The Cult of the Virgin Mary During the 12th Century

The adoration and reverence of the Virgin Mary may appear to contemporary eyes to be a phenomenon associated with the Catholic Church from its very inception. Like so many other aspects of worship in that most organized of Christian denominations, however, the veneration for Mary, mother of Christ, is not scripturally based, but evolved over time. In fact, the Catholic Church had been established for well over a millennium before the Virgin Mary began her astonishing ascendance in the religious hierarchy of the Church. For the first 1,000 years, in fact, Mary was at best honored in only a token manner.

The process by which Mary achieved her really incredibly striking rise to prominence remains a bit of a mystery, but one thing is certain; it all began in the 12^th century. There are some who believe that Mary's full scale prominence in the iconography of the Catholic Church today began as an actual cult movement. The Cult of Mary may be traced back to the Cistercians who anointed Mary as their patron saint. At the same time, St. Bernard (yes, that St. Bernard) was regularly teaching his followers all about Mary's life and the virtue of virginity. By the middle of the 12^th century a grand cathedral was being constructed in Paris and it was dedicated to the Virgin Mary. In English, the name of this cathedral means "Our Lady" but even those whose French only extends to bonjour will recognize the French name for this monument to Mary: Notre Dame. In fact, the 12^th and 13^th centuries were a boom time in Europe for Notre Dames: cathedrals with these names built to honor the newest addition to the Catholic League of Untouchables exist not only in Paris, but in Rheims, Rouen, Chartres, and all over France.

Mary began to take on new responsibilities in the world of Catholic dogma that went far beyond merely being the mother of Christ. In her new role, Mary was pictured as a new Eve; she assumed the role of intercessor in the process of achieving everlasting salvation with the acceptance of her son as one's lord and savior. In addition, just as Eve had once been held as the mother of us all, now Mary had taken over that role. The reason should be quite obvious; it was a very difficult sale trying to juxtapose Eve as the world's mother while also castigating her as the temptress of the entirely pure Adam. (It's good to be a guy!) With the assumption of Mary that process became much easier. The sin of Eve now could be more than balanced by introduction of Mary. Mary represented the triumphant victory over Eve's sin by being the vessel through which salvation was delivered in the form of Christ. In addition, since Mary was no naked vamp, her placement alongside Jesus and God also meant that femininity could finally be worshipped in the figure of Mary's strangely eternal virginity. (Since it is know that Mary had other children, that everlasting virginity is a doodle of a pickle.) What the ascension of Mary accomplished was the ability of the Church to fully and forcefully celebrate the idea of womanhood as contained wholly within the maternal aspects of it. Eve may be been totally hot, but Mary was controllable. Now you know why being a slut used to be considered a bad thing all those years.