The Perfect Servant
Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2003 7:37 pm
The Perfect Servant: Eunuchs and the Social Construction of Gender in Byzantium, by Kathryn M. Ringrose. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003. xiv,295 pp.
The book arrived in todays mail. A quick scan shows that it is very well written and of potential interest to many members of the Archive. Unless someone beats me to it, I plan to write a proper review of the book to post here. Although probably not until after I have completed the review of Valeria Finuccis The Manly Masquerade: Masculinity, Paternity, and Castration in the Italian Renaissance (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2003) that I have been promising. (The final chapter on the social origins of the castrati is fascinating up to a quarter of the boys in some poor districts of southern Italy were apparently castrated during part of the 17th century.)
In the meantime, here are the first two pages of Ringroses book, giving a hint of what it is about:
Like most Byzantine historians I love to visit Constantinople, the great Byzantine capital. Today it stands empty, robed in the modern buildings of Istanbul, peopled only by tourists. I can only see the real dwellers in this city in my imagination, an imagination honed by years of reading Byzantine texts. The tenth-century city bustles with men of all social ranks, and the markets are full of lower-class women. Upper-class women, if seen at all, are heavily veiled and carefully escorted. And then there are the eunuchs. We find them in the streets, carrying messages, escorting wealthy women, guarding young children. They are beardless, carefully groomed, well dressed in expensive clothing, for they are the costly, elite agents and servants, the elegant adornments of a wealthy, urban aristocracy. Those who are still young might be mistaken for adolescent boys, albeit slightly unusual adolescent boys, with fine, fair skin, faces that are just a bit broad, and tall thin bodies with narrow shoulders and graceful carriage. Older eunuchs often show the signs of poor health. Their faces are prematurely lined, and youthful fairness has become pallor. Their bodies are stooped from osteoporosis. Even so, they sport a thick, luxuriant head of hair and present themselves as wealthy, cultured gentlemen. The most successful of these distinctive people live in the grand houses that surround the palace.
The great palace complex next to the hippodrome is now mostly gone, buried deep beneath the modern city. If we could enter the imperial palace of the tenth century, however, we would find it controlled by eunuchs. They guard the doorways, supervise access tot he emperor, manage the servants who see to the everyday needs of the imperial family the cooks, the bakers, and cleaning staff. Eunuchs serve as barbers, dressers, and doctors. They manage the imperial finances and record keeping. They guard and control the imperial regalia; packing crowns carefully in storage boxes, selecting ceremonial garments, and helping the emperor keep track of his daily round of ceremonial obligations. Eunuchs of the household serve in the imperial choir of singers. In the apartments of the empress a similar corps of eunuchs serves and guards her well-being. Each of the imperial heirs has his own staff of eunuchs, servants who will loyally serve him throughout his life. This pattern is repeated around the city in the mansions of the great aristocratic families.
The great church, Hagia Sophia, still remains. In the tenth century we would find many eunuchs there as well. Alongside whole or bearded men, eunuchs serve as priests, bishops, and even patriarchs, and are celebrated for their perfect celibacy. Such churchmen also have households staffed with eunuch servants and singers. As we move about the city we find eunuch monks and holy hermits. We encounter luxurious monasteries reserved especially for eunuchs, elite places of retirement or incarceration for powerful eunuchs who have grown too old or too bold in the imperial service. Eunuchs serve in hospitals and orphanages and convents; they dispense largess to widows, orphans, and the poor.
As we leave the elegant core of the city and move into its seamier neighborhoods we find eunuch entertainers, actors, and singers. We also find eunuch prostitutes, castrated children destined to serve mens pleasures for their entire lives, and young men who have had themselves castrated as adults in order to enjoy a life of uncomplicated sexual pleasure with both men and women. As we wander through the city, we gradually develop a perception of these individuals. They are distinctive in physical appearance, dress, and manner and often perform tasks that upper-class men and women are constrained from doing. This distinctiveness includes an element of ambiguity. Among the upper classes and in the centers of government power, the eunuch is a perfect servant of God or of this secular master, one from whom lifelong loyalty is expected. This master-servant relationship borders on the spiritual. Simultaneously, in the urban districts dedicated to sensory pleasures, the eunuch represents the material world; a world devoted to the pleasures of the flesh.
