Summary Of Dhuoda

Dhuoda lived in the age after Charlemagne, when his son Louis the Pious’s three successors split up his kingdom into three pieces. It was an age of civil war and military strife. Dhuoda was the wife of a Carolingian Duke named Bernard, and the mother of two boys: William, the oldest, for whom she writes her "Liber Manualis," or "Manual," and Bernard II.

She began her manual in November of 841, and completed it in February of 843, while living in separation of her husband and sons. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, her son William was effectively being held hostage at the Court of Charles the Bald, while her son, Bernard, was away with her husband in Aquitaine. Due to the tone of her book near its ending, it has been conjectured that she did not live very long after writing it (Catholic Encyclopedia).

Seventy-three chapters long, with an introduction, invocation, and prologue, its aim is to educate her son in life 's lessons and in moral behavior.

However, as interesting as the actual lessons of the text are, it is the parts in-between them that are truly the window into Dhuoda and her life.

Dhuoda 's Writing

Dhuoda exhibits personality in her writing, sometimes speaking lightly with an air of humor, sometimes speaking gravely. And throughout she exhibits how learned she is, especially with regards to the scriptures and the writings of Church fathers.

It cannot be said with certainty whether Dhuoda scribed the text herself, or had it written for her, but her voice is confident throughout, and she is a woman confident in what she is talking about. She was clearly well-educated, and exhibits a sureness and authority not expected of a medieval