for her intervention, required them to place their children, particularly girls, in convents, where they could serve God, in thanksgiving for their birth.When their daughters entered convents, their mothers would, by implication, draw even closer to the life of St Anne, their model.In the words of the final prayer we can glimpse not only Violant praying for a conception but also, beyond her, other infertile women, giving us an insight into how they prayed in the late fifteenth century.
[To you, glorious mother of the Queen of mercy, holy grandmother of the King and God, Jesus, Lord, Creator and our Redeemer, humbly I, unworthy sinner, beseech through that grace and joy, which you, blessed Lady, received when the glorious angel announced to you, that, without sin, you would conceive the most holy Virgin Mary, Mother of God and Our Lady].
The question remaining is whether the prayers to St Anne, placed in the mouth of Violant, proved successful.Did Violant and Lluís have any children?It was relevant to find Àngela de Castellví among the nuns entering the Encarnación.Àngela entered in 1505, and if she were over twenty-six, she might have been the daughter of Violant and Lluís.Àngela died without taking the veil and given that others were in the convent about a year before doing so, that could have been in 1506.There is another possible candidate, Anna-Isabel de Castellví, who married Pere de Montagut at the end of the fifteenth century (Garés Timor 2013: 715). 28Anna-Isabel was daughter of another branch of the Castellví family, the Lords of Carlet.The presence of Anna-Isabel shows the name Anna was used in Castellví circles.

St Anne, food preparation, and the good wife
St Anne and household activity is a feature of her characterization in both Roís de Corella's Vida and Isabel de Villena's VC.Roís de Corella shows the saint preparing a meal for her husband when he returns from the wilderness from a 28.Anna-Isabel was daughter of the Carlet branch of the Castellvís.She died without descendants.Her niece, Elvira married Rodrigo de Castellví and also had no offspring.period of sexual abstinence.On the night when the Virgin was to be conceived, St Anne prepared a tasty supper for her husband before they retire early to bed: 'Hauia, la sotllicita Santa, aparellat vn sopar de arreglada e no superflua abundancia per al denigat marit' [the solicitous saint had prepared a fitting and not over-abundant supper for her denigrated husband] (374).Villena does not preoccupy herself with food at this holy moment intercalated between the meeting at the Golden Gate and the Virgin's holy conception.
However, she does not forget about St Anne's solicitous nature or about her tendency to prepare food like a good housewife.When the Holy Family is about to depart for exile in Egypt, in chapter 83 of Villena's VC, it is St Anne who provisions them for the journey.This scene is not present in Roís de Corella's Vida: E manà la dita senyora mare albardar la somereta en què cavalcàs la sua filla, e féu metre en una talequeta tot lo pà que•s trobà en casa sua perquè tingués què menjar en lo camí, e donà-li una cistella d'ous, dient-li ab moltes làgrimes: 'Aquests ous, ma filla, seran per al vostre fill'.(I, 335) [And the lady mother ordered the mule to be saddled on which her daughter [the Virgin] was riding and had them put in a bag all the bread that there was in the house so that they [the Holy Family] had food to eat on the journey, and she gave them a basket of eggs, saying with tears: 'These eggs, my daughter, will be for your son '.]The eggs are not a particularly practical foodstuff to take on a difficult journey, because they are likely to smash, however, as might be imagined, they are highly symbolic, as are each of the foodstuffs provided by St Anne.
In Hispanic medieval and early sixteenth-century texts, eggs consistently signify the world. 29In his Suma de filosofía natural, dated 1547, Alonso de Fuentes, writing shortly after Villena and Roís de Corella, shows how the egg is the world in miniature: Los naturales dixeron ser el mundo como huevo, y assí como en medio d'él vemos cómo está la yema y cercada de la clara, y alrededor de ésta está una tela muy delgada, y encima de aquesta tela está la cáscara de él y no queda más del huevo bien assí en medio del mundo es la tierra donde estamos y alrededor está el agua.(Alonso de  Fuentes 2000: fol.39r)  [those writing about nature said the world is like an egg, and just as in its middle we see there is a yolk, surrounded by the egg white and around that is a very fine skin, and, above that skin, is its shell.That is all an egg has.And in this way in the middle of the world is the earth where we are and around it there is water.]The 'taleca', or little pouch, St Anne gives, has a number of meanings.It can be a cloth bag for holding cereals or vegetables and may therefore represent 29.Clemente Sánchez de Vercial (2000: 146); Anon.(2000: fol.1v).
