8 - Locating the Text: The Patrons, Sources and Historical Context of the Vita S. Helenae

Summary

In terms of patronage, the Vita Helenae provides a significant contrast with Jocelin's other works. Although the prologue states that the text was written at the request of others, the specific identity of Jocelin's patrons remains unstated – we are told only that the work was commissioned by a monastic community dedicated to St Helena. The Vita also differs from Jocelin's other texts in terms of purpose. Whereas the Vitae Patricii, Kentegerni and Waldevi were written for communities based at the foci of their respective cults, the Vita Helenae carries no suggestion that the commissioning house held a shrine of this type or, indeed, that it possessed any relics of the saint at all. While the text must still be considered as a promotional document with the basic function of reviving interest in Helena and her cult, it seems clear that other motivations were also at work. The absence of contemporary accounts among the Vita's posthumous miracula suggests that if the text was written in response to recent developments, then these were factors not directly connected to the saint's cult.

The anonymity of Jocelin's patrons poses considerable problems for the analysis of the work. We lack an immediate understanding of the local context of the Vita as well as any indicators for a potential date of composition. The first part of this chapter, therefore, reverses the analytical processes found in the preceding chapters and attempts to identify the commissioning community through an examination of the themes and interests that dominate the text. The range of sources used in the composition of the Vita also offers an opportunity to contextualize the work and the investigation into Jocelin's possible patrons is therefore followed by an analysis of the distribution of his source material. However, it is also important to recognize that the anonymity of the Vita's patrons carries significant meaning in itself. In Jocelin's other works, the open acknowledgment of the patrons provides the reader with a key to unlocking the underlying meaning of the text, whether this was obvious – such as the formal promotion of Waltheof's cult in the Vita Waldevi – or more subtle – such as the ecclesio-political agendas present in the Vita Patricii and Vita Kentegerni. In the case of the Vita Helenae, the absence of this information suggests that our understanding of the text should be governed by parameters wider than local interests or affiliations.