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Fertility was a key theme of medieval rulership. To conceive and give birth to sons – and thus to ensure the succession to the throne – was one of the foremost duties of medieval kings and queens. But what happened when a male child died in infancy, no male child was born, or no pregnancy ever came about? Barrenness could have dramatic consequences in the Middle Ages, for example expulsion, divorce or conflicts over royal succession. Against this historical background, it seems logical that the fate of the childless ruler would be recounted in the form of a ‘Passion narrative’. In the German literature of the Middle Ages, however, there are also interpretative models of a contrary vein to be found. In the year 1220, for instance, Ebernand of Erfurt construed the wedded life of the imperial couple Henry and Kunigunde as a tale of resistance against the royal obligation to reproduce. In his versified legend, composed in the vernacular, the couple secretly agrees not to fulfil society’s expectations, but to lead a chaste marriage. Yet above and beyond legend, childless rulers were also subject to the impact of multifarious legal, religious, medical, narrative and discursive factors. Taking Michel Foucault as a point of departure, this contribution shows how fertility became a field of power on which hierarchies between rulers and subjects, men and women were negotiated, while also shedding light on how religious and secular ideals clashed in the assessment of infertility.
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