the cereal to prepare the bread of life. 30It can also be a shepherd's pouch and, here, the 'talequeta', or tiny shepherd's pouch, is appropriate for Christ's future role as Shepherd of the sheep (John 10, 14; Hebrews 13, 20).Finally, the bread -all the bread St Anne had -recalls the boy who gave all his loaves to Christ (Matthew 14, 17) and symbolizes Christ's body, the bread of life (John 35, 38), broken for all.
The Virgin's half-sisters provide another basket of dried fruit containing grapes and pomegranates.The grapes suggest eucharistic wine, the blood of Christ shed for all (Matthew 26, 28).The pomegranate proleptically symbolizes the bitter Passion but also grace and fertility.The pomegranate, akin to the apple, is an analeptic echo of the fruit eaten at the Fall.By the late fifteenth century in Castile, the fruit and juice of the pomegranate, with its bitter taste, symbolize the Virgin and her son at the Passion. 31In Valencia the pomegranate like the bread and grapes represents Christ's destiny.The food gifts recall the bread, wine, and eggs offered St Anne at childbirth in many altarpieces.There too they point to the redemption of humankind begun at the birth of the Virgin.
Christ's ministry, his Passion, and the Eucharist are referenced by the food gifts of St Anne and her daughters.They say something about St Anne as a woman, provisioning her family for a journey, but also depict her as a prophetess, able to discern Christ's future ministry.
Roís de Corella's St Anne, who prepares supper for her husband, and Villena's, like the perfect housewife of Proverbs (31, 10-31, 31) provisions her family.Villena was aware of the association of St Anne with the strong woman of Proverbs, as, since the fourteenth century, the office of St Anne regularly had the short scripture 'Mulierem fortem' at the third nocturne. 32

St Anne and the good death
Finally, St Anne at her death is an aspect of her story that altarpieces far less frequently depicted in Spain's kingdoms. 33There are a number of events leading to the final deathbed scene revealing important variations between the VC and the Vida.Notice is given of St Anne's death in both narratives.In each, St Anne proclaims her wish to die before Christ's suffering begins.
When Roís de Corella begins narrating how St Anne pleads with Christ to die, he merely recounts how God never denies anything to his mother: no acostumaua, ni de present acostuma la Divina Magestat, Deu omnipotent, a la sua mare denegar alguna cosa; ans ab graciosa e affable cara de humil e obedient fil, li atorga tot lo que demana.(380) [the Divine Lord, omnipotent God was never nor is in the custom of denying his mother anything; rather with the gracious and affable face of a humble and obedient son, he grants her all she asks.]He emphasizes how, when things are requested through the female line of the family, they are never refused, according with his purpose in lauding the role of St Anne as a supplicant for women seeking heavenly solutions for their fertility problems, as Violant did.Roís de Corella does not include the dialogue between mother and son, paying attention only to the Virgin's supplication to Christ.Villena, on the other hand, reports Christ's words.Even though she does so in indirect speech, dialogue is implicit: E la Senyora, veent lo desig de la amable mare sua, parlà de açò ab lo senyor fill seu, lo qual respongué a sa senyoria: que era content que la sancta àvia sua ixqués de la misèria de aquesta vida.(II, 34)  [And the lady, seeing the longing of her mother, spoke of it to her Lord and son, who responded to her ladyship that he was content for his holy grandmother to leave the misery of that life.]The details of the death and its triduum timing are also significant, particularly for Villena.In Villena's version, St Anne is prefigured by Old Testament figures, like Jonah in the belly of the whale, remaining there for three days before God rescued him.St Anne is granted three days before her mortal life ends.Like Jonah's, her death figures the three days Christ spent in limbo.In the Vida, there is no mention that there are three days remaining of St Anne's earthly life.It seems that Villena's intention is to set one female saint among the panoply of Old Testament holy men who prefigure Christ.