The book arrived in todays mail. A quick scan shows that it is very well written and of potential interest to many members of the Archive. Unless someone beats me to it, I plan to write a proper review of the book to post here. Although probably not until after I have completed the review of Valeria Finuccis The Manly Masquerade: Masculinity, Paternity, and Castration in the Italian Renaissance (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2003) that I have been promising. (The final chapter on the social origins of the castrati is fascinating up to a quarter of the boys in some poor districts of southern Italy were apparently castrated during part of the 17th century.)
In the meantime, here are the first two pages of Ringroses book, giving a hint of what it is about:
Like most Byzantine historians I love to visit Constantinople, the great Byzantine capital. Today it stands empty, robed in the modern buildings of Istanbul, peopled only by tourists. I can only see the real dwellers in this city in my imagination, an imagination honed by years of reading Byzantine texts. The tenth-century city bustles with men of all social ranks, and the markets are full of lower-class women. Upper-class women, if seen at all, are heavily veiled and carefully escorted. And then there are the eunuchs. We find them in the streets, carrying messages, escorting wealthy women, guarding young children. They are beardless, carefully groomed, well dressed in expensive clothing, for they are the costly, elite agents and servants, the elegant adornments of a wealthy, urban aristocracy. Those who are still young might be mistaken for adolescent boys, albeit slightly unusual adolescent boys, with fine, fair skin, faces that are just a bit broad, and tall thin bodies with narrow shoulders and graceful carriage. Older eunuchs often show the signs of poor health. Their faces are prematurely lined, and youthful fairness has become pallor. Their bodies are stooped from osteoporosis. Even so, they sport a thick, luxuriant head of hair and present themselves as wealthy, cultured gentlemen. The most successful of these distinctive people live in the grand houses that surround the palace.
The great palace complex next to the hippodrome is now mostly gone, buried deep beneath the modern city. If we could enter the imperial palace of the tenth century, however, we would find it controlled by eunuchs. They guard the doorways, supervise access tot he emperor, manage the servants who see to the everyday needs of the imperial family the cooks, the bakers, and cleaning staff. Eunuchs serve as barbers, dressers, and doctors. They manage the imperial finances and record keeping. They guard and control the imperial regalia; packing crowns carefully in storage boxes, selecting ceremonial garments, and helping the emperor keep track of his daily round of ceremonial obligations. Eunuchs of the household serve in the imperial choir of singers. In the apartments of the empress a similar corps of eunuchs serves and guards her well-being. Each of the imperial heirs has his own staff of eunuchs, servants who will loyally serve him throughout his life. This pattern is repeated around the city in the mansions of the great aristocratic families.
The great church, Hagia Sophia, still remains. In the tenth century we would find many eunuchs there as well. Alongside whole or bearded men, eunuchs serve as priests, bishops, and even patriarchs, and are celebrated for their perfect celibacy. Such churchmen also have households staffed with eunuch servants and singers. As we move about the city we find eunuch monks and holy hermits. We encounter luxurious monasteries reserved especially for eunuchs, elite places of retirement or incarceration for powerful eunuchs who have grown too old or too bold in the imperial service. Eunuchs serve in hospitals and orphanages and convents; they dispense largess to widows, orphans, and the poor.
As we leave the elegant core of the city and move into its seamier neighborhoods we find eunuch entertainers, actors, and singers. We also find eunuch prostitutes, castrated children destined to serve mens pleasures for their entire lives, and young men who have had themselves castrated as adults in order to enjoy a life of uncomplicated sexual pleasure with both men and women. As we wander through the city, we gradually develop a perception of these individuals. They are distinctive in physical appearance, dress, and manner and often perform tasks that upper-class men and women are constrained from doing. This distinctiveness includes an element of ambiguity. Among the upper classes and in the centers of government power, the eunuch is a perfect servant of God or of this secular master, one from whom lifelong loyalty is expected. This master-servant relationship borders on the spiritual. Simultaneously, in the urban districts dedicated to sensory pleasures, the eunuch represents the material world; a world devoted to the pleasures of the flesh.