Dhuoda 217In about 1374, Gerhard GROOTEof Deventer, a mas-
ter at the University of PARIS, had a spiritual conversion
and began to found autonomous communities of “reli-
gious women.” He moved to a CARTHUSIANhouse in
Arnhem in modern Holland and from 1379 devoted him-
self to preaching and penitence. The house in Deventer,
the first house of the Sisters of the Common Life, was
composed of unmarried women and widows who conse-
crated themselves to the service of God and the poor,
promising to live by the work of their own hands. A con-
verted friend of Groote’s Florent Radewijns (ca.
1350–1400), founded the first house of BRETHREN OF
THECOMMONLIFE, collecting together priests, clerics,
and members of the laity in Deventer. Both men and
women in these houses were supposed to live an austere
life, in celibacy, without vows, without a rule, and with-
out an identifying religious habit. These houses formed
the basis for the expansion. Many were to have excellent
reputations for providing educational opportunities in
their attached schools. They were to acquire episcopal
approval in 1401 and begin following the models of spir-
itual life similar to those of the third or lay order of the
Franciscans. They were also centers of a rich MYSTICAL
emphasis in Christianity.
See alsoRUYSBROECK,JAN VAN;ECKHART,MEISTER;
JOHNTAULER;HENRYSUSO;KEMPIS, THOMAS À.
Further reading: John Van Engen, trans. Devotio
Moderna: Basic Writings(New York: Paulist Press, 1988);
Ross Fuller, The Brotherhood of the Common Life and Its
Influence(Albany: State University of New York Press,
1995); Albert Hyma, The Christian Renaissance: A History
of the Devotio Moderna(New York: Century, 1925); R. R.
Post, The Modern Devotion: Confrontation with Reforma-
tion and Humanism(Leiden E. J. Brill, 1968).
dhimmi This is an Arabic word meaning the concept of
“covenanted” or an agreement of protection. It was to be
applied by Muslim law to the “people of the Book,” Jews
and Christians, “the people of protection.” They were
allowed to live within the abode or house of Islam, or Dar
al-Islam, as the result of this “covenant” or dhimma.This
covenant guaranteed Christians and Jews the safety of
their person and property on condition of payment of an
annual and personal tax on land. The rate of this tax was
tied to the production of the land and was due at harvest.
RESTRICTIONSIn spite of this covenant and tax, there were restrictions,
which had no basis in the Quran but were developed by
the caliphs between the seventh and 11th centuries. The
first restriction was the requirement to wear signs on
clothing to distinguish Christians from Muslims. The
second series of restrictions involved prohibitions on
aspects of public worship such as building new churches
or restoring old ones, exhibiting crosses or banners at
processions, playing music except during certain hours,
or singing publicly at funerals. The third restriction to
evolve later was the eviction of the “covenanted” from
public office.
See alsoABBASIDS;FATIMIDS; AL-HAKIM BI-AMRALLAH;
UMAYYADS.
Further reading:Uri Rubin and David J. Wasserstein,
eds., Dhimmis and Others: Jews and Christians and the
World of Classical Islam(Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns,
1977); Arthur S. Tritton, The Caliphs and Their Non-Mus-
lim Subjects: A Critical Study of the Covenant of Umar
(London: F. Cass, 1970); Bat Ye’or, Islam and Dhimmitude:
Where Civilizations Collide, trans. Miriam Kochan and
David Littman. (Madison, N.J.: Fairleigh Dickinson Uni-
versity Press, 2002).Dhuoda (ca. 803–843)known only for the advice manual
she left for her son
Born about 803, on June 29, 824, she married Bernard of
Septimania (d. 844), a cousin of CHARLEMAGNEwho was
later executed for treason. When Bernard became a coun-
selor to the emperor LOUIS THEPIOUSand friend to the
empress Judith (800–843), Dhuoda had settled at Uzès,
where she decided to give her teenage sons, William and
Bernard, advice as part of their education. Dhuoda wrote
the book supposedly between November 30, 841, and
February 2, 843. It was an accessible manual that could
also serve as a mirror that the boys could contemplate for
advice on the salvation of their souls and suppression of
faults. In Dhuoda’s book life was a perpetual struggle to
oppose vice and to acquire virtue. Dhuoda reminded her
sons that they must remember and pray for their ances-
tors. They were to be devoted and loyal to their father
and the king, CHARLES THEBALD, to whom William was
soon to be sent as a hostage. They must avoid the great
fault of the aristocracy, pride, and be charitable to the
poor. They were to cultivate these virtues by study and
contemplation. We know nothing about Dhuoda after
she wrote the Manual.Her son William betrayed Charles
the Bald and was beheaded in 849. The other son,
Bernard Plantevelne (d. 885), was a self-seeking warrior
and baron from the midninth century who was killed in
battle. Dhuoda died in 843.
See alsoCAROLINGIAN FAMILY AND DYNASTY; CHILDREN
AND CHILDHOOD; VIRTUES AND VICES.
Further reading:Dhuoda, Dhuoda, Handbook for Her
Warrior Son: Liber manualis, ed. and trans. Marcelle
Thiébaux (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1998); James Marchand, “Dhuoda: The Frankish
Mother” in Medieval Women Writers,ed. Katharina M.
Wilson (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1984),
1–29; Marie Anne Mayeski, Dhuoda: Ninth Century
Mother and Theologian (Scranton, Pa.: University of
Scranton Press, 1995); Janet Nelson, Charles the Bald
(London: Longman, 1992).