The next stage in the events leading up to St Anne's death is her final actions.Her deathbed scene is similar to noble or royal ones, where families circle their departing member. 34In the VC, St Anne takes to her bed: 'E la senyora 34.Depictions of the deathbed scene of the Virgin may have been influential in constituting the deathbed of St Anne.See, for example, Hugo van der Goes's depiction of the 'Death of the Virgin' (c.1500), London, National Gallery, NG 658.See also Joan Reixach (active in Valencia 1436-1486), 'Tránsito de la Virgen', Valencia, Museo de Bellas Artes, cat.211.There are also numerous deathbed scenes of other saints.On deathbed attendance in noble households, see Danae Tankard, 'The Reformation of the Deathbed in Mid-sixteenth-century England ', Mortality, 8 (2003): 251-266, at p. 255, where she documents how the deathbed of Sir Thomas Seymour was attended in 1535.Binski reminds us of death as a transitional state, p. 30.He also includes details of the Mortuary Roll of Elizabeth Sconincx, abbess of Forêt, in Cambrai, p. 31.Elizabeth, lying on her bed, is surrounded by the whole community of sisters.T.S.R. Boase, Death in the Middle Ages: Mortality, Judgement, and Remembrance (London, 1972), 120-121, also relates the business and busyness of deathbed scenes such as the one in the Grimani Breviary in which priests, family members and members of the household attend the dying person.
Anna stant en lo lit e vehent-se circuïda de tan cares persones, en lo seu patiment fon recomplida de singular consolació, e ab molta amor prengué comiat de cascú' [and Lady Anne, on her bed and surrounded by such dear people, was filled with singular consolation in her suffering, and with great love took her leave of each one] (II, 35).St Anne on her deathbed is matriarch of the family.In the Vida, Roís de Corella also ranges the three Maries at the bedside of St Anne.That both authors present St Anne and her female lineage shows that the concept of the Holy Kinship was well-established in Valencia in the late fifteenth century. 35It is not simply that matriliny was prevalent among female religious (Sheingorn 2003: 172).
Before she dies, St Anne blesses the Virgin in Villena's version: 'e, besant-li les mans ab molta amor, demanà-li la sua benedictió.E la sancta mare la besà e la beneý molt largament' [and kissing her hands with great love, (the Virgin) asked for her blessing.And the holy mother kissed and blessed her at length] (II, 36).The blessing of the daughter by her mother recognizes the closeness of the mother-daughter relationship yet, in a convent context, would be imbued with passing on authority from one abbess to the next, speaking powerfully to the experiences of Valencian noblewomen.
St Anne then intervenes to direct St John to serve the Virgin and her son in Villena's VC.For, just as in St John's Gospel, Christ on the cross commended St John to the Virgin as her son (John 19:26), in the VC, St Anne has been vouchsafed a revelation about St John's future relationship with Christ.He will be 'lo seu gran secretari e lo dexeble pus amat' [his great scribe and beloved disciple] (II, 38).
Conversely, in Roís de Corella's Vida, the three Maries and their sons are commended into the keeping of the Virgin: 'preneu les per fills, siau los mare' [take them as children, be a mother to them].At Christ's death too, the three Maries witness the end of Christ's life.In both respects, in this scene again, St Anne prefigures Christ (II, 38).
