Another archetype of story is the one where a female infant is raised as a boy. One example of this is Heldris de Cornuälle's Le Roman de Silence, written during the late 1200s.
The story begins with King Ebian of England declaring that women could no longer inherit property. When one of his vassal's wife becomes pregnant, the couple decides that no matter the sex of the child they shall raise it as a son so that their wealth will be able to be passed on to it. Inevitably, it is a daughter that is born, whom they name Silence.
When Silence reaches puberty, nature and nurture begin to battle over who will determine her fate. She runs away and learns the art of music and poetry better than her teachers. When they threaten to kill her, she runs back home. While at home she finds herself in the King's court.
The Queen, who believes Silence to be a beautiful youth, tries to seduce her. When she fails to do so, she accuses Silence of rape. Silence does not want to reveal her true sex and risk her inheritance, and therefore the King exiles her to France. However, while in France she becomes one of the best knights in all the land. The King then recalls her to help him put down a revolt. Her prowess on the battlefield saves his kingdom.
When the Queen restates her accusations against Silence, she is sent off on a quest to find the Arthurian sorcerer Merlin, a seemingly impossible task being that, according to legend, only a woman can capture him. But due to her true sex, she ultimately finds Merlin. When the sorcerer is brought before the King he begins to laugh, and when asked what is so funny Merlin reveals both Silence's true sex, and the fact that the Queen has a lover disguised as a nun.
The King did not believe Merlin at first, so he, "had the nun come forward, and had her stripped ... and requested Silence to strip. They found the two just as Merlin had said" (trans Psaki, lines 6568-6573).
The King is so impressed by Silence's loyalty that he reinstates a woman's right to inherit property, and in the end he marries her. The queen and the cross-dressing nun are executed.
Nature was the eventual winner in the battle against nurture, although through nurture Silence was able to accomplish more than any woman was expected to do.
YOU ARE READING
Not a Fad: A Trans History Lesson
Non-Fiction[This book is NON-Fiction and sort of academic in tone. Check out "Journey to Joseph" if you are interested in historical fiction.] Although trans* visibility has only increased in recent years, it is not a new experience. Transgressing gender bound...
