Mothers and Matrons

Mothers ( lat. Matres ) and matrons ( matronae ) are female mythological characters revered in the I - V centuries in northwestern Europe , in particular in Roman Germany , Gaul and northern Italy . In written sources, they are not mentioned and are known primarily for votive tablets and reliefs . “Matrons” were almost always represented in three, often with attributes of fertility. Sometimes one of them had her hair loose, while the other two had their usual heads of married women covered, which allowed some researchers to suggest that the three “matrons” represented various stages of female life: a girl, a mother, an old woman ^[1] . From the inscriptions on reliefs and tablets it is known that the “matrons” were revered under various epithets , often of Celtic or Germanic origin; for example, the epithet Aufaniae is interpreted as a Romanized Germanic word meaning “giving abundance” ^[2] . The custom of veneration “matron” itself is perceived as adapted to the Roman tradition of the Celtic or Germanic pagan cult. They were compared with the Germanic-Scandinavian norn and dises , the Celtic triads Sulis - Sulevia - Brigantia ^[3] and Morrigan - Badb - Nemayn ^[4] . The matron images found in the murderous territories show a certain resemblance to the iconography of the pre-Celtic goddess Nezhenenny ^[4] .

Some scholars suggest that the cult of “mothers and matrons” found its continuation in the veneration of the “three Marys” (at the Cross of the Lord - the Virgin , Mary Magdalene and Maria Kleopova ; or at the Holy Sepulcher - Mary Magdalene , Maria Iakovleva and Maria Salomia ) ^[5] .