In the VC, St Anne speaks to Christ last of all, albeit more briefly: 'O senyor hí vida mia! Vós siau confort meu en aquest dolorós extrem de la mort, car vós sol me podeu dar seguretat en aquest viatge tan perillós!' [O my Lord and life!Be my comfort in this sorrowful extremity of death, for you alone can give me security in this dangerous voyage!] (II, 39).It is into Christ's hands that then she commends her spirit.In Roís de Corella's version conversely it is Christ who addresses St Anne at length and finally announces that her spirit should come into his hands: 'vingua sens recel la vostra ànima en les mies mans' [let your soul come without hesitation into my hands].In Villena's version St Anne is authoritative; in Roís de Corella's, she is obedient.Sheingorn (2003: 173) discusses the Holy Kinship and how its depiction was particularly prevalent in the Mosan-Rhenish area.Some principal elements of the cult of St Anne can be discerned within its treatment in the works of both Villena and Roís de Corella.The prayer which Roís de Corella writes for Violant in the Vida includes a number of contracts offered to the saint, including that of giving up any child to the religious life.It uses St Anne's life as a model for Valencian noble women and shows that the saint's principal task was to assist in cases of childlessness.The role of St Anne in Valencian versions of her life is how she is a saint able to intercede directly with God or supplicate the Virgin to intercede with her son.In so doing, St Anne obtained results both for herself and, then, continues to obtain them for others.She intercedes particularly for those noble women who are childless, like Violant.Roís de Corella pays this aspect of St Anne's life particular attention.He includes the words of her supplication in full so that it can be emulated by the noble lady for whom he writes as well as later readers.

Pamela
In both Valencian versions of the life of St Anne, emphasis is placed on lineage, for she is the daughter of kings and priests.She establishes a powerful line of daughters but also, in Villena's version, she is an authoritative figure, providing provisions, showing her awareness of future events, and being conceded revelations about Christ.
The deathbed scene also reveals a number of features, ripe for emulation by her devotees.In both Valencian versions of her life, she dies a 'good death' and, additionally, in Villena's version is a woman who, because of her relationship with the Virgin, at the last, blesses her and equips her for her role in salvation history.The authoritative female blessing gives us an insight into how death would have been ritualized in the convent.Particularly emphasized in Villena's version are the matriarchal rituals and the tradition of female blessing (not present in Roís de Corella's version).They point to female traditions, perhaps convent traditions, captured in narrative by a female author.
The two contemporary Valencian lives of St Anne, both contribute to understanding the cult of St Anne in the medieval kingdom of Valencia, yet are very different.Villena's sets St Anne as the matriarch of the family, a fitting grandmother.She prays, discerns, and determines what may occur in the future.She provisions and foresees in her provisioning.She speaks and takes responsibility for her own soul, like a true woman of faith.She is like the wise woman of Proverbs.She also prefigures Christ in the three days before her death and in replicating some of his words from the Gospels.Roís de Corella's treatment of St Anne at her death subordinates her role to Christ's, meaning she is presented as an obedient woman of faith.However, the story of St Anne's death has much to tell us about the concept of a good death in late medieval Aragon.St Anne is a noble matron, surrounded by her family.The scene provides an insight into the prestige of the matriarch of the family in noble households. 3636.David Herlihy (1985: 124) argues 'mothers played a far more active role, and enjoyed higher prestige than we have hitherto recognized'.
I have discussed St Anne's role in childbirth in much detail because it shows how St Anne stood as a model for women in the kingdom of Aragon.They give substance to her, as they take her as a model for their lives.Her role in death is also a substantial one which allows us to catch a glimpse of death rituals in the kingdom at the close of the fifteenth century.
The evidence from Roís de Corella's Vida demonstrates that the cult of St Anne was a powerful instigator of accepted female behaviour in Valencia among the nobility in the period.The principal role of St Anne in Valencian versions of her life is how she is able to intercede directly with God or supplicate the Virgin to intercede with her son.In so doing, she obtained results both for herself and, then, continues to obtain them for others.She intercedes particularly for those noblewomen who are childless, like Violant de Mompalau.It was this attribute that the noble women of Valencia found most attractive about St Anne, even more attractive than her teaching skills, and it was why they placed their faith in her.

Annex 1 Table 1 .
Girls' names given in Valencia prior to the start of the sixteenth century Source:Table compiled from the 1510 census (Valldecabres 2002).

Table 2 .
Names of women with recourse to the Bailiwick of Valencia for Inheritance and property transfer

Table 3 .
Names of women involved in criminal trials under the Valencia Bailiwick Table compiled from details of criminal cases in the Bailiwick, ARV Archivo del Reial Patrimonio, Bailía General e intendencia, Legajos, procesos de la Bailía General, Letra P (Procesos), 1401-1598.